Positive Behavior Support Understanding Why Children Engage in Challenging Behavior and How to Develop Positive Effective Strategies to Address It

Agenda  Understanding Positive Behavior Supports  How does behavior work?  Understanding the functions (or reasons) for problem behavior  Developing effective intervention strategies using the Behavior Analysis and Intervention Summary (BAIS)  Break for lunch  Classroom implementation of strategies  Parent tools (Keys and Home)

Positive Behavior Support PBS involves comprehensive multi- component support that focuses on:  Preventing problem behavior  Using of research-validated practices  Teaching new skills  Enhancing quality of life  Assessing the reasons for problem behavior and redesigning environments and challenging contexts  Embedding intervention into natural routines  Person-centered support

How Behavior Works

There’s so much more than what you see on the surface

The ABCs  Behavior – observable response  Antecedents – what happens before the behavior (can function to trigger behavior)  Consequences – what happens after (can reduce or increase the likelihood of behavior through the principles of reinforcement and punishment)

Setting Events Conditions or circumstances that increase the likelihood of problem behavior Setting events “set the stage…”

Setting Events  Can be due to social, environmental or physiological factors  May or may not immediately proceed the behavior  Examples may include: lack of sleep, sickness, medication changes, stressful experiences, cultural issues, history and family experiences

Understanding the ABC’s  Preschool Classroom Example

Can increase the Likelihood of Behavior Can decrease the Likelihood of Behavior Triggers

Why is the Behavior Occurring Determining Function

Problem behavior occurs to accomplish the following: Activities Items Physiological Stimulation Attention Obtain Escape Activities Items Physiological Stimulation Attention Sugai & Horner, 2001

How Do You Determine Function?  Be (or find) an objective observer  Interview others in the child’s life

Developing Effective Intervention Strategies Behavior Analysis and Intervention Summary (BAIS)

BAIS  Let’s use the BAIS: Behavior Analysis and Intervention Summary to develop an effective multi-component intervention to address the example provided earlier

Applying What You Know With an example from your classroom identify the following:  How behavior works?  How to determine the function (or reason) for problem behavior  Develop effective intervention strategies using the Behavior Analysis and Intervention Summary (BAIS)

McCart, A. & Bannerman Juracek, D., 2002

Classroom Management Effective Strategies to Consider When Implementing PBS in the Classroom

Establishing a Classroom Management Plan  Diagram your classroom  Typical daily schedule include transition times  Clearly defined behavioral expectations will be for your classroom  Layered positive based motivation system  Steps to deal with behavioral concerns  Back up activities  Specific ways to handle transitions  Consistency with your students in other environments

Elements of Effective Classroom Management Strategies  Layers of Support  Includes choice  Touches on individual, group and class- wide  Includes lots of positive components  Immediate elements of reinforcement  Consistent  Considers context

Preferred PBS Practices for the Classroom  Best way to deal with serious problem behaviors is to prevent them in first place  Anticipate problems and intervene before they worsen  Nip things in the bud…have eyes in back of your head  Effective teachers accentuate positive and eliminate the negative  4:1 positives-to-negatives ratio in order to maintain behavior

Establishing Your Classroom Management Plan Activity

Classroom Set Up  Are there areas within your classroom that clearly differentiated?  How have you minimized chaotic areas?  How does your classroom look from a child’s perspective? From another adult perspective?  Is it organized in a way that facilitates transitions?

Schedule  What is your daily schedule?  Do the children know your schedule?  Is it consistent?  Is it written or are there pictures?  What are the trouble times of day?  Note on your schedule each transition as a specific activity

Transitions  For each transition it should be planned…  How will you move from one activity to another?  Brainstorm effective transition strategies:

Expectations  Are the school-wide expectations incorporated into your classroom and how?  What are the behavioral expectations for each of the areas of your classroom?  Are the expectations regularly taught and posted?

Motivation System  What is your classroom motivation system?  Does it tie into the whole school motivation system?  Do you have a layered approach (using multiple strategies to meet the needs)?

Behavioral Concerns  How do you currently handle behavioral concerns in your classroom?  How could you prevent behavioral concerns from occurring?  How will you handle concerns other than the office referral process?

The Back Up  Identify a menu of strategies to have available when planned activities go wrong  The bin system  Examples of back up strategies

Back to Transitions  What are your transition activities?  How will your students know it is time to change activities?  How will you continue to teach the expectations during transitions?

Secrets of Master Teachers  Effective teachers view behavior management problems as instructional problems, as “errors in learning”  Effective teachers know that “telling is not teaching”  Telling a student to behave vs. teaching a student to behave - Utah SIGNAL Project Utah State University

Changing the Focus of Control  Effective teachers recognize that the only behavior they can directly control is their own  First thing to do when you encounter a student with problem behavior is NOT to focus on changing his/her behavior but focus on changing your own teaching behaviors Utah SIGNAL Project Utah State University

Time Management  Monitor start and stop times. Stick to them!  Avoid down time—leads to problem behaviors  Discourage unplanned interruptions—leads to problem behaviors  Avoid making unannounced changes in scheduled activities—unpredictability leads to problem behaviors  Pay attention to how you handle transitions—they can lead to problem behaviors Utah SIGNAL Project Utah State University

Ticket to Success An easier way to address problem behavior systematically

Tickets to Success  Describe problem behavior  Figure out why it occurs (that is, the reason for (or “function” of) the problem behavior  Choose some positive intervention strategies using the questions on the back as a guide

Tickets To Success

Intervention Ideas to Consider Strategies Can I change the environment, or routine or schedule to change this behavior? Can I reward or acknowledge a positive behavior instead? Can I teach a new skill to replace this behavior? Can I think of more than one way to address this behavior in a positive way? What can I do to prevent this behavior in the future?

Harmony in The Home Key Settings and Core Behavioral Strategies for the Home Focus Child: _______________________Date: _________________ Home Setting: ________________________ 1) Sketch out a diagram of how a problematic home setting (room, area, floor of the house, outside area) is set up on the back of this page. What changes can be made to make is less problematic environmentally (increase visual supervision, support active engagement in activities, etc.) 2) Record a typical daily schedule, include transition times as specific activities. 3) Decide what your clearly defined behavioral expectations will be for your home. What do they look like and not look like in this specific environment. 4) Select a motivation system for your home or this specific environment, using a layered positive based motivation system; try not to rely on one system. 5) Establish clear steps to deal with behavioral concerns when necessary. 6) Write down 3 or 4 back up activities that will be available to your child, if a planned activity is not working. Have all needed supplies and materials for these back up activities available. 7) Select specific ways to handle transitions in your home. Specifically, how will your child know it is time to change activities and how will they go about moving from one activity to another? 8) How will you ensure consistency with your child in other environments in your home or at restaurants, in a vehicle, etc.?

Resources  Weaving Intervention into the Fabric of Everyday Life: An approach to family assessment (Bernheimer & Keogh, 1995)  Contextual Fit for Behavioral Support Plans (Koegel, Koegel, & Dunlap, 1996)  Positive Behavior Support with Families (Lucyshyn, Dunlap, & Albin, 2002)  Parenting with Positive Behavior Support: A practical guide to resolving your child’s difficult behavior (Hieneman, Childs & Sergay, 2006)  Developing Cross-Culture Competence (Lynch & Hanson, 2004)

Resources  Center for Evidence Based Practice  Online academy PBS module  OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports  Kansas Institute on Positive Behavior Support  Don’t forget APBS in March 2009

Thank You For Your Time Amy McCart University of Kansas Beach Center on Disability