Carl J. Liaupsin

Applying Positive Behavior Support and Functional Behavioral Assessment in Schools

Positive behavior support (PBS) and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) are two significant concepts of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. These two concepts are not new, but they are important for improving the quality of efforts to educate children and youth with disabilities. The purposes of this article are to describe (a) the context in which PBS and FBA are needed and (b) definitions and features of PBS and FBA. An important message is that positive behavioral interventions and supports involve the whole school, and successful implementation emphasizes the identification, adoption, and sustained use of effective policies, systems, data-based decision making, and practices. Systems-level challenges are also discussed.

Using Functional Behavior Assessment in General Education Settings: Making a Case for Effectiveness and Efficiency:

Under the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, schools have a legal obligation to conduct functional behavior assessments (FBAs) when developing intervention plans for students with disabilities whose behaviors lead their individualized education program teams to consider a change in educational placement, including suspension and expulsion. However, FBA also holds significant promise as a procedure to be used proactively with students with behavioral challenges who are educated in part, or wholly, in general education classrooms. Unfortunately, current conceptualizations of FBA as a methodologically rigorous procedure pose significant and possibly insurmountable barriers to proactive implementation in general education settings. The authors analyze these barriers through a targeted review of the literature, an examination of how the characteristics of general education settings promote the use of less demanding FBA methodologies, and a consideration of situations in which certain FBA procedures generally are contraindicated. Finally they advocate an active research agenda that is responsive to the particular challenges of public school settings and FBA students with and at risk for mild disabilities.

An Examination of the Relation between Functional Behavior Assessment and Selected Intervention Strategies with School-Based Teams.

Although functional behavior assessment (FBA) is widely advocated as best practice in developing effective behavior intervention plans for students with challenging behaviors, there is no compelling evidence supporting the ability of school-based personnel to use the outcomes of FBA to develop effective interventions. In this study, selected staff members from four elementary schools were trained in how to use the outcomes of an FBA to develop function-based intervention plans. They then formed school-based intervention teams and served as facilitators for a total of 31 cases. The same cases also were distributed to three national FBA experts who selected interventions based on the identified function for each case. The number and type of selected intervention strategies were recorded and analyzed across cases. Comparisons between team and expert intervention strategy selection revealed that school-based personnel in this study were more likely to select punitive and exclusionary strategies, regardless of function. Thus, in real-world school settings, the link between FBA and intervention is far more complex than has been recognized or discussed in the literature. Discussion focuses on possible explanations for the finding that school-based teams tend to gravitate toward more negative and exclusionary strategies, even when mediated by a trained FBA facilitator.

Addressing the Challenging Behavior of Young Children through Systematic Function-Based Intervention.

A decision model was used to systematically construct function-based interventions for the disruptive behaviors of three young children (ages 3.75—4.75 years) receiving special education services in inclusive preschool settings. The study was conducted in three phases. In Part 1, descriptive functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) were conducted. Each FBA included structured interviews and direct observations that were used to identify the functions of target behaviors. In Part 2, function-based interventions were constructed for each participant . In Part 3, these interventions were implemented within ongoing activities in their preschool classrooms. The study covered nearly 9 weeks. Baseline and intervention were conducted for 17 sessions (nearly 6 weeks). Follow-up data were collected weekly for an additional 3 weeks. The interventions, when implemented correctly, produced dramatic improvements in the students’ behavior. Implications for future research are discussed.

