1. A recorded version of this presentation will be posted to
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) Overview
Presented by
Lorraine Elswick
Lanai Jennings
February 12, 2013
This online seminar will focus on the procedural steps required to complete a functional behavioral assessment and behavior intervention plan for students. FBA and BIP are acronyms for Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan, respectively.
Before we continue with this webinar, it will be helpful if you will first locate the supplemental materials found on the SEBTA website. As we proceed, we will collect your questions, concerns, and comments using the comment box on the left side of the screen when using Illuminate. If time permits, we will answer your questions. If not, we will [post the answers on the website for your later review.
Let’s proceed.
A recorded version of this presentation will be posted to
Standards Based IEPs (October, 2012)

2. I’d like to welcome first year teachers and mentors to the fifth session of our two-year webinar series. During the first year we will provide you with information that relates to compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and Policy 2419, and in year two, webinars will focus on instructional practices.
We would like to thank the National Center to Inform Policy and Practice (NCIPP) in Special Education Professional Development at the University of Florida. The partnership between the Office of Special Programs (OSP) and NCIPP will assist with the retention of special education teachers in West Virginia.
“Our challenge as educators is to make sure that we provide all children in our public schools the opportunity for success. Teachers of children with special needs understand this challenge more than most. They are dedicated individuals who have a passion for teaching and high expectations that every child can learn given an opportunity.” – James B. Phares, Ed.D.

3. Support for Personalized Learning (SPL)
Expected behaviors in safe and supportive schools create an education system that supports students in their efforts to become healthy, responsible and self-directed citizens.
WVBE Policy 4373 – Expected Behaviors in Safe & Supportive Schools addresses all aspects of school climate/culture through preventive practices and meaningful intervention practices. Evidence shows that comprehensive positive behavior support systems can change the trajectory of students who are on a path toward destructive outcomes Policy 4373 works to ensure that all students enrolled in West Virginia public schools behave in a manner that promotes a school environment that is nurturing, orderly, safe and conducive to learning and personal-social development.
WV’s Support for Personalized Learning (SPL) process at the CORE level of instruction for behavior includes the following tenets:
• Articulating clearly and supporting standards of behavior for all students, parents and staff
• Implementing universal interventions with all students to promote healthy development and prevent problems
• Providing school-wide social skills training
• Teaching school behavior expectations
• Maintaining effective classroom management
• Applying positive reinforcement systems
• Providing instruction that is framed for clarity and relevancy, presented with pre-assessment and learning targets and engages students
• Participating in youth engagement initiatives such as peer mediation and conflict resolution programs

4. Support for Personalized Learning
Most children respond to typical classroom behavior management strategies or school wide positive behavioral interventions and supports.
The illustration on this slide shows that while most students are responsive to typical school support, there are some students who will need specific instruction and/or interventions to learn appropriate behaviors. In many cases, educators can observe that the academic difficulty level, the amount of work or the required format for work completion evokes the inappropriate behavior for the student. These educators can modify the format or intervene in some way without ever having to conduct a formal functional behavioral assessment. However, there are a few students who exhibit behaviors whose function is not apparent and is more difficult to discern. Often these behaviors have high intensity or frequency and a functional behavioral assessment is needed to determine its function for the student.
As beginning teachers, generally you will be a member of the evaluation team conducting the FBA and not the sole member responsible for the entire data collection process. Most often, school psychologists and other evaluation specialists usually have the training and the time allotted to lead this process.

5. Definition of FBA from WV Policy 2419: Regulations for the Education of Students with Exceptionalities
A FBA is a sequential, multi-step, team evaluation process that helps to determine the purpose and the effect of the problem behavior(s) so that IEP goals and objectives can be identified, and interventions and modifications can be developed and implemented, specifically through a student's Behavior Intervention Plan.
Read the definition.
Policy 2419 does not define the manner in which a FBA must be conducted or by whom it should be conducted. This decision is left to the discretion of each district and ultimately, the IEP Team. However, if a FBA must be conducted as a result of a disciplinary removal, IDEA and Policy 2419 require the IEP Team to conduct the FBA. The FBA requires that both school personnel and the parents evaluate the behaviors of concern within the broader perspective of the student's home and school environments. Effective and efficient FBA and BIP planning are best conducted by people in the student’s environment who have history of interaction or degree of familiarity with the student.

