Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Support Plans

Development of an intervention is the final step in the functional behavior assessment (FBA) process. In the completion of the FBA antecedent and reinforcing contingencies are identified which can be manipulated to prevent the behavior from occurring, remove reinforcement for engaging in the undesired behavior, or be utilized to reinforce alternate behaviors (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). An FBA is a necessary component of the intervention process in that it provides the necessary information with regard to the function of the behavior through the systematic manipulation of environmental variables thought to maintain the problem under controlled conditions; yielding a clear demonstration of the interaction between the independent variable

When a student who has a disability’s educational placement is changed due to challenging behavior, a functional behavior assessment must be conducted. Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is used to aid in the development of behavior intervention plans (BIP’s). In a functional assessment, the type and the source of reinforcement for problem behaviors are used as a basis for intervention efforts that are designed to increase occurrence. Functional analysis can also be used to determine the specific function of a behavior, but FBA’s are more commonly used, especially in school settings. In a functional analysis (FA), antecedents and consequences that represent those in the person’s natural environment are arranged so that their effects on the problem behavior can be observed and measured. The difference between a functional analysis and functional behavior assessment is that the assessment establishes a connection between the behavior and antecedent or the consequent variables, but a functional analysis identifies informal relationships. For this reason, a functional analysis is seen to be a more valid tool for identifying the function of a behavior; however, there are limitations to using a functional analysis. This method may momentarily strengthen the problem behavior or result in the behavior acquiring new functions. Federal mandates like IDEA 2004 and school reforms such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) have played a role in the increase of the

Functional behavior assessments are important to teachers and students because I believe that all children behave a certain way for a reason. Children who have disabilities as well as children who do not have disabilities behave in inappropriate ways and a functional behavior assessment can help to determine why so that a plan can be developed to correct the behavior. Negative behavior is a reaction to something happening in a child's life or an imbalance in the child. A child with an imbalance will benefit from a functional behavior assessment because there is a

According to Raymond (2012), “FBA is the process of gathering information about a learner’s behaviors in order to determine the purpose of a problem behavior in addition to its antecedents and consequences”. This process is for all students regardless if they have a disability or not. Once the target behavior has been implemented, a hypothesis can be developed and more effective behavioral interventions can be designed and implemented, including PBIS. All data used to create these implementations need to be “recent…properly collected and interpreted”. In addition to our textbook’s information, I also found this: “Functional behavioral assessment is a test that is meant for identifying the reason for behaviors displayed by individuals with severe cognitive and communication problems. (…) The following are key benefits gained from a functional behavioral assessment.

Cole’s mother and English teacher completed BASC II scales. The BASC II measures a student’s emotional, behavioral, and adaptive functioning. The score that is used for the scale is the T-score. The T-score indicates the distance of a score from the norm group mean. The BASC II has a mean T-score of 50 with a standard deviation of 10. Scores ranging 60 to 69 are considered to be in the At-Risk range. The T-scores that are 70+ are in the Clinically Significant range. On the Adaptive Scale portion of the BASC II, the T-Scores that are from 30 to 39 are in the At-Risk range. The T-scores that are below 29 are in the Clinically Significant range.

The BASC – 2 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System - BASC-2 BESS (2007) is a mental health screener used to assess behavioral, emotional strength and weaknesses in children and adolescents, ages 3-18. The assessment was developed by Randy Kamphaus and Cecil R. Reynolds (2007); Published by Pearson, Cost: $60. The test is designed to provide a triangulated view of a child’s behavioral, emotional functioning, adaptive and maladaptive skills by using a cross informant strategy (BASC-2 BESC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2007). Teachers, Students, and Parents are equally considered when the screening is administered so a sensitive prediction of child and adolescents future behavioral and emotional functioning can be assessed.

|The duration of this behavior is exhibited daily in 3 out of 6 class periods. |

9. A third-grade teacher is looking to improve her students’ level of engagement during group discussions and instruction. She keeps track of each of the 15 third graders’ number of responses every day for 1 week. This information is available in Ch. 4 Data Set 2. Use IBM® SPSS® software to create a bar chart (one bar for each day).

The tool that I will use to help answer this question is the SATIC (Student and Teacher Interaction Coding) (Abraham & Schlitt, 1973) which is a tool that was developed for monitoring certain teacher behaviors. In order to better understand how the SATIC works and interpret the results, Abraham and Schlitt (1973) explain the use of the SATIC instrument; its history, uses, and implementation, along with a coding sheet to help the user analyze the data they have collected. I will use the SATIC to analyze a 15 minute of a section of the lesson and the coding sheet to quantify teaching behaviors and types of responses so that I can quantify how many times I used each type of interaction or behavior as opposed to another. In order to perform my analysis, I will use data collected from student work and video evidence that was recorded during my lesson for later reference. The video evidence will come from the second day of the two part lesson that I taught to a high school integrated science class on the topic

Functional Behavioural Assessment, Functional assessment is a process for determining the function of the child/adult’s problem behaviour. Functional Assessment or Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) involves the collection of data, observations, and information to develop a

List two potential problems that a nurse may discover in an assessment of each age group.

Reinforcement is an essential part in identifying and encouraging a certain behavior. In the most classic definition, positive reinforcement is a method of identifying to children which behaviors are acceptable and appropriate and which are not (Sigler, E. & Aamidor, S, 2005). Reinforcement is often given as praise for doing a certain task. As educators, saying “great job” or a simple word like “fantastic” are expressed towards students as praise. However, when a student is struggling and praise is given such as “you are doing so well”, the negative aspects of praise present themselves. The child is aware of the empty praise

To do so, the researchers conducted functional behavior assessments (FBAs) on the participant who was three years old. Based on the results, the researchers anticipated that the participant would gain appropriate self-control and be less reliant on teacher prompts. The results showed a dramatic decrease in problem behaviors and increase in compliance during transitions. The schedule boards helped the child to keep track of the day’s events and to develop an understanding of time frames and environmental

A frequency recording is according to McIntyre (n.d.), “a simple counting of how many times a behavior occurs during a designated period of time”. I have actually had to use a frequency count-type observation for a new student this year. Some background information on this student was that he was a second grader who used to live in the inner city of New York. His mental health was questionable and was assessed/observed the whole time he attended our school. After numerous observations, he was seen unfit to be in a traditional classroom and therefore we provided a teacher to go to his house every day to conduct his lessons.

In applied behavior analysis behaviorists use techniques such as functional behavior assessment (FBA), to create functionally-based interventions that target maladaptive behavior. The goal of an FBA is to identify the conditions that predict behavior and the consequences that maintain behavior (Carr et al., 2002). If the link between antecedent, behavior, and consequence can be established, it will be possible to alter a behavior by changing its predictive stimuli and maintaining consequences (Bender, 2015). After forming this link by collecting data, a behavior intervention plan (BIP) will be created to diminish problem behavior (Bender, 2015). This BIP must target the function of the behavior and