The sole purpose of conducting a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is to use the information to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of behavior support plans. There should always be a logical connection between information collected and analyzed during the assessment process and t behavior support plan development. The development of behavior support plans occurs as a result of a team process and subsequently becomes an integral part of a student’s IEP.

Positive behavioral support is an approach to intervention that integrates technical features of applied behavior analysis with person-centered values. It offers a process for designing individualized approaches to support students experiencing behavioral difficulties in school, home, and community environments. The development of effective behavior support plans that are positive in nature (i.e., proactive and educative) relies upon data collected during the functional behavioral assessment process. Behavior support plans are effective when they produce meaningful outcomes. That is, they should result in (a) an increase in the acquisition and use of new replacement skills, (b) decreases in problem behavior, and (c) general improvements in the quality of life of the individual, his/her family, and members of the support team

The information presented in this material discusses how to use the information gathered during the functional behavioral assessment process (Part 1) to develop and implement positive behavioral intervention plans that address both the short- and long-term needs of the student. This material will explore various factors associated with developing a thorough intervention plan and offer some thoughts on possible obstacles to the process. In addition to the individualized process for conducting FBAs and developing effective behavior supports, schools are encouraged to make use of the processes as part of a system-wide program of academic and behaviors supports that better serve all students.

Rationale for Developing Positive Behavioral Interventions

Traditionally, teachers have dealt with student behavior that interferes with classroom instruction by using various kinds of negative consequences (e.g., verbal reprimands, time-out procedures, and suspension). The goal, of course, has been to reduce or eliminate the immediate problem. However, experience has shown that these interventions are not the most effective or efficient means to eliminate problem behavior. “Reactive” approaches--such as punishment--are not only time consuming, but they fail to teach the student acceptable replacement behaviors. Further, they may also serve to reinforce the inappropriate behavior. Thus, many teachers have begun to introduce various programs to teach students more acceptable, alternative responses. For example, social skills programs have been used to teach appropriate interpersonal behavior. However, decisions regarding which social skills to teach are typically based upon the program’s curriculum, without consideration of whether the student knows or does not know the skill or if the student can demonstrate the skill within the context of specific social situations. As a result, understanding why the student misbehaved in the first place is seldom addressed.

Today, there is growing recognition that the success of an intervention hinges on: (a) understanding why the student behaves in a certain way and (b) replacing the inappropriate behavior with a more suitable behavior that serves the same function (or results in the same outcome) as the problem behavior. Knowing what compels a student to engage in a particular behavior is integral to the development of effective, individualized positive behavioral intervention plans and supports.

Generally, the logic behind functional assessment is driven by two principles. First, essentially all behavior serves a purpose: it either allows students to “obtain” or “get” something desirable, “escape” or “avoid” something undesirable, or communicate some other need. Second, behavior occurs within a particular context. It may occur in certain settings (e.g., in the cafeteria), under certain conditions (e.g., only when there is a substitute teacher), or during different types of activities (e.g., during recess). These two principles imply that students will change their inappropriate behavior only when it is clear to them that a different response will more effectively and efficiently accomplish the same thing. For this reason, a functional behavioral assessment must be conducted to identify the causes of a behavior and develop more effective intervention strategies.

Student Problem Behavior as a Team Effort

The role that teamwork plays in addressing student behavior problems cannot be overstated. When conducting a functional behavioral assessment and developing a behavioral intervention plan, education personnel should draw upon a range of communication and interpersonal skills. IEP team members may require special training to develop successful collaboration skills such as time management, group problem solving (including “brainstorming” strategies), active listening, and conflict resolution processes, to mention a few. As with other collaborative efforts, building-level administrative and collegial support is essential to a successful outcome. The value and appropriateness of student and parent involvement in the process also should be carefully considered. Too often their contributions are overlooked when conducting assessment and planning activities.

Development of Positive Behavior Support Plans

After the completion of the functional behavioral assessment, the IEP team typically identifies the likely function of the student’s behavior. The IEP team must now develop (or revise) the student’s positive behavioral intervention plan. This process should be integrated, as appropriate, throughout the process of developing, reviewing, and revising a student’s IEP. The behavioral intervention plan will include, when appropriate: (a) strategies, including positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports; (b) program modifications; and (c) supplementary aids and services that may be required to address the problem behavior.

