Educators already know this secret, even if it is not written into the official report.
The best evidence does not always live in a spreadsheet. It lives in the moment a student finally raises their hand. In the parent who whispers, “He packed his backpack on his own for the first time.” In the quiet kid who chooses a peer instead of shutting down.
Those moments are usually told as “just stories.”
In IEP meetings, grant reports, and school board presentations, narrative is often treated like decoration. Something you say after you show the numbers, like a little humanizing seasoning on top of the real meal.
I want to flip that.
Narrative is data. It only stops being treated like data when we fail to structure it.
This is a way to address that issue.
Why stories matter more than the spreadsheet will admit
Think about how most official education documents work.
- Numbers get bolded.
- Graphs get printed in color.
- Stories are often squeezed into a single box labeled “Anecdotal notes,” located right above the signature line.
Yet what actually moves a team to change instruction is rarely the bar chart. It is the story everyone in the room recognizes as true.
“She shuts down when the class gets loud.”
“He used the script we practiced and asked a peer for help.”
“Mom said he now reads the menu to his little sister.”
Those are data points.
The problem is not that narrative is weak. The problem is that we often present it in a way that feels soft, unstructured, and hard to defend.
So the goal is not to stop telling stories. The goal is to put enough structure around the stories that no one can pretend they are less real than the numbers in the table.
The SEEDS frame: how to turn a story into a data point
Here is a straightforward approach. I call it SEEDS, because each story is a seed that can grow into practice, policy, or program change if you plant it correctly.
S – Setting
Who, where, and when. Anchor the moment.
E – Event
What actually happened? Only what was seen or heard.
E – Evidence hook
The measurable piece inside the story. A count, a duration, a specific behavior you can define.
D – Delta
What changed compared to before? Baseline versus now.
S – Sense making
Why it matters. How it connects to a goal, an IEP service, or a program decision.
Once you start writing your stories in this way, narrative stops sounding like “nice to have” and starts reading like data.
Example in an IEP context
Imagine you are writing a progress note for a social communication goal.
Old way:
“Student is doing better asking peers for help. She seems more confident in group work.”
That might be true, but it is not a defensible argument. It does not demonstrate growth, and it does not provide guidance on next steps.
SEEDS version:
- Setting: Inclusive science lab, 10/14, observed by Ms. Lee.
- Event: A student turned to a peer during the lab and asked, “Can you show me how to do this part?” without prompting from an adult.
- Evidence hook: One unprompted peer initiation, within ten seconds of difficulty, volume at classroom norm.
- Delta: In September, there were zero unprompted initiations during group labs.
- Sense-making: This indicates the authentic use of the social communication skill in a noisy, real-world setting. Continue the peer buddy routine twice a week and record any unprompted initiations.
Now you have both story and structure. You can feel the moment, and you can defend it.
The narrative did not get removed. It got organized.
Example in a grant or program report
Grant reports love numbers and hate context. Families and staff often live in a context where they do not see themselves reflected in the numbers.
You need both.
Old way in a quarterly report:
“Families report that students are becoming more independent at home.”
SEEDS version:
- Setting: Week 3, evening debrief at Rainier Community Center with 12 families.
- Event: One parent shared that her son now packs his own materials the night before sessions.
- Evidence hook: Four of twelve families echoed this exact change during the check-in.
- Delta: Previous weeks had no examples of students independently preparing for sessions.
- Sense making: Early executive function skills are beginning to transfer from program time to home routines. Next quarter, we will formalize a nightly “pack check” routine and measure how many families report continued independent prep.
Same story. Completely different level of power.
How to mine stories for measurable cues
Many people get stuck on the “evidence hook” part. They ask, “How do I turn this moment into something countable without killing it?”
You do not need a research lab.
You need clear definitions.
For example:
- “Peer initiation” refers to a student initiating an interaction with a classmate without an adult’s cue.