6. Policy 2419 - Definition of a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)
Written, purposeful and individualized plan based upon a student's functional behavioral assessment.
Describes the positive behavioral interventions, strategies and supports required to implement the student's IEP goals and objectives in the areas of social, emotional and/or behavioral development.
This slides provides the definition of a behavior intervention plan from Policy 2419.

7. Policy 2419 Components of BIP
The BIP may include, but is not limited to:
Environmental modifications that reduce the likelihood of the problem behavior;
Guidance, structured opportunities and/or instruction in the use of new skills as a replacement for problem behaviors;
Consequences to promote positive change and diminish problem behavior;
A crisis management plan (if appropriate); and
Procedures for monitoring, evaluating and reassessing the plan as necessary.
This slide provides the required components and completes the definition of a BIP.

8. When is a FBA/BIP required?
As a result of a student’s disciplinary removal when the student’s conduct is determined to be a manifestation of the student’s disability, the IEP Team must: 1. Conduct a FBA and develop a BIP if one has not been completed; or 2. Review the existing BIP and revise as needed to address the student’s current behavior(s); and 3. Return the student to the placement from which the student was removed unless the parent and the district agree to a change of placement as part of the modification of the BIP as determined by the IEP Team. Policy 2419, p 69
Explain the difference between required and necessary.
The IDEA and Policy 2419 require the IEP Team to conduct a FBA. . . Read the slide . . only as a result of . . .

9. When is a FBA/BIP necessary?
Student data indicates:
High intensity or frequency of behavior
Behavior impedes his or her academic performance or the performance of others
Team needs additional information to understand why the behavior continues
Typical supports or interventions have not been successful
A FBA may be necessary when you want to identify the underlying causes of a student’s behavior. Through observation and data-keeping, you have determined the student’s behavior is at a very high intensity or frequency, the behavior is impeding the student’s academic performance or the performance of others, the IEP Team needs additional information to understand why the student continues to exhibit the behavior, and typical supports and interventions have not been successful in diminishing or eliminating the behavior.
At this point, a FBA will help you determine what the student “gets” or “gets away from” by exhibiting the behavior?
Crone, D.A. & Horner, R.H., 2003

10. FBA is a Process Not an Event
The IDEA does not define how a FBA is conducted. The process may vary with the needs of each child. However, several specific steps are always part of this assessment.

11. What are the components of a FBA/BIP?
Identify and define the target behavior(s) for change.
Collect data from multiple sources.
Develop a hypothesis.
Identify other alternative behaviors to replace or reduce the inappropriate one(s).
Develop an intervention considering the functional variables.
Generally, a FBA consists of 5 distinct steps.
Steps 1 through 3 are the assessment steps of the FBA. Step 3 however, while still an assessment step, is actually the intersection where the team is beginning to develop the behavior intervention plan (BIP).
The steps will be explained individually in the next few slides.

12. Defining the Behavior Topography
What does the behavior look and sound like?
Frequency
Duration
Intensity
Function - Why is the behavior occurring? - What purpose does the behavior serve for the student?
Functional behavioral assessment is a systematic set of strategies that is used to determine the underlying function or purpose of a behavior, so that an effective intervention plan can be developed. FBA consists of describing the interfering or inappropriate behavior, identifying antecedent or consequent events that control the behavior, developing a hypothesis of the behavior, and testing the hypothesis.
An operational definition begins with a description of its topography or what the behavior looks like. Dimensions such as frequency, duration and intensity will also be necessary. For example, the behavior “talks out” may not, by itself, be seen as a major issue for many teachers. However, if it were known that the behavior occurred times per hour, for durations of over 3 hours or loud enough to be heard down the hallway into other classrooms, then the behavior is much more likely to be treated as a priority issue. Teachers need also to be prepared to present evidence of past intervention strategies and the outcomes of those.
Based on that information, you must then make a guess at the function of the behavior. This is called the hypothesis. Why do you think the student is doing this? Is it access to certain people, objects, attention, etc., or is it to escape or avoid a person, activity, attention, etc.?

