Terrance M. Scott

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.

Wraparound and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in the Schools

Effective school-based programming for students with behavioral difficulties continues to challenge educators. Consensus is growing that prevention and early intervention must be prioritized, agencies must collaborate, and family—school partnerships must be improved so that effective interventions are actually implemented. This article explores how the school-based wraparound approach and a school-wide systems approach to positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) work together to create more effective school environments and improved outcomes for students with or at risk of behavioral challenges. Complementary aspects of these wraparound and PBIS approaches are described, and future directions for research and practice are explored.

Using Staff and Student Time Engaged in Disciplinary Procedures to Evaluate the Impact of School-Wide PBS

This article presents an example of how school time was monitored to facilitate a cost analysis of school-wide systems of positive behavior support (PBS). The article provides descriptions of how (a) PBS efforts were initiated in the school, (b) time and money were spent preparing for and implementing PBS, and (c) changes in behavior referrals and suspension were used to evaluate the effect of PBS on the larger system. The results indicated a positive assessment of PBS based on predetermined criteria. The discussion focuses on larger issues of cost analyses as systemic evaluation tools for assessing lifestyle change.

A Schoolwide Example of Positive Behavioral Support

Without prevention strategies, schools can expect to observe behavioral difficulties in more than 20% of the school population. Using schoolwide systems of positive behavioral support, schools can decrease the number of problem behaviors by students, providing a clearer focus for intervention on the students with the greatest support needs. This article presents a case example of schoolwide positive behavioral support, including its planning, implementation, and outcomes. The entire process of creating schoolwide teams, determining actions, and developing consensus is described in detail with specific examples. Outcomes of school-selected dependent variables indicate large decreases in the number of students excluded from the classroom learning environment for problem behaviors. Details of specific problems and issues are discussed with examples.

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.

The Problem Behavior Questionnaire: A Teacher-Based Instrument To Develop Functional Hypotheses of Problem Behavior in General Education Classrooms

A number of strategies have emerged recently to assess the function of problem behavior. Indirect, observational, and experimental methodologies are included in these strategies. Most of the technology developed to date, however, has focused on students with severe disabilities who are served in specialized settings. The purpose of this article is to describe a functional assessment instrument, the Problem Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ), designed for use with students who present behavior problems in general education settings. The development, administration, and outcomes of the PBQ are discussed. A case study is provided to illustrate the utility of the PBQ.

A Comparison of Three Types of Opportunities to Respond on Student Academic and Social Behaviors

An alternating treatments design was used to investigate the effects of three types of opportunities to respond (i.e., individual, choral, and mixed responding) on sight words and syllable practice in six elementary students with behavioral problems. During the mixed responding condition, five out of six students demonstrated a lower rate of disruptive behavior, and four out of six students had fewer intervals of off-task behavior. Results of the three types of opportunities to respond on participants’ active student responding were less clear. A discussion of limitations, implications, and future research directions is included.

The Effects of Reading Fluency Instruction on the Academic and Behavioral Success of Middle School Students in a Self-Contained EBD Classroom

Abstract The students with the most serious emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often are confined to self-contained special education classrooms where they typically exhibit chronic and pervasive problems with both academic and social behavior. These students fail more often than any other group of students and are subjected to more exclusionary practices as a reaction to these problems. Without intervention, these students are far more likely to fail their way out of school and continue to fail throughout their lives. This study takes place in a self-contained classroom for students with EBD and examines both academic and social behavior. At issue is whether effective instruction, designed to facilitate high rates of student success, will have an effect on academic and social success rates. A multiple baseline design across students is used to implement two different teacher-directed reading programs. Results indicate that when instruction sets students up to succeed on a daily basis and monitor their progress, positive academic and social outcomes are more likely. Single subject research results and qualitative descriptions of student outcomes are included for each student. A discussion of the reading programs used and the implications for future research is also included.

Functional Assessment and Wraparound as Systemic School Processes: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Systems Examples

This article proposes a framework for expanding the traditional presentation of wraparound and FBA to (a) view wraparound and FBA as concepts that are inextricably linked at the core of each level of the proactive systemic process of PBS and (b) understand how wraparound and FBA are critical features of prevention as well as intervention for creating safer schools for all students.