A website created for families
who want to know more about the assessment process!
|
|
|
Full Text Explanation of FBA The Answer Challenging behavior in
the classroom that interferes with the learning of the student displaying the
challenging behavior and/or interferes with the learning of the other students
in the classroom must be dealt with in a specific matter.
This challenging behavior can be more specifically described as behavior
where the outcome is injury of self, injury of others, destruction of property,
disruption of environment, or isolation of self.
Most problems in the classroom can be eliminated by effective and
consistent use of standard discipline strategies known to most good teachers.
However, if challenging behavior continues after standard discipline
strategies have been attempted a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)
is then considered necessary. Functional Behavior Assessment
A
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) may
seem like a complicated term, but it really is not when it is broken down.
The word function is simply the reason why something is happening.
What is causing a challenging behavior to occur?
The word behavior obviously refers to the challenging behavior in
question. And the word assessment
refers to a review of the circumstances around the student.
What are the conditions in the environment that are causing this student
to display challenging behavior? Put
simply then, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
is a review of circumstances involving a student displaying challenging behavior
to find out the reason why it is happening.
A FBA looks beyond the actual
behavior to identify significant social, affective, biological, and/or
environmental factors related to the incidence of challenging behavior.
A FBA is a requirement under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
for students with disabilities who are displaying challenging behavior problems
and it is most commonly included in the Individual Education Plan (IEP)
process. However, IDEA
does not stipulate the way in which it is to be conducted, so the ways of
conducting FBAs vary in different school
districts around the country. Nevertheless,
four key steps are common to most FBAs. Identification The
first step in the FBA process is to
identify the challenging behavior that most needs to be changed.
If there are a number of challenging behaviors displayed by the student,
then the most profound behavior must be addressed first.
This target behavior must be identified in concrete terms that are simple
to communicate and easy to measure and record.
For example, a challenging behavior may be: Chris is destructive.
This description is unclear and therefore would be difficult to record
data on and find an effective intervention for.
A concrete way to describe the behavior would be: Chris dumps over his
desk when it is time to begin math assignments.
Once a target behavior is clearly defined a plan to find the function of
the behavior can be devised and data collection can begin. Data Collection
The
second step in the FBA process is gather
information on the target behavior. Because a single source of information usually does not
construct accurate information, multiple techniques of indirect and direct
methods for collecting data are used. Indirect
assessment relies upon the use of well-structured interviews with teachers,
students, parents and other adults who have direct interaction with the student
displaying challenging behavior. These
interviews probe for answers to questions about the context in which the
challenging behavior occurs in different settings.
Interviews with the student are also conducted.
Various rating scales, questionnaires, and checklists
are used for indirect assessment. Direct
assessment involves observing and recording circumstances surrounding a student
displaying challenging behavior. By
charting frequency, intensity, and duration of a behavior, and how it connects
to various settings, learning tasks, peers, adults, and times of day, a visual
map describing the circumstances under which it increases and decreases can be
formed. This method of observation
is referred to as event recording. This
is done with a simple or complex tally chart.
The observation is broken down into time increments (seconds, minutes,
hours, or days) and the observer records whether the behavior is or is not
happening at some point during each time increment. Also, the circumstances under which the challenging behavior
occurs is observed and described as the antecedent and consequence events.
The antecedent event refers to what is occurring in the environment
before the behavior and the consequence event is what occurs after the behavior.
This method of observation is referred to as antecedent analysis.
This is done with a simple Antecedent-Behavior-Consequences (ABC)
chart. The observer watches the student in the setting the behavior
is likely to happen and records descriptions of the events in the proper
sections. Observation
is the most effective way to gather information to determine the function a
challenging behavior serves a student. Data
collection is the most time intensive part of the FBA
process because of the documentation involved. Analysis
The
third step in the FBA process is to analyze
the data in order to form a hypothesis about the function of the documented
challenging behavior. The two
primary functions of challenging behavior are to obtain something or to avoid
something. Challenging behavior
displayed by a student is in essence an attempt to communicate one of those
needs. For example, if a student
constantly and disruptively questions why assignments have to always be
completed in a certain way, then the student may be communicating the need to
obtain control of his environment. Furthermore,
if a student dumps over his desk in math class whenever he is given a time
limitation for the assignment, then the student may be communicating the need to
avoid the task. During this step of
the FBA, the setting in which the
challenging behavior occurs and the specific behaviors and traits of the student
in question are closely examined. The
direct assessment instruments (event recordings and antecedent analysis) are
examined along with any indirect assessment instruments (rating scales,
questionnaires, or checklists) that were conducted as part of the FBA.
Once the function of the challenging behavior is determined and
predictable patterns are made clear, a hypothesis or educated guess can be made.
This attempts to make a prediction about the general conditions under
which the behavior is most likely to happen and the consequences that maintain
it. This hypothesis is used as the
foundation for the intervention. Intervention The
forth step in the FBA process is the
attempt to change the challenging behavior.
Once the hypothesis is established some of the conditions involving the
student can be experimentally manipulated until the behavior is changed for the
better. This involves creating a
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), which
usually occurs during the IEP process.
The BIP includes positive
strategies, programs, modifications, supplementary aids, and supports that
provide the proper motivation for the student to act appropriately.
Using positive strategies to change the behavior will address the source
of the problem and the actual problem to encourage the child to communicate
needs in appropriate ways. The
object is to fulfill the student’s needs with a positive replacement behavior
that serves the same function as the inappropriate behavior.
And at the same time strategies can be developed to decrease and
eliminate opportunities for the student to engage in inappropriate behavior. If the behavior is not changed for the better, then the
original hypothesis is reexamined and a new one is formed. This may required repeating one or more steps of the FBA
and a new BIP would then be created. Final
Words One
person alone should never conduct a FBA.
Multiple professionals should be involved throughout the FBA
process. These professionals
include teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, school psychologists, and
other professionals that work with the student.
However, the most important individuals included in the FBA
process should be the parents. The parents are the most important factors in the lives of
children. The FBA
process is logically supportive of group problem solving and should always
involve meaningful collaboration. As
for the FBA process itself, a respected
Licensed Psychologist and School Psychologist whom I had the recent pleasure of
speaking with summed it up nicely.
|
|
|
Home | Background|
Pre-K | Elementary | Secondary
| Post-Secondary
|