13. Topography versus Function
Throws Book
To Avoid/Escape
boring work
difficult work
To Gain
peer attention
adult attention
Topography
Function
In Step 1, you want to identify the underlying causes of the behavior. Although the behavior may look the same, the same behavior may serve multiple functions for a student in different instances while it may serve multiple functions for the same student. (Review the behavior of throwing a book as presented on the slide.)

14. Does not begin assignments when prompted
Step 1: Identify and Define the Target Behavior for Change What does the target behavior look like?
Poor Attitude
Does not begin assignments when prompted
Curses
Aggressive
Hits other students
Bites other students
Initially, it is necessary to pinpoint the behavior causing learning or discipline problems, and to define that behavior in concrete terms that are easy to communicate and simple to measure and record. If descriptions of the behavior are vague (such as poor attitude or aggressive, as in the blue boxes), it is difficult to determine appropriate interventions. The white boxes contain examples of concrete descriptions of problem behaviors.
In addition to identifying and defining the target behavior it is also important to estimate how often the problem behavior occurs & how intense the problem behavior is at this stage. Use extant data, such as teacher report/observation, discipline referrals, etc., for estimating frequency and intensity of behavior. As a new teacher, you will most likely be involved at this juncture.

15. Setting Events Antecedent Behavior Consequence Teacher Request Curses
STEP 2: Collect Data from Multiple Sources What sequence of events predicts the target behavior?
Setting Events
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
Teacher Request
Curses
Office Referral
Antecedent Events (Fast Triggers): the antecedents are what comes before the behavior. In order to determine the antecedents, you can analyze routines in the student’s day to identify…
Where, when, with whom the problem behavior occurs?
Where, when, with whom desirable behavior is more likely to occur?
What events, contexts, demands, tasks, people reliably trigger/precede the behavior?
Maintaining Consequences:
What happens immediately after the problem behavior? What is the child trying to GET or GET AWAY from? Consequences make it more likely that the behavior will occur.
Get social attention
Get objects/access to activities
Get sensory stimulation
Avoid aversive task/activity
Avoid aversive social contact
Avoid aversive sensory stimulation
Explain the example as the A, B, Cs come into the slide.

16. Remove Student to Teacher’s Desk/Area
STEP 2: Collect Data from Multiple Sources What sequence of events predicts the target behavior?
Setting Events
Antecedent
Behavior
Consequence
Remove Student to Teacher’s Desk/Area
Playing with Peers
Bites
As another example, explain the A,B, Cs on this slide as they fly into the slide.
There are a variety of tools that can be utilized to obtain this information including:
Direct Observation
Formal (recorded)
Informal (anecdotal)
Interviews, checklists, surveys (some of the things that the teacher might see)
Brief, simple, practical
Longer, more complex, use when necessary
Archival records
Already exist
See Attachments: ABC Chart, Scatter Plot Assessment, ABC Observation Form, Functional Behavior Assessment Matrix
Setting Events (Slow Triggers - Removed in Time)
Events removed in time that influence the behavior…(e.g., pain/ toothache , no breakfast, not receiving prescribed medication, family turmoil/stress, change in support personnel or routine). Change in schedule/routing can also be a direct antecedent.
What distal events tend to predict when the problem behavior will occur later?

17. STEP 2: Collect Data from Multiple Sources What sequence of events predicts the target behavior?
It is important to determine if the student’s target behavior is a result of a skill deficit (i.e., “can’t do”) or performance deficit (i.e., “won’t do”) for intervention planning purposes.
An assessment might indicate the student has a skill deficit, and does not know how to perform desired skills. The functional behavioral assessment may show that, although ineffective, the child may engage in the inappropriate behavior to escape or avoid a situation: (1) for which he or she lacks the appropriate skills; or (2) because he or she lacks appropriate, alternative skills and truly believes this behavior is effective in getting what he or she wants or needs. (Teaching/modeling is critical here – Rewards alone will be ineffective in prompting behavior change.)
If the functional behavioral assessment reveals that the student knows the skills necessary to perform the behavior, but does not consistently use them, the intervention plan may include techniques, strategies, and supports designed to increase motivation to perform the skills.
(e.g., rewards, behavioral contracts, token economy)