- “Task persistence” refers to a student staying with a task for at least two minutes after encountering a challenge, without leaving the area or refusing to continue.
When definitions are clear, a quick tally becomes meaningful.
You can count:
- How many times has it happened?
- How long did it last?
- How often has it happened out of the opportunities given?
Then you pair that number with a short quote or description. The quote gives texture. The number provides weight.
“A teacher and three families noticed” is different from “People say the student is doing better.”
“Three unprompted initiations this week” is different from “He is more social.”
A simple form staff can actually use
If you want narrative-as-evidence to live in your building, you have to make it easy for tired humans to do it.
Think index card, not dissertation.
Something like this:
- Who / When / Where:
- Behavior observed (what you saw or heard):
- Measure (count, time, or accuracy):
- What changed from before (baseline):
- Next step (instruction, support, or question):
Ten seconds after class. Sticky note on a clipboard. Quick entry into a shared document later.
Over time, you end up with a pile of short, structured stories that can be sorted by student, by goal area, or by program objective.
Now your narratives are searchable evidence, not random memories.
How to write IEP-ready narrative sentences
When you sit down to write the actual IEP, you can pull from those SEEDS notes and convert them into sentences that sound both human and professional.
Examples:
- “During partner reading on 10/3, the student asked a peer for clarification on a word without adult prompting. This represents a change from the baseline, where all help-seeking was adult-directed. Continued use of visual prompt cards is recommended to support further independent initiations.”
- “Across six math centers this month, the student remained in the work area for at least three minutes after encountering a challenging problem in four out of six sessions. This reflects increased task persistence compared to last quarter, when the student left the area within one minute in all recorded sessions.”
You still see the child. You still hear the classroom. You also see growth.
How to write grant-ready narrative paragraphs
For program reports and grants, you can frame a whole paragraph around a single strong vignette and the data behind it.
Template:
“This quarter, we observed [practice] supporting [specific outcome]. For example, on [date] at [site], [brief vignette]. Across the cohort, [metric] was observed. Compared to baseline, this represents [change]. Based on these results, we will [next step or scaling strategy] next quarter.”
That one paragraph tells a story, proves it is not just a one-off, shows movement, and explains what you plan to do with the learning.
Reviewers get what they want. Families get to see themselves. Staff get to see their work matter.
Building a culture where narrative is respected
If you want this to stick, it cannot be a solo act from one enthusiastic teacher or one overworked program director.
You need a shared standard.
A few moves that help:
- Make narrative quality visible.
- Use a simple rubric. Is the story attributable, observable, verifiable, comparable, and actionable? If it hits those five, it is strong enough to stand beside your charts.
- Do quick calibration.
- Once a month, have two staff members write SEEDS notes about the same moment and compare them. That keeps definitions real and aligned.
- Capture success and struggle.
- If the only stories you collect are positive ones, the data set lies. You want the whole picture, because the challenging moments tell you where to focus instruction.
- Protect time for this.
- A culture that values narrative-as-evidence builds a tiny bit of time into staff routines to capture it. Not as an extra favor. As part of the job.
The bigger picture: stories as proof that students are more than a score
When schools and systems refer to “data-driven,” they typically mean numbers that can be easily tabulated and analyzed.
If that is all we count, that is all we see.
Narrative-as-evidence is not soft. It is rigorous when it is structured. It is necessary when working with real human beings, especially students whose growth may not show up neatly on a standardized test.
The student who finally uses her AAC device to join a conversation.
The young man at a residential facility starts asking staff, “What is next on my schedule?” instead of waiting to be told.
The family who says, “For the first time, I feel like the school actually sees my child.”
Those are not “extras.” Those are outcomes.
Treat the stories as seeds. Name the setting. Describe the event. Grab the evidence hook. Show the delta. Make sense of it.
Once you do that, your narratives stop sounding like side comments and start operating as what they truly are.
Proof.
Thoughts Processed 