Peter J. Alter

Functional Behavior Assessment in Classroom Settings: Scaling Down to Scale Up

Functional behavior assessment (FBA), although mandated by federal law in situations involving students with emotional and behavioral disorders, is not well defined in the literature in terms of how it should best be undertaken in widespread practice in schools. Functional behavior assessment can be defined as a process for determining the reason or reasons why a student engages in inappropriate behaviors by identifying predictable relations between the behavior and the environmental conditions in which it occurs. Unfortunately, highly technical terminology and a poorly defined process have turned a valuable technology into more unnecessary bureaucratic paperwork in its widespread implementation. This article describes how FBA can be applied in a straightforward manner for students with challenging behaviors. The process is broken into steps and described using a case study from a real classroom context. Detailed examples help guide practitioners through some of the more likely roadblocks to creating and implementing FBAs.

Function-Based Supports for Individual Students in School Settings

When considering behavior supports for students whose behaviors have not responded to primary- or secondary-tier interventions, the need to align interventions with assessment information becomes crucially important. If effective interventions are not developed, these students are likely to experience a range of negative outcomes, including academic failure, school dropout (Rylance, 1997; Tremblay, Mass, Pagani, & Vitaro, 1996), chronic unemployment, criminal involvement, and poor family adjustment (Duncan, Forness, & Hartsough, 1995; Jay & Padilla, 1987). Successful outcomes for these students are dependent on our ability to intervene as early as possible with appropriate, evidence-based interventions. Fortunately, efforts to intervene early and effectively have been bolstered in recent years by function-based approaches to behavior intervention support.

Helping Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Solve Mathematics Word Problems

The author presents a strategy for helping students with emotional and behavioral disorders become more proficient at solving math word problems. Math word problems require students to go beyond simple computation in mathematics (e.g., adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) and use higher level reasoning that includes recognizing relevant information, disregarding irrelevant information, and choosing the correct arithmetic operation. By teaching a multistep problem-solving strategy and reinforcing completion of each step through a token economy, 4 students improved in their math problem-solving ability and their overall on-task behavior during the work sessions. In addition, 1 student transitioned from a teacher-driven token economy to use the token economy as a self-monitoring system. The author describes this strategy and the accompanying token economy system and provides the results of the intervention for 4 students.

A Strategy-Based Intervention to Improve Math Word Problem-Solving Skills of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

It is a persistent challenge to meet the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) particularly in the area of math word problems. This study used a multiple-baseline across participants design for three elementary-aged students identified as emotional/ behavioral disordered. The intervention consisted of an empirically-based teaching strategy that focused on conceptual understanding, fluency and problem solving delivered by the classroom teacher who had received training via teacher workshops. For all three participants, the intervention resulted in increased on-task behavior and percentage of problems solved correctly. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Functional behavioral assessment and students with emotional/behavioral disorders: When research, policy, and practice collide

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight issues related to the current policy, practice, and research in the area of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students with (or at risk for) emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Although a substantial research base exists validating the effectiveness of FBA and function-based interventions for students with developmental disabilities, we believe that these same FBA practices are less valid when employed for students with EBD in classroom settings. Following a review of the current research and a discussion of the practical issues that are encountered when implementing FBA in classroom settings serving students with EB, we outline a more responsive FBA model for students with EBD with an emphasis on future policy, research, and practice applications for the field to consider.

Examining the case for functional behavior assessment as an evidence-based practice for students with emotional and behavioral disorders in general education classrooms

ABSTRACT This article is a review of functional behavior assessment studies in general education setting for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The studies were assessed in accordance with published standards for evidence-based practices. Overall, few studies met criteria for inclusion in this review and even fewer studies included all three parts of a complete FBA. Results indicate that there are few studies of FBA that specifically address students with behavior problems in general education. Although FBA may have future promise for the described setting and population, there currently is too little information available and lack of consistency in practice to yet claim it is an evidence-based practice.

Teacher Instruction as a Predictor for Student Engagement and Disruptive Behaviors.

Effective instruction is a critical predictor of student achievement. As students with exceptionalities such as emotional and behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, who typically struggle with academic achievement, spend increasing amounts of general education settings, the need for precise instructional behaviors becomes more imperative. The authors present the results of 1,197 systematic direct observations of teachers’ instructional behaviors and their effect on student engagement and disruption. Results indicate statistically significant correlations between teaching and student engagement and disruptions, although there is variability depending on the grade level (elementary school vs. high school). Limitations, implications, and directions for future practice are discussed.

Characteristics of Effective Classroom Rules: A Review of the Literature.

Difficulty managing classroom behavior is a frequently recognized problem for teachers, especially teachers early in their careers. Classroom rules are identified as an integral part of effective classroom management as they are relatively simple to implement and focus on preventing challenging behaviors before they occur. Sources such as classroom management textbooks and practitioner-oriented journal articles recommend a number of characteristics that make classroom rules effective; unfortunately, these sources have not been uniform in their recommendations. The purpose of this review of effective practices is to compare what information teachers are being given either in their preservice coursework or in-service training via textbooks and practitioner-oriented articles with actual empirical research that used classroom rules as an independent variable. Results indicated that the two most important characteristics of effective classroom rules are teaching the rules to students and tying rules to positive and/or negative consequences. Other characteristics recommended in secondary sources remain equivocal in the research. Implications for effective teacher preparation in classroom management are discussed.

Comparing Choral Responding and a Choral Responding Plus Mnemonic Device During Geography Lessons for Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities

Four male 9th-grade students with mild to moderate disabilities participated in a single case design that compared choral responding (CR) and a choral responding plus mnemonic device (CR+) during geography lessons. The authors used an alternating treatments design to evaluate the effects of the two strategies on students’ on-task behavior and daily quiz scores in identifying states on a map of the United States. The results showed that the CR+ was more effective than CR in increasing on-task behavior and accuracy levels on daily quiz scores, as well as performance on a 1-week delayed recall test. The teacher and students rated the CR+ as highly acceptable. A discussion of limitations, future research, and practical implications is included.