CTA Data Collection & Progress Monitoring 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of collecting data on student performance in a CTA role?
- To compare students with each other
- To monitor progress toward IEP goals and inform instructional decisions (Correct answer)
- To determine which students should be retained
- To satisfy administrative reporting requirements only
Correct answer: To monitor progress toward IEP goals and inform instructional decisions
Data collection helps track each student's progress toward IEP goals and guides the instructional team in making timely adjustments.
Question 2: Which type of data collection involves recording whether a student performed a behavior within specific time intervals?
- Frequency recording
- Duration recording
- Interval recording (Correct answer)
- Latency recording
Correct answer: Interval recording
Interval recording divides the observation period into equal time blocks and documents whether the target behavior occurred within each block.
Question 3: When a CTA notices a student's progress has stalled, the FIRST step should be to:
- Change the student's IEP goals immediately
- Document the observation and report it to the supervising teacher (Correct answer)
- Move the student to a lower-level instructional group
- Independently reduce the student's workload
Correct answer: Document the observation and report it to the supervising teacher
CTAs should document their observations and communicate concerns to the supervising teacher before any instructional changes are considered.
Question 4: A running record is BEST used to assess which type of student performance?
- Math computation speed
- Reading fluency and accuracy (Correct answer)
- Social behavior patterns
- Attendance and punctuality
Correct answer: Reading fluency and accuracy
Running records are a literacy tool used while a student reads aloud to evaluate fluency, accuracy, and comprehension strategies.
Question 5: Which data collection method would be MOST appropriate for tracking how long a student stays on task?
- Frequency recording
- Interval recording
- Duration recording (Correct answer)
- Anecdotal recording
Correct answer: Duration recording
Duration recording measures how long a behavior lasts from its start to its end, making it ideal for measuring on-task behavior.
Question 6: When recording data on student performance, a CTA should ensure that records are:
- Shared publicly to encourage student motivation
- Objective, accurate, and confidential (Correct answer)
- Modified to reflect what the student should have done
- Only recorded when the student performs poorly
Correct answer: Objective, accurate, and confidential
Accurate, objective, and confidential record-keeping maintains data integrity and protects student privacy under FERPA.
Question 7: A frequency count is MOST useful for tracking:
- How long a student reads independently each session
- The number of times a specific behavior occurs (Correct answer)
- When during the day a behavior is most likely to happen
- The quality of a student's written work
Correct answer: The number of times a specific behavior occurs
Frequency recording tallies each discrete occurrence of a target behavior during an observation period.
CTA Data Collection & Progress Monitoring 1
What is the primary purpose of collecting data on student performance in a CTA role?