18. Step 3: Develop a Hypothesis Statement
A hypothesis statement is a summary statement that predicts the general conditions under which the target behavior is most and least likely to occur (antecedents), as well as the probable consequences that serve to maintain it.
(Quinn, Gable et al., 1998)
The goal of which is to identify specific CONCRETE events or environments more typically associated with the occurrence and nonoccurrence of the inappropriate behavior for intervention.
For instance, should a teacher report that Lucy curses during instruction, a functional behavioral assessment might reveal the function of the behavior is to gain attention (e.g., verbal approval of classmates), avoid instruction (e.g., difficult assignment), seek excitement (i.e., external stimulation), or both to gain attention and avoid a low-interest subject.
Only when the relevance of the behavior is known is it possible to speculate the true function of the behavior and establish an individual behavior intervention plan. In other words, before any plan is set in motion, the team needs to formulate a plausible explanation (hypothesis) for the student’s behavior.
Thus, based on this hypothesis, the teacher might make accommodations in the environment to ensure that Lucy gets the peer attention she seeks as a consequence of appropriate, rather than inappropriate behaviors. If this manipulation changes Lucy’s behavior, the team can assume its hypothesis was correct; if Lucy’s behavior remains unchanged following the environmental manipulation, a new hypothesis needs to be formulated using data collected during the functional behavioral assessment.

19. Components of a FBA/BIP
Identify and define the target behavior(s) for change.
Collect data from multiple sources.
Develop a hypothesis.
Identify other alternative behaviors to replace or reduce the inappropriate one(s).
Develop an intervention considering the functional variables.
Now we are going to transition to the step that is most closely linked to the BIP; that is Step #4, identifying other appropriate behaviors that will be targeted to reduce the inappropriate ones.

20. Step 4: Identify other alternative behaviors to replace or reduce inappropriate behaviors
An Appropriate Replacement / Alternate Behavior
Serves the same function as the target behavior, easier to do and more efficient than the target behavior
Alternate Behaviors require less physical effort & provide quicker, more reliable access to desired outcome/response than target behavior
Socially acceptable
Provide examples.
Leaving a desired activity and the child tantrums. You will want to provide an alternative favored or preferred activity prior to prompting the child to leave the desired activity. 20

21. Step 5: Develop an intervention considering the functional variables
Manipulate the antecedents and/or consequences of the behavior
Teach more acceptable replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the inappropriate behavior
Implement changes in curriculum and instructional strategies
Modify the physical environment
After collecting data on a student’s behavior, and after developing a hypothesis of the likely function of that behavior, the team develops (or revises) the student’s behavior intervention plan or strategies in the IEP. These may include positive strategies, program or curricular modifications, and supplementary aids and supports required to address the disruptive behaviors in question. It is helpful to use the data collected during the functional behavioral assessment to develop the plan and to determine the discrepancy between the child’s actual and expected behavior.
List some examples.

22. Target Behavior- Curses
Step 5: Identify antecedents, consequences and alternative behaviors for manipulation to replace or reduce inappropriate behaviors
Targeted Routine
Desired Behavior
Natural Consequence
Target Behavior- Curses
Maintaining Consequence and Function
Antecedent
IEP teams may want to consider the following techniques when designing behavior intervention plans, strategies, and supports:
Manipulate the antecedents and/or consequences of the behavior, and
Teach more acceptable replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the inappropriate behavior.
The current pathway is: When prompted to begin her work, Lucy curses and fails to complete the work. She is then typically removed from the classroom.
The desired behavior is for Lucy to begin working when she is given an assignment and a prompt. For example, the teacher will present the assignment with the verbal prompt, “Please begin working on your assignment” . This is considered the antecedent.
The natural consequence the teacher may work out with Lucy is that she will have 5 minutes of free time for each 5 minutes of work completed, or eventually, as she makes closer approximations to the desired behavior, not having to take any homework home. The amount of free time ratio will be reduced as the actual work time increases. Some other competing behavior (like listening to music via headphones while completing the work) may be an incompatible behavior with cursing. An alternative behavior could be for her to work with a responsible peer to complete the assignment. The natural consequence for Lucy is that she will receive verbal reinforcement, praise, or ultimately, appropriate attention for exhibiting the desired behavior.
Alternate Behavior

23. Evaluate and Adjust the Intervention Plan
Are the baseline rates of the target behavior increasing or decreasing in the desired direction?
What intervention components can be tweaked, added or eliminated to result in greater efficacy?

