Writing CLEAR behavior-based Notes

First Consideration: Behavior -Based Notes and Phrasing

Keep in mind the information in your notes are part of students’ academic record and can be shared with students at any time or subpoenaed and used in court, so phrasing is important.. Behavior-based notes are factual, without providing opinion or judgment from the faculty member. Consider the examples of notes below and some potential re-writes that are phrased differently to reflect the behavior instead of providing any judgment:

Instead of…..”Student has been too lazy to attend their 8:00AM class,” rephrase to, “Student reported their biggest challenge is getting to their 8:00AM class on time.”

Instead of…”Student has a bad attitude about the class,” rephrase to, “Student expressed some frustration with the course.”

Second Consideration: CLEAR Notes

The goal of notes is to provide details and context so advisors have the information needed to connect the student with the resources and support they need to be successful.  Based on our pilots and feedback from advisors, notes should be “CLEAR” and include the following elements:

• Condition: Description of the specific situation and degree of impact on overall grade.
• Likelihood: The note quantifies the frequency of the behavior; one time occurrence or repeat behavior.
• Expectations: Steps communicated to the student to rectify the situation and stay on their path.
• Attempts: Number of attempts made to communicate with the student, modality used, and the student’s response.
• Response: Student’s response to the communication and follow-up actions.

Let’s breakdown each of these elements in a little more detail:

Condition

CLEAR notes should be specific in describing the situation so that when the advisor reaches out to the student, they have the available information needed to understand the situation.  Equally as important is the potential impact of the situation towards the students path or academic success. For example,  “Sammy Eagle isn’t turning in work,” is not very specific or detailed and could mean various things for Sammy’s success.  “Sammy Eagle missed the first exam and is in danger of failing if further work is missed,” is more specific and explains the potential impact.

Likelihood

This element describes whether the situation is or is likely to be a repeated event.  At the 20% mark, you may not be able to determine this yet, especially in shorter duration courses.  It is recommended to use your best judgment in those cases.  For example, “Sammy Eagle is not attending class,” does not specify whether they have missed one class or multiple classes.  If your class is a 6 week course that meets once per week and Sammy misses two classes, this may be a repeat behavior that should be addressed immediately.  Missing one class in a 16 week course meeting 3 days per week may not be a “repeat” behavior, but may still be important to mention if Sammy was attending regularly before.  Much like the “condition” criteria, providing details and context are important for the overall success of the course.

Expectations

In alignment with faculty’s role of building connections with students, we ask that faculty communicate with the student about the academic or performance concern before submitting a note.  This element explains what steps have been communicated to the student to get the student back on track or stay on track.  This allows for consistent messaging between the advisor, faculty member, and student.  For example, a note that reads, “Sammy Eagle did not submit the first two assignments.  I let them know they need to submit the assignments for half credit by next week to get back on track,” gives the advisor the information needed to help a student and promotes consistent messaging. Otherwise, the communication between the advisor and student can become a back and forth, “did you talk to your instructor?” type conversation creating some confusion for the student.

Attempts

Sometimes, if a student misses class or assignments, the instructor has tried to reach out to the student and has not received a response. These attempts are also important for advisors to know how to best communicate with the student. Since the goal of the note is to ensure clear, consistent communication between advisors, faculty, and students, this information is important.   For example, a note that says “Sammy Eagle has missed the last 2 classes.  I sent an email after each class checking in and did not receive a response,” helps the advisor have the background necessary to perhaps choose a different medium or tailor their communication appropriately.

Response

Similar to the last element, it’s important to include any communication/response with the student.  This helps the advisor know how to best support the student to stay on the path.  A note that reads “Sammy Eagle has missed the first exam.  I reached out and told him he could make it up for half credit and he plans to do so on Friday,” can help the advisor reinforce the message.  If the instructor did not receive a response from the student, this also helps the advisor ask the appropriate questions.

Respect for Privacy

Beyond FERPA and academic records, students may share information with you in confidence.  This information does NOT need to be included in the notes.  A simple “the student has had health concerns causing them to miss class” is sufficient and there is not a need to share the details of their specific health concerns unless you feel like it would be something the advisor would need to know to better support the student.  The focus of this tool and the notes is more on the academic progress, and not the details of a students’ personal life.