Our current practice of student observations for behavior support was not effective for all students. The information and insights gleaned from our observations didn’t lead to the results we wanted to see.
Change Idea:
Instead of educators completing student observations alone, they would partner with families and community members to conduct them together. Observers would use a semi-structured empathy observation protocol to observe the student in the school environment, then they would discuss what they observed, share inferences, and collaboratively design solutions as a team.
That turned out to be true—involving families and community members in observation of student behavior helps us to understand the students better, and this enables us to design meaningful and supportive solutions we would not have come to otherwise.
Status of the Change Idea: Adapted, Adopted, or Abandoned?
Adopted!