DBR
Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) is a progress monitoring tool designed to complement the use of the SAEBRS and mySAEBRS screening assessments.
With the DBR, educators can easily determine if social-emotional behavior (SEB) interventions are working. DBR measures involve identifying one or more specific problem behaviors and then observing the student at planned times to record whether these behaviors occur.
Teachers can select up to a total of three behaviors from each of the DBR domains: social, academic, emotional. The selected behaviors should be either problem behaviors the student regularly displays (e.g., disruptive behavior), or problematic behaviors that occur only sometimes, but are nevertheless troublesome when they do occur (e.g., aggression).
Screening
DBR is not available for universal screening.
Progress Monitoring
DBR is administered during regular classroom instruction. To conduct the observation, the teacher checks in on the student’s behavior on a repeated basis at regular intervals (e.g., every 30 seconds) while attending to their other responsibilities. Ideally, the observation period will last between 15 and 30 minutes.
Because children’s behavior can be variable across days or settings, ratings are typically collected across multiple occasions, allowing for a stream of data that can be used to evaluate student progress over time.
Administration
The DBR is designed so that it can be used by classroom teachers without the need for another observer. Teachers are not required to record any data while observing the student throughout the observation periods. Instead they should take mental notes regarding the student’s behavior and then consider them when completing their DBR ratings within FastBridge.
It is recommended that at least five to 10 data points be collected within each phase of data collection. For instance, if the student’s behavior is being monitored during both baseline (i.e., prior to intervention) and intervention phases (i.e., while an intervention is being applied), at least five to 10 data points should be collected before the intervention starts and another five to 10 during the intervention, resulting in 10-20 overall.
Such recommendations are derived from previous DBR research, which suggests at least five to 10 data points are necessary to achieve a reliable estimate of a student’s behavior.
What Is Lab Status?
In order to reduce the typical 10- to 30-year gap between university research and classroom results, FastBridge releases developing assessments in “Lab Status.” This phase allows educators to preview new tools and provide feedback on functionality. It also allows FastBridge researchers to confirm the psychometric properties of new measures when used in everyday classroom settings. This results in more accurate benchmarks and norms once the measure moves out of Lab Status.