24. Teaching Behavior vs. Controlling Behavior
Interventions Based on Control:
Often fail to generalize
Sometimes only suppress the behavior rather than provide an appropriate alternative behavior
Interventions Based on Positive Behavior Supports:
Teach student to address the source of the inappropriate behavior and skills needed for replacement & alternative behaviors
Right side of the slide: Intervention plans and strategies emphasizing skills students need in order to behave in a more appropriate manner, or plans providing motivation to conform to required standards, will be more effective than plans that simply serve 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) — and many times they serve only to suppress behavior — resulting in a child manifesting unaddressed needs in alternative, inappropriate ways.
Left side of the slide: Positive plans for behavioral intervention, on the other hand, will address both the source of the problem and the problem itself.

25. Teaching Behavior
Don’t assume student knows how to exhibit appropriate behavior
Model & reinforce approximations to the desired behavior
Schedule review & practice of the behavior regularly.
Many teachers and school personnel often have a set of misconceptions about student behavior:
They often assume students know how to behave, that they just refuse to behave appropriately.
One should not assume a student knows how to behave. You often must teach the student to behave. Think about this…when a student doesn’t know how to read, we teach that student to read. If a student cannot open his/her milk carton, we teach the student how to do that, sometimes using physical prompts to do so.
When teaching students how to exhibit appropriate behavior:
1) Don't assume that student knows how to exhibit the appropriate behavior.
2) Model the behavior for the student often. Reinforce other students when performing the behavior appropriately.
3) Reinforce the student’s closer approximations to the desired behavior.
4) Schedule Review & Practice of the skill/behavior regularly and in the settings in which the behavior naturally occurs. Example - practice walking quietly from the classroom to the lunch room in the hallway during that naturally occurring transition during the day (at lunch time).

26. In Summary Positive Behavioral Intervention Options:
Replace problem behaviors with appropriate behaviors that serve the same (or similar) function as inappropriate ones
Increase rates of existing appropriate behaviors
Make changes to the environment that eliminate the possibility of engaging in inappropriate behavior
Provide the supports necessary for the child to use the appropriate behaviors.
Select a behavior that likely will be elicited by and reinforced in the natural environment.
Whatever the approach, the more proactive and inclusive the behavior intervention plan – and the more closely it reflects the results of the functional behavioral assessment – the more likely that it will succeed. In brief, one’s options for positive behavioral interventions may include:
Replacing problem behaviors with appropriate behaviors that serve the same (or similar) function as inappropriate ones;
Increasing rates of existing appropriate behaviors;
Making changes to the environment that eliminate the possibility of engaging in inappropriate behavior; and
Providing the supports necessary for the child to use the appropriate behaviors.
Care should be given to select a behavior that likely will be elicited by and reinforced in the natural environment, for example, using appropriate problem-solving skills on the playground will help the student stay out of the principal’s office.

27. Providing Other Supports
Peers
Teachers
Paraprofessionals
Related Service Providers
Families
Sometimes supports are necessary to help students use appropriate behavior. The student may benefit from work with other school personnel, such as the counselor or school psychologist. Other people who may provide sources of support include:
Peers, who may provide academic or behavioral support through tutoring or conflict resolution activities, thereby fulfilling the student’s need for attention in appropriate ways.
Families, who may provide support through setting up a homework center in the home and developing a homework
schedule, which enables the child to appropriately participate in follow-up class discussions;
Teachers and paraprofessionals, who may provide both academic supports and curricular modifications to address and
decrease a student’s need to avoid academically challenging situations; and
Language pathologists, who are able to increase a child’s expressive and receptive language skills, thereby providing the child
with alternative ways to respond to any situation.

28. Resources http://www.pbis.org http://www.nasponline.org/publications

29. Thank you for your participation
Thank you for your participation. At the conclusion of this webinar, please download the NCIPP mentor-mentee attachments.
If you require additional assistance please contact Dr. Christina Chambers,
Assistant Director, Office of Special Programs or via at
We hope this information has been informative and helpful.
Thank you for your participation, your questions and comment will be reviewed and taken into consideration before the next webinar.
Please remember to complete the evaluation.