As mentioned previously, students engage in inappropriate, problem behavior for various reasons. To fully understand the motivation behind student problem behavior, it is useful to consider that problem behavior may be linked to either skill deficits (e.g., Charles cannot do double-digit addition) or performance deficits (e.g., Calvin has the ability, but does not comply with the cafeteria rules). In some cases, problem behavior may be related to both skill and performance deficits (e.g., Mary cannot read maps and is unsure how to ask for help during cooperative activities, though she is able to do so during independent seatwork). The material presented in this document \is based on these two overlapping perspectives on school problem behavior. Intervention plans and strategies that emphasize the skills students need in order to behave in a more appropriate manner or plans that motivate students to conform to expected behavioral standards are more effective than plans that attempt only to control behavior. Interventions based upon control often fail to generalize (i.e., continue to be used for long periods of time, in many settings, and in a variety of situations). Many times they serve only to suppress behavior, which may result in a child seeking to meet unaddressed needs in alternative, usually equally inappropriate ways. On the other hand, positive intervention plans that teach new ways of behaving address both the source of the problem and the problem itself.

When an IEP team has determined that a behavioral intervention plan is necessary, the team members generally use information about the problem behavior’s function, gathered from the functional behavioral assessment. A behavior support plan should include these seven components:

· Antecedent and setting event modifications

· Plans for behavioral/social skill acquisition (teaching new skills)

· Plans for reinforcing desired and/or socially appropriate behaviors

· Plans for reducing undesirable behaviors

· Plans for generalizing behavior/social skills

· Supports for team members

· Evaluation plan

The resulting behavioral intervention plan generally will not consist of simply one intervention; it will be a plan with a number of interventions designed to (a) teach the student more acceptable ways to get what he or she wants, (b) decrease future occurrences of the misbehavior; and (c) address any repeated episodes of the misbehavior. Most behavioral intervention plans are designed to teach the student a more acceptable behavior that replaces the inappropriate behavior, yet serves the same function (e.g., ways to gain peer approval through positive social initiations; ways to seek teacher attention through nonverbal signals). Since most plans will require multiple intervention options rather than a single intervention, however, IEP teams may want to consider the following techniques when designing behavior intervention plans, strategies, and supports:

· Teach more acceptable replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the inappropriate behavior, such as asking to be left alone or using conflict resolution or alternative skills, such as self-management techniques, tolerating delay, or coping strategies;

· Teach students to deal with setting events (the things that make the desired behavior more likely to occur), such as the physical arrangement of the classroom, management strategies, seating arrangements, or sequence of academic instruction;

· Manipulate the antecedents (the things that happen before the behavior occurs) to the desired behavior, such as teacher instructions or directions, or instructional materials;

· Manipulate consequences (the things that happen after the behavior occurs) of the desired behavior, such as precise praise or feedback, keeping in mind the principles of shaping and reinforcing incompatible behaviors;

· Implement changes to the classroom curriculum and/or instructional strategies (e.g., multi-level instruction or encouraging oral rather than written responses); and

· Begin interventions that offer reinforcement for appropriate behavior, such as student performance contracts or group motivational strategies.

Using these strategies, school personnel can develop a plan to both teach and support replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the current problem behavior. At the same time, employing these techniques when developing the behavioral intervention plan can yield interventions that decrease or eliminate opportunities for the student to engage in the inappropriate behavior. For example, a student may be physically aggressive at recess because he or she believes violence is the best way to end a confrontational situation and that such behaviors help accomplish his or her goals. However, when taught to use problem-solving skills (e.g., self-control or conflict resolution) to end a confrontational situation and accomplish his or her goal, the student may be more likely to deal with volatile situations in a nonviolent manner (e.g., defusing the situation by avoiding threatening or provocative remarks or behavior).

Using the case study presented in Part 1: The Functional Behavioral Assessment, the following behavior support plan has been developed for Alex.

Alex: Environmental Strategies

General Considerations When Dealing with Attention-Seeking Behavior

The desire for attention is a common reason given for student misbehavior. However, attention is often a byproduct of misbehavior and not the primary function. Students seldom seek forms of attention that could include ridicule, abuse, and assault. It is more likely that students want to be attentive, and for adults and peers to like them and value their work. Most teachers can attest to the fact that students sometimes use inappropriate or problem behavior to obtain the attention of their teacher and/or peers. Attention-seeking behaviors usually results when students are not likely to obtain attention in any other way. Common examples include calling out, swearing, yelling at a classmate or teacher, having a tantrum, or ignoring an adult request.

