Percent: use a known total
Record accuracy or completion when opportunities are defined and comparable. Include what counted as success and how many trials or steps produced the percentage.
Example: 8 of 10 fasteners completed, 80%Goal progress and reports
Keep goal observations ready for reporting time.
Record the measurement, task, cueing, and student response when you observe it. Later, compare like observations and write the progress summary you want to report.
School participation goalLatest: 78%
4 comparable observations · source dates preserved
Compare goal progress
Make sure two numbers measured the same kind of performance.
A student completes 65% of a classroom routine with a visual checklist. Three weeks later, the same student completes 78% after a model and two verbal prompts. The second number is higher. It does not automatically show greater independence because the support changed.
Record the measure, task, and support when the observation happens. At reporting time, you can see whether the results are similar enough to compare.
Measurement types
Choose the right measurement for each goal.
The measure should preserve the change you care about. A smaller duration may be improvement. A stable score with less cueing may be improvement. The number needs the goal's direction and context.
Count: track events or completed steps
Count successful transitions, completed routine steps, tool uses, or attempts when the opportunity window is clear.
Example: initiated 4 of 5 classroom transitionsDuration: state whether more or less is better
Record time on task, transition time, sustained participation, or task completion. State whether a longer or shorter duration represents the desired change.
Example: began written work within 3 minutesIndependence: record the help provided
Describe physical assistance, modeling, verbal cues, visuals, setup, or environmental changes. A label such as “minimal assist” may be too broad unless the team's scale is defined.
Example: completed setup after one visual cueNarrative: describe the context and result
Describe an observable response when a number would hide the conditions or when the goal is still being operationalized. Keep it tied to the task and support.
Example: returned to the group after choosing a movement breakGoal observations
Record the task, support, and student response with each measurement.
What was the student doing?
Name the routine, material, setting, or participation demand. “Fine motor task” is harder to compare than “opened five lunch containers.”
What could have happened, and what counted?
Record trials, steps, time window, or success criterion when the numeric value depends on one.
What help was available or used?
Include cueing, modeling, physical assistance, setup, visual supports, adaptations, and whether support changed during the observation.
What did the student do?
Use observable language. Separate what you saw from an interpretation you will make later in the clinician narrative.
Comparison example
Check that two percentages measured the same task.
Two observations are attached to the same school participation goal. The values can share a chart while still needing clinical review before anyone describes a trend.
13 of 20 routine steps
Morning arrival in the usual classroom. Visual checklist available. One verbal cue after the student stopped at the cubby.
7 of 9 routine steps
Shortened arrival routine during an assembly day. Adult modeled the first step and gave two verbal prompts.
What can be said now The later observation shows 7 of 9 steps completed under a shorter routine with more initial support.
What cannot be said yet The two percentages alone do not establish improvement in independent performance.
What to collect next Repeat the usual 20-step routine with the original support conditions, or define a consistent shorter routine and start a new comparable series.
Comparing results
Compare task conditions before comparing results.
- The observations belong to the same goal and measure the same target behavior.
- The denominator, opportunity count, or observation duration is known when the value depends on it.
- The task and setting are similar enough for the comparison you want to make.
- The success rule stayed the same, or the change is explained.
- Assistance, cueing, adaptations, and adult setup are recorded.
- Attendance and service context do not create a gap that the chart hides.
- The direction of desired change is clear, especially for duration and support measures.
- An unusual observation is described as unusual instead of being forced into the main pattern.
Teacher contact
Agreed to place the visual checklist inside the student's cubby and collect arrival data on three typical mornings.
Follow up September 30 · deadline createdConsultations and follow-ups
Add a follow-up date to consultation notes.
Record the observation or concern, what the team agreed to try, and the date to check the result. The School OT keeps teacher contact, observations, team discussions, and the next follow-up with the student record. A follow-up date also enters the deadline list.
At the next contact, record what changed in the actual routine. “Teacher consulted” proves contact occurred. It does not show what was tried or whether the support helped participation.
Progress report steps
Choose a reporting period, review the records, and write your summary.
Creating a report draft gathers the dated records from the reporting period. It does not write the clinical summary or decide whether a goal was met.
- 01
Choose the exact reporting period
The start and end dates determine which finalized service attendance, goal observations, and consultation records appear in the evidence set.
- 02
Review services in the reporting period
Finish drafts, complete required review, and correct known errors before freezing the snapshot. Pending sessions should not appear as finalized service.
- 03
Review observations for each goal
Compare the summary with the dated source values and details. Separate comparable series from contextual observations and explain missing or changing conditions.
- 04
Review consultations with goal data
Connect a classroom support or environmental change to the observations collected after it, without claiming the support caused a change that the record cannot establish.
- 05
Write the progress summary
State the pattern you judge the evidence supports, name the observations behind it, describe the conditions that matter, and identify the next clinical or team decision.
- 06
Finalize the report
A finalized report version is immutable. Later evidence or a corrected reporting period belongs in a new version, which preserves what was known and reported at each point.
Progress summary
Write the clinical conclusion and support it with recorded evidence.
What changed, remained stable, or is still unclear during this reporting period?
Which comparable observations and service records support that judgment?
What cueing, setting, attendance, task change, or support affects interpretation?
What will the clinician or team continue, adjust, clarify, or measure next?
FAQ
Make sure the conclusion matches the available evidence.
Can different numeric measure types be compared in one trend?
Usually no. A percent, count, and duration answer different questions. Inspect the source observations and build comparisons within a defined measure and direction of change.
Can I record progress outside a session note?
Yes. Add a goal observation directly from the student record when the evidence comes from an observation or another permitted source. Session-linked evidence remains tied to that service record.
Does the product write or finalize the clinical conclusion?
No. The product assembles source evidence and a deterministic summary. An authorized clinician writes the narrative and decides when the report is ready to finalize.
What if new evidence arrives after finalization?
Create a new report version for the appropriate period. The earlier finalized snapshot remains unchanged so the reporting history stays traceable.
Progress reporting