Tips for School-Based Consultation: Include Paraprofessionals & Collect Meaningful Data

Effective school consulting is about more than strategies and systems. It's about people. Two essential practices that guide my work are including paraprofessionals throughout the treatment process and collecting meaningful, feasible data. When we center both, we create supports that are compassionate, practical, and impactful for students and the teams who serve them.

Consulting Tip #1: Include Paraprofessionals

Paraprofessionals spend their days alongside students. They are there when students are successful and when they struggle to learn. They build relationships, offer encouragement, and provide support across routines and settings. Because of this, paraprofessionals develop a deep understanding of students that is invaluable to the consultation process. They notice preferences, triggers, strengths, and patterns of behavior that may not be visible during short observations. These insights are critical to understanding the student as a whole person, not just a set of behaviors. Taking the time to talk with and listen to paraprofessionals allows consultants to come up with interventions that are more individualized and responsive.

Paraprofessionals also offer practical feedback. They can tell you whether a strategy will realistically fit into a classroom routine, what has worked in the past, and what might need some adjustment. Once interventions are implemented, they are often the ones supporting them most consistently and can share how students are responding.

Paraprofessionals are key partners in helping students achieve their goals. Including them in conversations is not optional, it is essential for effective and compassionate school consulting.

Consulting Tip #2: Collect Meaningful Data

As behavior analysts, we love data! Data informs student goals, guides treatment design, and helps us monitor progress. But while I value data deeply, I value people more. My approach to consultation always puts people first.

Whether we are working with school teams or families, our role is to support educators and caregivers with practical behavior change strategies that align with their values and address their needs. That same mindset should apply to data collection. We should only ask teams to collect data that is feasible in their setting and that measures both behaviors of concern and meaningful replacement behaviors - without being cumbersome.

Feasibility is key to accurate data collection. It is influenced by how much data is required and how complex the system is. Teachers and support staff are juggling many students and responsibilities throughout the day. In reality, they will always prioritize students over data (and they should). If data systems are too demanding, they won’t be used consistently.

That’s why it is essential to ask school teams what is doable before designing a data sheet or system. Collaboration at this stage helps ensure that data collection fits naturally into daily routines rather than becoming a burden.

Once data are being collected, we also have a responsibility to review and analyze them regularly and to share that information with stakeholders. Data should be part of an ongoing, collaborative, and supportive process, not something that disappears into a folder. Most importantly, the focus should remain on the people for whom the data matters most: students, educators, and families.

Putting It All Together

Including paraprofessionals and collecting meaningful, feasible data both reflect the same core belief: people come first. When we listen to those doing the day-to-day work and design systems that respect their time, skills, and values, we create stronger partnerships and better outcomes for students.

These consulting tips remind us that effective school-based work isn’t just about what looks good on paper, it’s about what truly works in real classrooms, with real people, every day.