Contents amended from FBA and BIP Development Practice

Contents amended from: FBA and BIP Development: Practice working with data Richard Van Acker, Ed. D. College of Education (M/C 147) University of Illinois at Chicago 1040 W. Harrison Chicago, Illinois 60607

The Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is to be informed by a Functional Assessment of the Student’s Behavior • Select and define target behavior. • Develop a hypothesis as to the function of the behavior. • Collect data – Indirect data collection – Direct data collection • Validate the function and key context variables related to the behavior – Triangulation of data – Functional analysis • Develop the Behavior Intervention Plan

Common Functions • To Gain Something – The task here is to identify what the student hopes to gain by the behavior and to find a socially appropriate manner for the student to gain the desired item/activity/response that ‘fits the student’. [Reinforcement equivalence is critical) – May need to substitute a more socially acceptable item/activity/response. What will the student work for? • To Escape or Avoid – Identify if ‘escape to’ or ‘escape from’ – Develop knowledge/skills so escape is no longer needed. – Alter the demands or change the situation/context so that escape is no longer required. – Provide socially acceptable way for student to seek escape or avoidance until such time as escape is no longer necessary.

Behavior Problems can Occur for many different reasons: • Knowledge deficits – Does not know what is expected – Not enough practice of skill – Has not learned to generalize skill • To communicate intent - if language impaired • • Escape Tangible reward Peer Affiliation Justice or Revenge – Indicate physical discomfort – Indicate frustration or need for help • Sensory/Perceptual Needs – Stereotypic or self-injurious – Sensory input needs • Attention (Modified from: Neal & Cessna, 1993)

Selection of a Data Collection System • Archival or Record Review – Previous discipline contacts – Previous referrals for special services • Review of Permanent Products – Error analysis of student work • Norm Referenced Tests – Curriculum Based Measurement – Teacher-made tests/probes • Naturalistic Observation – Non-systematic observation Behavior Ratings or Checklists – – – • • • Anecdotal Records • ABC Analysis of Behavior ADHD Scales Sociometric nominations/ratings Child Behavior Checklist Adaptive Behavior Scales Task Analysis Checklists – Systematic Observation • • • Standardized Tests – ISAT – ITBS – CAT • BEAST-R Event Recording Duration Recording Latency Recording Time Sampling/Interval Recording Interviews – – – Student Parents Teachers Peers Other Significant Adults

Janice is a fourteen year-old student with moderate hearing impairment. Her hearing is currently corrected through the use of hearing aides. Janice has always been a very willing and capable student. She would typically comply with teacher and adult requests and completed all assigned work (both in-class and homework assignments) with a solid ‘B’ average. Over the past academic year, Janice’s grades have steadily declined. She is barely holding a ‘D’ average at the present time. She has begun to avoid her old friends and she is now interacting with a more difficult group of peers (peers who are often truant, and may engage in substance abuse, etc). She has changed her clothing style, taking on a more ‘grunge look’ and she no longer wears her hearing aides most days. When questioned – she says they make her look different. She indicates she can hear okay without them (however this is not really true). You have attempted to contact her parents to discuss Janice’s situation, however, you have not been able to reach them and they have not returned any of your calls (four attempts to contact them). You suspect something is going on that is behind these changes in Janice’s behavior – but you seem stumped. Within the classroom, there are two target behaviors that are of a major concern. The most important is her displaying increasingly rude and defiant remarks to both teachers and peers. She often makes very negative or derogatory remarks to others. Indicating a teachers request is ‘bullshit’ or calling students names ranging from “nerd to whore”. The other behavior involves work completion. She seldom engages in class work and has not completed a single homework assignment over the past 5 weeks. The exception is her creative writing class. Here she excels – why her work has taken a ‘darker’ aspect – she is very proficient in her work completion and she participates willingly and with great skill in this class. She and the teacher (Ms. Simpkins) have a great relationship and she values her time in this class.

First Group Assignment 1. Identify the initial hypothesis you would explore for the target behavior(s). 2. What questions would you want to explore and what specific data sources would you select in an effort to explore these questions? How would you collect these data (be very specific in the identification of data collection procedures). 3. How would you verify the function of the target behavior(s)? What additional information would you seek in your exploration of these data?

The Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is to be informed by a Functional Assessment of the Student’s Behavior • Select and define target behavior. • Develop a hypothesis as to the function of the behavior. • Collect data – Indirect data collection – Direct data collection • Validate the function and key context variables related to the behavior – Triangulation of data – Functional analysis • Develop the Behavior Intervention Plan

Randy Carlson is an eight year old - second grade student who has recently transferred to your school from a school in Texas. Randy and his family immigrated to the United States from Mexico three years ago. Randy has a severe conductive hearing loss which is corrected by the use of hearing aides. Randy is eligible for special education services as a student with hearing impairments. Randy’s home language is Spanish although his father speaks English well and his mother has some English skills. Randy is a challenging student who displays both academic and behavioral concerns. He lacks many letter sound recognitions and is especially challenged with beginning sounds (e. g. beginning blends and diphthongs). His speech and language skill deficits impact his beginning reading skills and he lags significantly behind his peers. He has difficulty in both English and Spanish. Randy can be come very disruptive and argumentative during instruction. He will often become upset when asked to initiate academic tasks and if he does not get his way or does poorly on the task he will simply shut down completely – refusing to speak, move, or comply with any request made of him. Randy was fitted for hearing aides when he first arrived at Jefferson School. His parents indicated that he has had them in the past, but that he does not like them and refuses to wear them at home. Mom also indicates that she does not like the way they make him look as he is such a cute boy. Mother indicates that he often loses things including his hearing aides. The teaching staff is concerned that he is not wearing the aides outside of school and that this will impact his language skill development.

Source 1: Data Triangulation Antecedents: Severe cond. Hearing loss -Recent immigrant to U. S. -Spanish in home -Letter/sound problems impact reading -Student and mother do not like Hearing aides – not worn consistently at home -Task initiation often a problem Behavior(s) -Academic and behavioral -Tantrum/shut down -Non-compliance

Functional Analysis Scatter Plot Student: _Randy Carlson___________ Grade: _2____ School: _Jefferson Elementary School_____ Dates of Observation _03/_07/2010 to ___/___ Observer(s): ____________ Target Behavior(s) : __Tantrum behavior – Randy will engage in verbal and vocal responses protesting the requested activity and will cry and scream. This will often result in a total refusal to comply to any adult direction – as Randy will refuse to initiate the requested action within 30 seconds following the adult request. (Note: Sometimes he will remain non 0 compliant for up to 12 minutes. These tantrum behaviors average 9 episodes per day – with a range of 2 to 16 per day). ___________ Time Day of the Week Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Daily Oral Language 8: 30 – 8: 45 1 1 2 1 0 Spelling 8: 45 – 9: 35 1 2 2 3 1 Math 9: 35 – 10: 25 0 0 0 Recess 10: 25 – 10: 45 0 0 0 Reading (SSR) 10: 45 – 11: 35 2 3 3 1 2 Science 11: 35 – 12: 25 0 1 0 0 0 Lunch 12: 25 – 1: 10 0 0 Social Studies 1: 10 – 2: 00 0 0 1 Language Arts 2: 00 – 2: 50 2 2 3 3 1 Art/Music/P. E. 2: 50 - 3: 40 0 0 1 6 9 11 8 6 Total

Antecedent-Response-Consequence Analysis Student: __Randy Carlson__________ Grade: __2___ School: _Jefferson Elementary_ Teacher: Ms. Alverez_____ Date of Observation: _04_/_11_/_2010 Task/Activity: Morning Routine and Daily Oral Language – students enter the classroom and engage in DOL as the teacher takes attendance, etc – through the initiation of sentence review. Observer: JTA______ Time of Day: _9: 40 a. m. _______ Behavior(s) of Interest: Tantrum behavior_____________________________________________________ _ Antecedent Response Consequence Ms. Alverez greets the students as they enter the classroom. Randy runs into the class ahead of most of his peers and dumps his backpack by his desk and runs to look at the hamsters Ms. Alverez has in the science station of the classroom. He ignores Ms. Alverez’s greeting. Ms. Alverez goes over to Randy and greets him directly – so he can see her face as she speaks to him. Ms. Alverez greets Randy individually near the hamster cage. Randy greets her and asks if he can feed the hamsters. Ms. Alverez notes that Randy is not wearing his hearing aides and indicates he should get them and put them on and then he can feed the hamsters. Ms. Alverez asks Randy to put his hearing aides on. Randy runs to his backpack and retrieves his hearing aides and comes to have Ms. Alverez help him put them on. Ms. Alverez helps him put his hearing aides on and gets the hamster food for him. She asks if he wore his hearing aides last night at home.

Antecedent Ms. Alverez asks if he wore his hearing aides at home the night before. It is time for Daily Oral Language – the students have to copy down a sentence from the board and make key corrections (basically simple spelling, capitalization and final punctuation. Ms Alverez tells the students to take their seats and start their DOL work. Response Randy indicates he did not. Randy returns to his seat and takes out his notebook and begins to write. Consequence Ms. Alverez notes this and writes a short note to Randy’s mother to remind her of the importance of wearing the hearing aides at all times for his language development. Ms. Alverez notes he is working and praises him for doing so.

