NABITA membership has more than doubled over the last year. To help new members implement the NABITA Standards for Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs), and to provide continuing members with a refresher, NABITA is launching a Tip of the Week series specifically focused on the BIT Standards. Twenty standards, twenty Tips of the Week (maybe more) aimed specifically at the practical application of the BIT Standards (Note: the twenty Tips may not be published consecutively so that NABITA can bring you timely updates regarding other topics).
Standard 19. End of Semester and Year Reports: Teams collect and share data on referrals and cases to identify trends and patterns and adjust resources and training.
The BIT measures the team’s overall effectiveness in supporting students, reducing distress, and increasing safety. An end of the semester or year report serves as an opportunity to demonstrate BIT functionality, aggregate data, identify trends, and highlight areas of continued opportunity for the BIT. For example, if a BIT received a high number of referrals related to students experiencing disordered eating, the end of the year report serves as an opportunity to identify solutions for the following year. Depending on your team’s resources, you could seek additional training related to eating disorders for your team or plan additional educational opportunities for your community. Additionally, another option BITs should consider is mapping their end of the year report to their BIT strategic plan. A BIT strategic plan, aligned with the institutional strategic plan, provides a framework through which to assess BIT services, analyze BIT data, and recommend future action.
Practical Tip: Teams should use a variety of strategies to gather data so the BIT may evaluate effectiveness and ensure effective service delivery. Some assessment options that will yield data to include in your end of the semester/year report are:
- Pre-/Post-Assessment
Throughout the year, teams should use a holistic assessment of all wellness domains (environmental, cultural, occupational, emotional, physical, social, intellectual). The BIT should invite all referred individuals to complete the assessments prior to providing services and after the conclusion of services to evaluate the effectiveness of its services.
- Focus Groups
Throughout the year, teams may host focus groups with contacted students—both those who did and did not engage in services—to evaluate the effectiveness of providing resources and support, outreach efforts, and/or other aspects of the program. Additionally, the BIT may host focus groups with referral/potential referral sources to evaluate effectiveness of outreach efforts, follow-up protocols, and/or other aspects of the program.
- Secondary Data Analysis
BITs should be analyzing referrals and case data to evaluate existing trends, presenting issues, and/or anticipated trends to make appropriate adjustments as needed.
Teams should document the information collected by these methods, and others, in the end of the semester/year report to demonstrate the adjustments and advancements made to the program’s effectiveness and continual support of the community’s needs.