Once the conditions under which the behavior occurs have been identified, interventions that focus upon teaching the student appropriate ways to obtain positive peer social interactions or receive teacher praise. For example, role-play exercises might be introduced to teach the student appropriate things to say (e.g., “I’m really stuck on this problem.”). Students may need to be systematically taught to tolerate longer and longer wait times. Other intervention options include giving teacher attention contingent upon appropriate student behavior and taking away attention following inappropriate behavior (e.g., ignoring; placing a student in time out, assuming that this procedure does not elicit peer attention). Finally, reprimanding students has proven ineffective in dealing with attention-seeking behavior, because it typically serves to reinforce the attention-seeking behavior.

A more effective intervention plan for attention-seeking behavior combines strategies to:

· Keep the student from engaging in the original problem or inappropriate behavior

(e.g., verbal threats),

· Teach replacement behavior,

· Ensure that the student has sufficient opportunities to engage in the new replacement behavior (e.g., request assistance), and

· Offer opportunities for the student to be reinforced for the new behavior

(e.g., verbal praise from adults or peers).

For the reinforcement to work, it must not only be easier to obtain, it must be a better “pay-off” than the pay-off from the problem behavior. In a later section, we discuss more fully reinforcement of student behavior.

General Considerations When Dealing with Escape-Motivated Behavior

Inappropriate or problem behavior often stems from a student’s need either to escape or avoid an unpleasant task or situation, or obtain something, such as a desired activity or location. Examples of these situations students may include difficult, irrelevant, lengthy or unclear classroom assignments; group work with others whom they do not like; negative peer or adult interactions; or the desire to with friends who are located in another classroom. Behavior that is used to avoid or escape a difficult academic task might be addressed by teaching the student to use a socially acceptable escape behavior (e.g., asking for help, which must be available once the student asks for it).

If the student is unable to complete the assignment because he or she does not have the skills necessary to do so, the original assignment should be replaced with another assignment that is within the student’s skill level, or strategies and supports should be provided to assist the student (e.g., direct instruction, manipulatives, peer-assisted instruction). The IEP team might address behavior that is meant to escape an unpleasant social interaction with an adult by allowing the student to leave only after he or she has made an acceptable bid to leave that situation (e.g., “I want to be by myself for awhile.”). Finally, it may be useful to devise a multi-step plan in which the student is taught and encouraged to make an appropriate verbal request (e.g., ask to be excused for short periods of time during difficult math assignments). An incentive can be used to reward the student for gradually spending more time at the undesirable task. Thus, this incentive would be both time-limited and part of a larger step-by-step plan to promote the desired student behavior.

Other interventions for dealing with escape-motivated behavior include:

· Placing some kind of demand on the student when facing a frustrating task or difficult situation (e.g., using the correct behavior to ask for additional help or to be temporarily excused);

· Using signal responses (e.g., the teacher signals the student to use a predetermined alternative behavior); and

· Making curricular accommodations or instructional modifications to boost student interest in and/or ability to successfully complete the assignment.

Even though time-out procedures have often been used as a consequence for escape-motivated behaviors, in these cases time out might actually be reinforcing because it allows the student to escape or avoid the situation. Time out is, therefore, likely to increase rather than decrease the inappropriate behavior. Sometimes, student noncompliance stems from a need to exert control over a situation--to pressure others to “give up” or “back off” (e.g., when a teacher makes academic demands that the student perceives to be too difficult). Recognizing that the function of the student’s behavior is to escape from this uncomfortable situation by controlling it, the teacher might begin by modifying the assignment, as well as the manner with which he or she interacts with the student regarding the assignment.

Strategies to Address Different Functions of a Student’s Behavior

Readers are cautioned that potential interventions should always be individualized according to the results of the FBA. The purpose of the following information is to provide some ideas and illustrations of how interventions are related to the various forms and functions of behavior. These strategies are not meant to be comprehensive or exclusive of other strategies/interventions. They simply represent a set of preliminary ideas that would be elaborated and modified as the intervention takes place.

Power/Control
Environmental Strategies	Skill-Building Strategies
Offer more choices.	Teach student how to negotiate for his/her needs.
Avoid arguments and power struggles.	Teach student self-control.
	Teach student how to cope with accusations.

Expression of Self