Ensuring Student Success through Team-Based Functional Behavioral Assessment

King Middle School is in a middle-class neighborhood but draws students from across a range of socioeconomic classes, ethnicities, and cultures. In a population of 600 students, the school used suspension as a disciplinary consequence nearly 150 times during the previous school year. Because of the high number of behavioral incidents requiring suspension and other exclusionary actions (e.g., expulsion, special classes, alternative school placement, etc.), many people in the district think of the school as a “problem school.” Being acutely sensitive to the status of the school, the district superintendent asks the principal of King to ask the school’s disciplinary committee to look into ways they might reduce the number of problem behaviors and suspensions. After reviewing school records, the faculty discipline committee at King finds that the students who are suspended typically have had a number of minor problems before the offense that leads to suspension. When they report this finding at a staff meeting, some of the faculty suggest that this is an indication that suspension should occur sooner, before a student’s behavior is out of control. A member of the discipline committee, however, responds by noting that an analysis of suspension data indicates that, once suspended, these students seem to be more likely to continue a string of behaviors that result in further suspensions. The disciplinary committee suggests to the faculty that they will investigate the issues further and report at the next faculty meeting. After reading some of the benefits of early intervention (e.g., Nelson, 1996; Sugai, Sprague, Horner, & Walker, 2000; Walker et al., 1996), the disciplinary committee returns to the next faculty meeting to suggest that the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) might be helpful in keeping early minor behavior problems from escalating into more serious behaviors that require suspension. The committee explains that the FBA is an assessment process that leads to an understanding of the reasons for the problem behavior. Again, some staff members are concerned that such a policy will create long lines of students who need costly and time-consuming assessments. They cite the special education referral process as an example and point out the number of experts and procedures that are necessary to assess a single student for special education eligibility. But the discipline committee proposes that the FBA process can be completed much more easily and efficiently if procedures are simplified and shared by a number of school staff. That is, when initial incidents identify a student as being at risk for more serious problems, those who are familiar with the student will be called together, with the student’s parents, to discuss what is going on with that student and what can be done to turn failure into success. The process advocated by the King school discipline committee is known as team-based functional assessment. The team-based process involves the same set of principles and procedures that are part of more formalized FBA procedures (e.g., Liaupsin, Scott, & Nelson, 2000; O’Neill et al., 1997) but in a simplified and streamlined form so that the process is realistic for use by typical public school personnel. Even in its simplified form, FBA can still be an effective assessment technique for dealing with students whose behaviors do not yet warrant suspension or referral for special education services—but whose persistent patterns

Effects of a Comprehensive Function-Based Intervention Applied Across Multiple Educational Settings

This study examined the feasibility and effectiveness of a comprehensive function-based intervention applied across multiple inclusive classroom settings. The participant was a middle school student diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome who exhibited chronic off-task behaviors across all academic environments. This study was conducted across two phases: (a) A descriptive functional behavior assessment (FBA) was conducted across all inclusive classroom environments and (b) a single, comprehensive function-based intervention was developed based on the results of the FBA followed by the implementation of a comprehensive function-based intervention in each inclusive classroom environment using a multiple probe design. The comprehensive function-based intervention markedly improved the participant’s on-task behavior in each classroom setting. Furthermore, social validity ratings by each teacher revealed that the comprehensive, function-based intervention was preferable to the previously used classroom practices. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Stakeholder Utility: Perspectives on School-wide Data for Measurement, Feedback, and Evaluation

More than 10,000 schools in the United States have adopted the multi-tiered model of behavioral and academic supports known as school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS). Schools and districts adopting, implementing, and sustaining PBIS are charged with collecting and disseminating data generated by and related to students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Additionally, researchers and technical assistance providers collect school- and district-level measures to measure outcomes related to PBIS implementation. The interests and needs of this broad range of stakeholders impact the usefulness of each piece of data that is collected for each stakeholder group. This paper presents a construct called stakeholder utility, driven by stakeholder role and purpose, which may help stakeholders design and appraise measures to be used for assessment, evaluation, and research.

Examining Placement Considerations for Students With Emotional Disturbance Across Three Alternative Schools

The continuum of educational environments exists to ensure the most appropriate and least restrictive educational setting for students with disabilities. One setting schools use to provide services to students with an emotional disturbance (ED) is an alternative school. How schools make decisions regarding student placement into and out of this setting lacks examination. This study identifies factors considered when making placements into and out of three alternative schools for students with ED. A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data from key stakeholders from each school involved with decision-making authority regarding student placement. Findings include (a) limited transitioning of students back to less restrictive settings, (b) greater number of factors considered during exit decisions from alternative schools than entry, and (c) student’s return to a less restrictive setting not contingent on those factors considered when placing the student into the school.

Evaluating the Effects of Function-Based Interventions With Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Students

This study examined the effectiveness of function-based interventions with students who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The participants were 3 elementary-aged males attending a center school for the deaf who exhibited chronic off-task behaviors throughout the school day. This study was conducted across 2 phases: (a) a descriptive functional behavior assessment (FBA) was conducted for each participant and (b) individualized function-based interventions were developed based on the results of the FBAs, followed by the implementation of the interventions in each classroom using a single-subject, ABAB reversal design. The function-based interventions significantly improved each participants on-task behavior in his classroom environment. Furthermore, social validity ratings by each teacher revealed that the interventions were effective, easy to implement, and appropriate for each participant. Implications for application of the procedures used in this study with the D/HH population, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Improving Treatment Integrity through a Functional Approach to Intervention Support

A functional approach to intervention planning has been shown to be effective in reducing problem behaviors and promoting appropriate behaviors in children and youth with behavior disorders. When function-based intervention plans are not successful, it is often due to issues of treatment integrity in which teachers omit or do not sufficiently engage in intervention behaviors. The purpose of this article is to conceptually explore how function-based intervention concepts and practices used to support student behavior might be applied to improve treatment integrity through a functional approach to teacher intervention support.