Antecedent Response When the students appear to have completed correcting the sentences, she calls on Randy to identify one error in the first sentence. Randy says the first word is not spelled correctly. The teacher says can you read the word and tell me what is wrong? (Note: The first word [their] is spelled correctly but is not capitalized. Randy says, “I hate this stuff. I quit – it isn’t right!” Ms. Alverez says, “No. “Their” is correctly spelled and it is the correct word but there is a problem with it – can you tell us what it is? ” Ms. Alverez asks Randy to calm down and prompts the correct response to the question. Randy slams his fist against the desk and puts his head down refusing to talk or respond. Consequence Randy says it should be “the”. Ms. Alverez says, “Randy, it’s okay, everyone makes mistakes. Think for a moment, what does the first word in a sentence always have to have? ” Ms. Alverez moves near him and calls on another student to identify a problem with the first sentence.

Antecedent Response Consequence Ms. Alverez moves near Randy and looks at his notebook to identify his work on the sentences. She continues to call on others and completes the corrections to the first sentence. She then points to a correction Randy made on the second sentence and sayss, “Randy, why don’t you share this correction for the second sentence with the class? ” Randy looks at his notebook – where Ms Alverez is pointing and then drops his head back to his hands and refuses to comment. Ms. Alverez continues to stay in close proximity as she calls on others to participate and she becomes increasingly reinforcing of the work displayed by the students. She attempts to make the task at hand seem more enjoyable by introducing more animation in her actions and through her praise.

Direct Observation of Teacher and Peer Response Student: _____Randy Carlson_______ Date: ___April 19, 2010___ Setting: Daily Oral Language Target Behavior: Tantrum behavior - verbal and vocal responses protesting the requested activity and will cry and scream. This will often result in a total refusal to comply to any adult direction – as Randy will refuse to initiate the requested action within 30 seconds following the adult request. Observer: Mr. Jason Alexander Task Description: The teacher has placed 5 sentences on the board with numerous errors and omissions. Students are expected to copy the sentences into their journals and then display the corrections on their papers. Students will volunteer to go the blackboard to correct one of the errors displayed. Response Behavior of Interest Randy displays tantrum behavior (mild to severe) X X X X Teacher Response (See code categories below) 1 2 2 1 3 2 4 2 3 2 4 Peer Response (See code categories below) A A A B A Observation Codes: Teacher Response Codes: 1 = Verbal reprimand or other verbal (only) correction 2 = Redirection to the task at hand or modified task request 3 = Time out (5 minute time out in rear of the classroom) Peer Response Codes: his behavior) 4 = No Response or Planned Ignoring 5 = Sent to the Principal’s Office A = No Response (although some peers watch B = At least

Antecedent-Response-Consequence Analysis Student: __Randy Carlson____ Grade: __2___ School: _Jefferson Elementary_ Teacher: Mr. Thompson_(Music)____ Date of Observation: _04_/_11_/_2010 Task/Activity: Music – the class is practicing for the Spring Recital – each student has a solo part as well as a number of songs sang together – practice of their solo songs _Observer: RVA_______ Time of Day: _9: 40 a. m. _______ Behavior(s) of Interest: Tantrum behavior______________ Antecedent Response Consequence Randy enters the music classroom with the rest of the students from Ms. Alverez’s class. As they enter Mr. Thompson greets them and asks them to take their assigned positions on the stands. Randy runs over to the drums and starts to look for drum sticks to play the drums. Mr. Thompson looks at Randy in a stern manner and redirects him to his seat. “Randy, you need to leave the drums alone and take your place – we have a lot to do today. ” Mr. Thompson directs Randy to take his place in the group. Randy ignores Mr. Thompson moves over Thompson and continues to and touches Randy on the play with the drums. arm and directs Randy from the drums as he says, “Come on big guy let’s show everyone how well you can do today. ”

Antecedent Mr. Thompson begins to direct Randy towards the group. Mr. Thompson starts the first song. Response Randy runs ahead and takes his place with his peers. Randy sings with his peers, although he sings slightly behind the group as he does not appear to know or understand all of the words being sung. His pronunciation of many words is inaccurate. Consequence Mr. Thompson says, “Ok let’s really try to remember our parts today everyone. The recital is only 6 days away and we want to do a great job for all the parents. ” He starts to play the piano for the first song as he directs the students to sing. When the song ends, one of the other children says, “Randy is making this sound bad. He doesn’t know how to sing. ”

Antecedent Response A peer makes a negative comment about Randy’s singing. Randy looks at the peer with an angry look on his face. Mr. Thompson indicates Randy is doing fine following peer comment. Randy sits on the riser and puts his head down. Mr. Thompson asks Randy to stand up. Consequence Mr. Thompson says, “Singing is for everyone and Randy is doing fine. ” He looks at Randy and says, ” You are going to do great aren’t you big guy? ” Mr. Thompson walks over and places his hand on Randy’s shoulder and asks him to “Stand back up and join us with the next song. ” Mr. Thompson says, “You do not have to become Randy yells, “Music is upset. Please join us when stupid and I hate this class!” you are ready.

