Data collection is an objective method of measurement that can be used to shape and guide professional judgment. It enables teachers to verify that their behavior management plans or instructional methods are producing the desired outcomes and can also be used to identify and end the use of ineffective teaching practices based on current fads or ideologies rather than on evidence. Teachers who do not use frequent measurement are vulnerable to two types of preventable errors:
1. Continuing an ineffective behavioral or academic intervention when no real improvement in performance has occurred
2. Discontinuing an effective behavioral or academic intervention based on a subjective evaluation