Taking data vastly improves the performance of both students and teachers alike. ABAs and OTs can determine the best course of action for increasing or reducing behaviors with data to back them up, while students also feel more motivated with their increased awareness.  Discussed today are the practical reasons for taking data, specific steps you can take to start taking data, and the common barriers to taking good data. Data collection goals between ABAs and OTs may also be different, so Mandy and Aditi break down how they view these goals and how they can achieve them.    HIGHLIGHTS 03:24 Shoutout to CentralReach Institute 04:20 Evidence-based interventions and why ABAs take so much data 08:49 OT barriers to data collection 11:23 How to begin collecting data  15:30 OT data collection on goals and strategies to achieve that 25:48 Taking data increases motivation and improves performance   28:30 Using standardized charts to measure fluency 35:13 Case study: Similarities and differences between ABA and OT goals GLOSSARY Dead Person Test - A test that says if a dead person cannot do it, then it is behavior, and if a dead person can do it, it is not behavior.  RHUMBA - How Relevant is it, How long, Understandable, Measurable, Behavioral, and Achievable COAST - Client, Occupation, Assist Level, Specific, and Time-bound SMART - Significant, Measurable, Achievable, Relates to the person, and Time-based RESOURCES Join our The ABA and OT Podcast Facebook Group to get access to the following resources: Facebook group link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/397478901376425 EXTERNAL RESOURCES Aditi's Website Progress Monitoring and Documentation During Virtual School-based OT Service Delivery via Telehealth CentralReach Institute Rick Kubina: Using Precision Measurement to Derive Meaningful Performance Metrics and Analytics Reading with Precision (Precision Teaching Aims) QUOTES 04:33 "Ethically, we are required and therefore obligated to demonstrate that our interventions are effective and evidence-based and it's absolutely impossible to do that without data." 13:29 "In order to measure something, you must define first what it is that you're teaching or a behavior that you're trying to increase or some behavior that you're trying to reduce." 23:00 "If you use a Standard Celeration chart and you apply how many opportunities the student performed in a period of time, it'll give you a really good trajectory of how long it's going to take to master that goal." 25:48 "The sheer act of taking data with a student improved their performance. I was like oh my gosh because they are so much more aware of their own performance." 29:59 "It's got a fixed X and Y axes and it's always the same. As opposed to what I call a stretch to fill chart where you can alter the X and Y axes to make your data look better than it really is and data on those types of charts are not comparable."