Antecedent Mr. Thompson indicates Randy can join when he is ready and moves back to the piano to start the next song. Response Consequence Randy sits on the riser and starts to cry loudly and continues to make comments about how stupid the music class and the recital are. Mr. Thompson attempts to continue with the recital practice. However, he is becoming more impatient with Randy’s behavior. He frequently looks in Randy’s direction with an increasingly stern look on his face. Mr. Thompson ends the fifth Randy looks at Mr. song and walk over to Thompson – he is quiet. Randy. “Young man you do not have to sing if you do not want to – but I will not tolerate your disrupting the fun of the other students. ” Two of the other students start to laugh.

Antecedent Response Consequence Two other students start to laugh. Randy looks at his peers and says, “Shut up you stupid bastards. ” Mr. Thompson reprimands the peers and then tells Randy he must go to the office. He calls on the intercom and someone comes for Randy. The school principal enters the music room to escort Randy to the office. Randy sees the principal and starts to cry louder – protesting that he didn’t do anything wrong and that the other kids should get into trouble not him. The principal places his hand on Randy’s shoulder and they leave the music room together.

Teacher/ Significant Other Student: Randy Carlson____ Respondent: ___ Ms. Judy Swanson (Teacher) How long have you known the student? Randy has only been in our school for about four months. He moved here from Texas, but I think he was only there a short time. His family moved to the United States from San Luis Potosi in Mexico. He has a significant hearing impairment and I don’t think he has had a very strong educational program in the past. Describe the behavior(s) of concern. Randy often has a difficult time following directions. He sometimes appears to get stuck and doesn’t follow through with the behavior expected of the children. He then can become very upset and he will yell or scream. He cries and if things continue he can throw himself to the floor or simply sit down and do nothing. He won’t talk, cry, or show any recognition of his surroundings. He closes down and will stay unresponsive for long periods of time - 20 40 minutes, which is a long time for an 8 year-old. To what degree is the behavior predictable? We can predict that the behavior will be displayed in almost any classroom. However, the exact request that will trigger the reaction is not easy to predict. There are times he will follow a given direction one day without incident and the next day the same request will result in a tantrum. He does not react well to verbal reprimand seems very sensitive to failure. He will more likely display tantrum behavior following a situation in which he is reprimanded or if he displays to many errors.

When and where is (are) the behavior(s) most likely to occur? The problems are more likely to take place in academic situations. English is not his primary language and he seems to struggle with academic demands. Our school is characterized as one with high expectations for all students and I think he has a hard time keeping up. Most of us really like him, but he is very disruptive to our class instruction. When and where is (are) the behavior(s) least likely to occur? During free time, lunch and recess, Randy often keeps to himself and does not interact with most of the students. If he interacts socially at all, it is one or two of the kids off to the side of the main group where the action is going on. He seems to be content to be in his own company. He often plays with sticks and small items (e. g. , stones, paper) on the corner of the blacktop – building things and making designs. What event(s) are most likely to trigger the behavior? Academic tasks, especially in language arts (e. g. , reading, writing) are problematic. He will react to academic demands – but in an unpredictable manner. He also may react to verbal correction and academic failure. What is (are) the most likely outcome(s) or consequence(s) of the behavior? Randy will close down and no one can get him to respond or he might be ignored until he calms down and then he is redirected to the task. Sometimes he is removed from the class - taken to the office.

What appears to be the student’s intent? I think he gets confused or upset at the teacher or at the nature of the task and simply wants to avoid the task. Are there other behaviors that the student displays that could be used to get what he appears to want? He could ask for help but he seldom initiates conversation with others and seems to simply react by throwing a tantrum.

Problem Behavior Pathway Setting Events/ Antecedents: • Transitions with ‘loose expectations and low structure’ • Academic task demand in which student is confused or lacks knowledge or skill Trigger: Problem Behavior: • Challenging task demand – confusion or lack of knowledge/skill. • Student engages in verbal or vocal protest/disruption • Reprimand, academic correction or ridicule • Student escalates into social withdrawal Maintaining Consequence: Student avoids or escapes the task/situation.

The Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) is to be informed by a Functional Assessment of the Student’s Behavior • Select and define target behavior. • Develop a hypothesis as to the function of the behavior. • Collect data – Indirect data collection – Direct data collection • Validate the function and key context variables related to the behavior – Triangulation of data – Functional analysis • Develop the Behavior Intervention Plan

Behavior Intervention Plan • Reduce the need for escape or avoidance – Increase use of hearing aides to help improve auditory skills and language development – Match knowledge and skill acquisition and mastery to nature of task demand • Provide socially appropriate alternative when student needs to escape/avoid – Provide ‘Break’ cards – Develop a ‘cooling off’ area – Reinforce use of socially appropriate alternatives. • Attempt to develop social reinforcers to improve social interaction skills