Conducting an FBA

Here is another question posted on my special education forum. I shared the question and my answer.

Question:

Hello everyone! I am a K-2 self-contained special education teacher. And I need to do a FBA on a student in my classroom. I am familiar with the parts of a FBA (Indirect, descriptive, functional analysis). And I have 'book knowledge' of the functional analysis part of the FBA. But I have never conducted one. I cannot find a great youtube video on how to do one in a busy classroom. Btw, leaving the room and doing it elsewhere is not really an option. Can anyone share how they are doing this in their classrooms? Thanks!

My answer:

I'm a visual learner so when I start in a new district, I asked for a sample copy of an FBA that a teacher in that district has completed and used as a guide. You might ask another special ed teacher in your school if you can see a copy of one that they did. I always found this helpful. Usually, the district I was in had a specific form that they wanted us to use. When conducting a meeting, I basically followed the form and went through each item during the meeting.

I think you might be asking how to do data collection for your student. I found this great resource from https://www.pattan.net/ that I use in my graduate classes. You might find it helpful. https://www.pattan.net/getmedia/bc85494c-4fed-42e5-a846-2cab9984ea7d/funcassessobs0109How would you have answered this question? Please share.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Changing Behavior

Here is another question that was posed to my special education group:

“I teach an LLD self-contained class in high school. The last two years I had about 6 students. This year it is 14, most of whom are typical LLD. One of my students I had for the past two years is the one I am asking for ideas for. She is 16 and was placed in my room for ADHD and her Learning Disabilities. She always had some behavior issues such as: talking back, or calling out in class. This year though the behaviors have escalated 110 %. She is extremely disrespectful to me, my paras etc. The students try to ignore her and at lunch do not want to even sit with her. I have had a reinforcement program in place to earn pts toward watching a movie, or a game day. She did not earn this for the past two weeks. I also try to ignore the behavior and redirect. I have spoken with CST and they said to revamp my reinforcement program. I am an 18yr veteran of teaching and have taught BD before but I am at a point where I am frustrated and not sure what else to do. My BD students were easier than this along with students I had that had ODD as well. Can anyone offer ideas for me to implement in my classroom so my other students do not lose out on learning?”

Here was my answer:

• Have you done an FBA to see what is happening that causes this behavior?
• Have you talked to the student to find out if she can give you some insight into her behavior?
• Have you asked her what would help her to behave more appropriately?
• Did something happen this summer that may have caused this change in behavior?
• Have you talked with the parents to help you find some answers?

I don't think that just revamping your reinforcement program will help change her behavior. I think you need to investigate more into what is causing this drastic increase in inappropriate behavior. It seems like she is pushing everyone away from her for a reason and it may be a defense mechanism. Maybe have her keep a journal about her day and her feelings which could help her in the long run. She could either write about it or record it orally and she could share it with you or keep it totally private but it might be an outlet for her.

What advice would you give this teacher? Please share.

Photo by Julien L on Unsplash

High-Leverage Practice 10: Social/Emotional/Behavioral

I am going to discuss High-Leverage Practices as mentioned on the CEC website organized around four aspects of practice. I hope you will join in the conversation!

“HLP10 - Conduct functional behavioral assessments to develop individual student behavior support plans.”

Many times I can look at a child’s behavior and know that it needs to be changed but without doing some deeper research, I know that I may not be able to change the behavior permanently. I must first do a functional behavior assessment.

I need to determine the behavior that needs to be changed. Once I determine that, I need to look at other factors that affect this behavior.

First I need to see what happens before this behavior occurs. I need to see if there is something that is triggering this behavior. Things I might not realize affect the student may be causing the student to react in a certain way. There is something in the environment that is causing this behavior to happen. I need to list things that happen before the behavior occurs.

Next, I need to see what consequences happen after the behavior is exhibited. What results does the student get from behaving this way? How does it affect the other students and the teacher? How does it affect the student? I may need to change what may be reinforcing this behavior.

Then I need to think about a replacement behavior I would want to substitute for the behavior that needs to be changed. I need to find an appropriate alternative for inappropriate behavior. I also need to think about what I need to do in the environment in order to make this replacement behavior the better option.

For example:

Negative behavior: Student screams.

Cause – The fluorescent lights come on in the classroom

Consequence – the student is taken out to the hallway and the screaming stops.

Replacement behavior – no screaming.

Changing the environment – using table lamps with LED bulbs and not turning on the fluorescent lights.

If the student is having the same behavior issues in other classrooms, it may be a good time to have a meeting so the whole team can brainstorm the answers to this functional behavioral assessment.

At first, this assessment may seem like a lengthy process but the more often you do this, the easier it becomes. Soon it will become second nature to helping students change their behaviors.

Do you do a functional behavioral assessment? What steps do you follow? Please share.