The Bottom Line on Functional Behavioral Assessment

Our Model of Intervention

Once the functions of problem behavior are identified, educators need to design an intervention that encourages students to meet that function in a more socially acceptable way. We have developed a model of intervention, shown in Figure 2.2, that provides the foundation for the remainder of this book.

Educators tend to want to jump to the bottom of this flowchart when responding to inappropriate behavior and immediately provide undesirable consequences. This is how many of today's educators were raised and what they experienced in school (we did too), and therefore it is what has been modeled for us and what most of us are comfortable using. We are not ''always'' or ''never'' thinkers and believe there is a place for undesirable consequences when managing behavior, a topic that we address in detail in Part Five. However, we also strongly believe, and research clearly supports, that effective intervention begins with instruction and prevention, which can be done only when the functions of the behavior have been identified and their complexity understood. Once students learn appropriate skills, the performance of these skills should be encouraged through high levels of reinforcement until they become fluent. Only after these three steps have been tried and found to be inadequate should undesirable consequences be considered.

Consistent with positive behavior support and functional behavioral assessment, all the components of our intervention model (instruction, prevention, reinforcement, and undesirable consequences) are to be implemented as part of a three-tiered all, some, few process shown in Figure 2.1. Many teachers will say that they have no control over whether a three-tiered philosophy is adopted and implemented at the district or schoolwide level, and to some extent this is true. However, regardless of the practices of the larger system, individual teachers can often choose to adopt these practices in their classroom and can also provide their supervisors with research-based information that supports a three-tiered intervention model.

Key Points to Remember

• Positive behavior support is highly favored and may be on the verge of being required by federal law when No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are reauthorized.
• Two key points of positive behavior supports are using research-validated practices and enhancing the capacity of all environments.
• No Child Left Behind strongly prefers educational programs grounded in scientifically based research and implies that only empirically validated interventions should be used whenever possible.
• Due to the complex nature of the educational environment, flexibility with respect to scientific practices is needed. The key is that a systematic data source is used to evaluate and guide intervention.
• To enhance the capacity of the child's educational environment to support positive behavior, we must focus on increasing adult skills in prevention and early intervention.
• Positive behavior support should be implemented as a three-tiered model, which benefits all students; in addition, the interventions for more challenging students are much more effective if the foundation is firmly in place.
• Functional behavioral assessment considers why the behavior is occurring in order to respond effectively and efficiently.
• The three key concepts of functional behavioral assessment are setting events, triggering antecedents, and maintaining consequences.
• Functional behavioral assessment does not have to be a complicated process requiring multiple pages of paperwork and school psychologists or other behavior specialists. It should be an ongoing, fluid process that occurs daily.
• There are multiple ways to conduct functional behavior assessments, and they vary in intensity and complexity.
• The functions of challenging student behavior can change quickly. Different behaviors can serve the same function, and the same behavior can serve different functions based on many environmental variables that are constantly interacting and changing.

Discussion Questions

1. Data collection and progress monitoring are crucial components of any well-run behavioral intervention plan. Knowing what data to collect, monitoring those data, and deciding when to change interventions is a common challenge for many teachers. How can behavior intervention teams work through this process effectively?
2. Thinking of functional behavioral assessment as more of a regular problem-solving process and less of a formal paperwork process is crucial to designing, monitoring, and adapting behavioral intervention programs. What can you do to make this an ongoing process instead of a once-a-year consideration?