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All regular disciplinary rules and procedures applicable to students receiving educational instruction in a DoDEA school apply to students with disabilities who violate school rules and regulations or disrupt regular classroom activities. This is true for children with disabilities who are facing a disciplinary consequence involving suspension of 10 days or less. Furthermore, disciplinary consequences for students with disabilities may not be more severe than those for children without disabilities. Before a student with a disability can be suspended for more than ten days (whether cumulative during the school year or consecutive) or expelled resulting in a change in placement, the school must follow specific procedures not applicable to a student without a disability. One of these procedures is to conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment .

Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

Educators understand the effects of behavior on learning and the 1997 amendments to IDEA require that the relationship between behavior and learning not only be considered by the CSC but acted upon. When the administrator, special education teacher, or other school personnel observe repeated acts of misconduct, or a single serious act of misconduct, by a student with a disability, the student should be referred for a FBA. A functional behavioral assessment is required for the implementation of a behavior intervention plan and supports to address

behaviors that interfere with the student’s learning and with the learning of others or that require disciplinary action. The CSC should conduct an FBA when:

1. A student exhibits patterns of challenging behavior or a single serious act of misconduct. 2. A change in placement is recommended or made as a result of a discipline procedure. 3. A current behavioral intervention plan is not changing the pattern and/or outcome of the

behavior.

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is an important component in designing an effective behavior intervention plan. An FBA is a systematic process for describing problem behavior, and identifying the environmental and surrounding events associated with the behavior. The information collected through an FBA is used to identify and teach more appropriate

replacement behaviors and to develop an effective plan for reducing the frequency or severity of the behavior.

Conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment1

Before implementing an FBA, it is necessary to pinpoint the behavior causing learning or discipline problems and to define the behavior in concrete terms that are easy to communicate and simple to measure and record. When the descriptions of behaviors are vague, it is difficult to determine appropriate interventions.

1

See “An IEP Team’s Introduction to Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans,” January 16, 1998, prepared by The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice.

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Examples of concrete descriptions of problem behaviors are:

Problem Behavior Concrete Definition

Susan is aggressive. Susan hits other students during recess when she does not get her way.

Ryan is disruptive. Ryan makes irrelevant and inappropriate comments during class discussions. Jan is hyperactive. Jan leaves her assigned area without

permission, completes only small portions of her independent work, and blurts out answers during class discussions without raising her hand.

It may be necessary to carefully and objectively observe the student’s behavior in different settings and during different types of activities and to conduct interviews with other school staff in order to pinpoint the specific characteristics of the behavior.

Once the problem behavior is defined, the CSC can develop an assessment plan and obtain parent permission for conducting an FBA to determine the functions of the behavior. Since problem behavior can stem from a variety of causes the CSC should consider the following questions in determining the underlying cause for the behavior.

1. Is the problem behavior linked to a skill deficit?

2. Does the student have the skill, but for some reason, not the desire to modify his or her behavior?

Techniques for Conducting an FBA

The use of a variety of assessment techniques will help the CSC to better understand the student’s behavior and to develop a workable intervention plan. Some techniques that may be considered when developing an FBA plan include the following:

1. Indirect assessment - Indirect or informant assessment relies on the use of structured interviews with students, teachers, and other adults who have direct responsibility for the student. The interview is structured to provide information about the settings in which the behavior is observed, what activities take place just prior to the behavior, what happens immediately after the behavior, and is there a more acceptable behavior that might replace the problem behavior.

2. Direct assessment - Direct assessment involves observing and recording situational factors surrounding the behavior.

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available diagnostic assessment instrument.

4. Data analysis - Data analysis helps the CSC to determine whether there are any patterns associated with the behavior. If patterns cannot be determined, the CSC should review and revise, as necessary, the FBA plan to identify other methods for assessing the behavior.

When the relevance of the behavior is identified, it is possible for the CSC to formulate an explanation (hypothesis) regarding the likely functions of the student’s behavior and the context (social and environmental conditions) in which the behavior is more likely to occur. The

hypothesis also helps the CSC in developing an appropriate individual behavior intervention plan.

Sample Hypotheses

(1) When Julie does not sleep well (setting event) and is given difficult work

(antecedent), she is likely to disrupt (behavior) the class in order to not do the task (function). She is less likely to engage in problem behavior if difficult problems are interspersed with easier problems and she is reinforced for appropriately requesting assistance.

(2) During independent or small group work (setting event), when William is left unattended by the teacher for longer than 5 minutes (antecedent) he leaves his seat/area (behavior) to obtain adult attention (function). William’s out of seat behavior is decreased when praised for remaining in his seat. His behavior will improve when he is taught to self- monitor his behavior.

Behavior Intervention Plan

After collecting data on a student’s behavior and developing a hypothesis on the function of the behavior, the CSC must develop or revise the student’s behavior intervention plan. The plan should include positive strategies, program or curricular modifications, and

supplementary aids and supports required to address the problem behavior.

Input by the general education teacher is important in the development of the behavior

intervention plan. The teacher can provide the team with information about his or her behavioral expectations, and how the classroom environment and/or general education curriculum can be modified to support the student.

Intervention plans should emphasize the skills the student needs in order to behave in a more appropriate manner and provide motivation to conform to required standards. The intervention plan should include strategies to:

1. Teach the student more acceptable way to get what he or she wants; 2. Decrease future occurrences of the misbehavior; and

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The behavioral intervention plan generally will not consist of one intervention, but the plan will include a number of interventions designed to address the three aspects of the student’s behavior listed above.

Guidelines for Selecting Intervention Options2

As the CSC is discussing ideas about positive behavioral strategies for the student’s behavioral intervention plan, the committee should consider the following questions:

1. Which intervention aligns with the function of the behavior?

2. Which intervention is appropriate given the student’s need and current levels of performance?

3. Which intervention directly teaches the target behavior?

4. Which is the least intrusive and least complex intervention likely to produce positive changes in student behavior?

5. Which aligned intervention or combination of interventions is most likely to positively change student behavior quickly and easily?

6. Which aligned intervention or combination of interventions is least likely to produce negative side effects?

7. Which intervention has evidence of effectiveness with the targeted behavior? 8. Which intervention is most acceptable to the team member(s) responsible for

implementing the plan?

9. Which intervention is most likely to be acceptable to the student?

10.Which intervention is most likely to promote a replacement behavior that will occur and be reinforced in the natural environment?

The intervention plan may be incomplete unless additional supports are provided to help the student use the appropriate behavior. Supports are generally designed to address factors that go beyond the immediate context in which the inappropriate behavior occurs. For example, a student may benefit from working with school personnel, such as counselors or school

psychologists, to help him or her deal with academic or personal issues that may contribute to the problem behaviors. Other people who may provide support include:

2

See “Addressing Student Problem Behavior-Part III: Creating Positive Behavioral Intervention Plans and Supports,” June 2, 2002, prepared by The Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice.

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1. Peers - provide academic or behavioral support through tutoring or conflict-resolution activities.

2. Families - provide support through setting up a homework center in the home and developing a homework schedule, or by positively reinforcing their child for appropriate behavior in school.

3. Teachers and paraprofessionals - provide academic support and curricular modifications to address and decrease a student’s desire to avoid academically challenging activities.

4. Speech/Language specialists - increase a student’s expressive and receptive language skills to provide the student with alternative ways to respond to stressful situations. 5. Community agency service providers – provide broad-based and long-term student and

family intervention and support.