How to NOT Take Data during Speech/Language Therapy

Data or it didn’t happen, right??

As speech-language professionals, it is crucial that we collect data to know exactly how our clients are doing.

Or is it?

Today we’re going to explore the questions of how much data do you ACTUALLY need to collect and how can you streamline your data collection processes.

Listen to the Podcast Here

You can listen to the full podcast episode below:

How Often do you Really Need to Collect Data?

Every time they say the sound or do the skill?
Once per session?
Once per week?
Once per month?
Once per year?

Carrie’s Sweet Spot for Collecting Data

Our students don’t usually make such fast progress that you need to collect full data more than once per month.

Their performance next week will look very similar to their performance this week.

And copious amounts of time on data collection reduces the quality of your therapy (meaning they make even slower progress).

That’s why I only collect full data once per month!

What about the Rest of the Month?

Just because you’re not collecting data on every repetition, doesn’t mean you don’t know what’s going on.

With caseloads nearing 100 kids sometimes, we can’t be expected to remember each and every session we do and how the child was doing.

Instead, we can take a quick note at the end of every session that tells us how the child was doing without taking up much time.

Carrie’s Super Awesome Daily Notes Page for Speech-Language Professionals

carrie's daily notes page for speech therapy rubric style grading

Daily Notes Page Available for Download inside The Hub

If I’m not doing a full data day, this is the only data I collect.

I rate the student’s performance on a scale from 1-5.

I add a quick note so I remember what cue I did or what I want to try next time.

That’s it!

I do it during my session so I’m not taking work home.

Click Here to Join The Hub to Download the Daily Notes Page!

But what about data for Medicaid/Billing/Whatever Else?

This is the biggest hesitation that I hear about this approach.

How can I bill medicaid/insurance/etc. if I don’t have numeric data?

Well…

you do.

4 out of 5 is 80%

3 out of 5 is 60%

As long as you are still taking your detailed data at least once per month, you’ll be able to stay on track.

And the billing machines will appreciate their numeric data.

DISCLAIMER! I’m not an expert when it comes to billing. Please check with your billing company before taking this advice!

What if my employer requires data on every repetition?

Tell them I said that’s silly.

Ok, don’t really do that.

I don’t need angry calls.

But in all seriousness, this is not best practice.

It does not help the kids.

It does not support you.

If this requirement is being forced on you, then your job becomes to advocate for yourself and your clients and ask for an alternative option.

So How Does this Look in Practice?

At the beginning of the month, choose 1-3 skills to target for each student.
For the first three weeks of the month, take only rubric-style data on the notes page.
For the last week of the month, take your full data during your sessions and jot down 1-3 skills for next month.