Layered EducationWhen to use it
- You are about to try something new with a focal student
- You are not sure whether a strategy is working
- You need an artifact for your next co-planning day
Get to Know Your Students
Try, Observe, Adjust
Test one small change, watch what happens, and decide what comes next.
Why it works
Small, quick tests show what helps this student before you invest in a big plan. A little data keeps the next step honest.
Try this tomorrow
- Write one change, one prediction, and one thing to count
- Collect a few days of baseline first
- Use one teach, one observe for five minutes of data
- Decide together: keep, adjust, or drop
If two of you are in the room
Co-teaching pairs can split this between them, and swap who takes which part so both teachers work with every student.
One teacher
Teaches as usual while trying the change.
The other teacher
Observes the focal student and records the one thing you agreed to count.
What the research can and cannot tell us
Plan-Do-Study-Act is an established improvement method. Public templates are written for teams, so keep yours to one student and one change.
Resources
13 resources for this topic, drawn from 7 organizations. Everything opens free, and the ones from other organizations open on their own sites.
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Plan-Do-Study-Act Form
Write the change idea, your prediction, the data to collect, what happened, and your next step.
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Do-Study-Act-Plan Log
A quick log of what you tried, what happened, and what is next.
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PDSA Overview
A short video on running one cycle of plan, do, study, act.
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How To: Structure Classroom Data Collection for One Student
A seven-step worksheet: define the problem, take a baseline, set a goal, monitor, and evaluate.
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Choosing a Data Collection Method
Match the behavior to the right method: frequency, duration, latency, interval, or time sampling.
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Scatterplot Recording
A time-of-day grid for spotting when a behavior happens most across a week.
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Practice: Frequency and Interval Recording
Practice counting and interval recording on a classroom video, with downloadable forms.
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Direct Behavior Rating Forms
Rate engagement, respect, and disruption on a quick scale after each class period.
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Behavior Report Card Maker
Build a custom daily or weekly behavior rating form and save it as a PDF.
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Student Intervention Implementation Log
Track each day whether the support happened, for how long, and how engaged the student was.
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Progress Monitoring Tool with Graphing
Enter scores in a spreadsheet, see an automatic graph, and set a goal line for one student.
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Planning What and How We Will Learn (PDSA Video Series #3)
Covers the Plan and Do steps: write a learning question, make a prediction, and choose what data to collect.
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Learning Through Iterative Testing (PDSA Video Series #4)
Covers the Study and Act steps: compare results to your prediction, question your assumptions, and choose the next small test.
Previous topicStrengths and Interests Profile
Next topicReading the IEP: Accommodations vs. Modifications
These resources are shared for professional learning and planning. They are meant to inform your professional judgment, not replace it. Each student's IEP and your district, state and federal requirements always come first. Listing a resource here is not an endorsement by Layered Education. This is educational information only, not legal advice.
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Join the educator list and your welcome gift arrives today: The Barrier to Support Menu, which names seven things that block a student's access, what to try for each one, and what to watch for. After that, you get the new tools as they land.
Want help putting this to work?
Facilitated co-planning days give a pair protected time to pick a focal student, choose one thing to try, and plan who does what. The first call is free.