Dealing with behaviors - Straight from FLDOE

This TAP (Technical Assistance Paper) speaks to a District's responsibilities to behavior.

Functional Behavioral Assessment
and Behavioral Intervention Plans

It should be noted that it references IDEA 1997. If there is a current TAP for IDEA 2004, it could not be located.

A few points of interest are:

"Federal law now places greater emphasis than before on the role of functional
behavioral assessments and behavioral intervention plans in serving the needs of students with disabilities." -----------

So when parents ask for help from the school dealing with child's behavior and don't want the kid repeatedly sent home or to the resource room, they are not just asking for special treatment.


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"Section 1414(d)(3)(B)(i-v) addresses the role of the IEP team in considering special factors. Part (i)
states that the practitioner should
“in the case of a child whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others, consider, when appropriate, strategies, including positive behavioral interventions, strategies, and supports to address that behavior.”----------

How many people overlook this part of the statement - "whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others". So when the Principal says the kid is disruptive to the class, this should be a signal to bring in professional assistance, not just send the kid home.

Also, how many times do we hear that laziness, inattention or lack of organization is a problem for some students that impedes his or her learning? So when parents ask for positive interventions, strategies and supports, they may not just be making excuses for their child.

If the teacher says he/she can't be babysitting every kid, does this absolve the District from their responsibilities? Or should they ask for supports and services for the teacher?

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"9. Are there other times when a functional behavioral assessment should be considered for use (a)
with students with disabilities who are not being considered for a change in educational setting or
(b) for students who are not disabled?

Best practice suggests that a functional behavioral assessment be conducted for a student whenever behavior appears to be significantly interfering with the learning process and well before behaviors reach crisis proportions." ------------


FBA's for students who are not disabled? - This will put a dent in the budget if word gets out.

All to often it can be heard said that FBA's are only done when there is "dangerous behaviors". Section #9 speaks to this. Emphasis should be paid to "well before behaviors reach crisis proportions". Plus, it even speaks to students who are not disabled.


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10. What qualifications are required for personnel to conduct functional behavioral assessments and develop behavioral intervention plans?

I will pick one:
" knowledge of and skills in creating objective, measurable intervention monitoring
systems that employ direct measurement techniques." ----------


The key here, to be professional, is to create something that is objective and measurable. So, something like "Johnny will respect authority" is difficult to measure. Or Susie "will be responsible for her daily planner" is difficult to measure.

If one would like to have some fun, read a few IEP's and ask yourself how the objectives can be charted and measured. And is the goal and objective specific to the student's disability or is it a broad based generalization such as "Susie will increase her attention span by 80%." How does one measure this?


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13. What are some important points to remember in developing a behavioral intervention plan?

There were so many good ones, but I picked a few:



The parent (and the student, as appropriate) should be included in the development and implementation of the plan.


Individuals responsible for carrying out the intervention plan should have the appropriate training and possess the required skills for successful plan implementation. [ This one is critical and may be a reason most don't work]


There should be support for and “buy-in” from the person(s) who will implement the plan and, where appropriate, acceptance of the plan by the student. [This one goes hand in hand with the above one]


If consequences are used for problem behaviors, they must be immediate and consistent and not inadvertently reinforce the misbehavior. For instance, when a student seeks to escape an assignment by throwing workpapers on the floor, referrals to the office have a high probability of strengthening the misbehavior. It may be more effective for the teacher to offer the student the chance to complete part of the assignment followed by a short break.
[This is a difficult concept for power oriented teachers and principals to integrate]

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