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FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

AND

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION PLAN

Jaclyn Bober

K344- Emotional/Behavioral Disorders II

Wendy Wall-Marencik & Patricia Korzekwa

December 18, 2008

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PART I: SUMMARIES

Description of the Student:

The student who has been chosen for the FBA process will be referred to as Jason. Jason

is an eleven year old male student who is enrolled in a 4th and 5th grade multi-age, self-contained

classroom. Although chronologically, Jason is placed in an upper level elementary school

classroom, he is performing at a first grade level. This information is derived from various

assessments which have been taken of the student since the third grade and can be found in

Jason’s IEP. Generally speaking, he has less difficulty when completing his math work than

when asked to read. Math is an academic strength for Jason.

In terms of his social skills and functioning, Jason’s opportunities and abilities are

limited. While he is able to verbalize his feelings and has adequate language skills, the topics

which he chooses to talk about (violence, weapons, sex, pornography, etc.) are not allowed on

school grounds and have pushed away most of his peers. Along with his social functioning skills

is the student’s ability to be socially defiant. He makes statements to many teachers in the

building which are viewed as inappropriate and disrespectful. There are also situations when

Jason will socially shut down. This may involve someone speaking to him and Jason choosing

not to respond at all or going as far as seeking revenge through going to the bathroom in

unconventional places. Partially due to his previous social challenges Jason has now reached a

point of isolation in each of the two settings chosen. He is to sit alone at lunch and sit alone

facing the wall during class time. Aside from Jason’s social skills deficits, he does have

strengths in this area. He is very “street wise” and knows what he wants and how to get it. He

can easily fool many people and does not have any difficulty keeping his story straight. While
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this may not be a best skill to have in the classroom, it is a type of survival skill and a talent.

Often the things he says are so believable that most teachers find it difficult to not give him a

second, third or fourth chance.

According to the teachers who work with Jason, the isolation factor was seen as a form of

support and intervention. He is isolated in almost every school setting he enters including the two

settings chosen, the bus, the library and where he is allowed to play during recess. Other supports

that Jason is involved with include a response cost system and an altered curriculum. The

response cost system is a token board which has three white tokens and one red per student.

When the student displays a behavior which is unacceptable they are asked to take a token. Upon

removing all white and the red token within one week, the student loses recess for the week.

When speaking with Jason’s teacher, it was stated that this procedure is not working for him and

was deemed unmotivational. She is currently working on changing the system or creating a new

one for this student. His other support is an altered curriculum. When performing at a first grade

level, he is working on first grade subjects and lessons for math and reading. Jason does go back

to his general education homeroom for science and specials. All of the assignments for these

classes are modified to meet the needs of Jason’s academic levels. Furthermore, Jason is not on a

normal grading scale with the other students. He is graded on what is referred to as an “S and U

scale”. This means that Jason either does satisfactory work (S) or unsatisfactory work (U).

The grading scale and various supports are parts of the overall services that Jason

receives. Services are provided through the school by means of a self-contained classroom. Jason

is one of 12-15 students that come in and out of the self-contained classroom at various times

each day. This classroom is specifically set up for students who have mild to moderate cognitive

or emotional/behavioral disabilities. Aside from being in this setting, Jason also takes a school
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bus which only drives students who are also in the special education programs. He goes to

speech on a weekly basis and receives overall academic services. In terms of academic goals,

within Jason’s IEP it is projected that he will be at a second grade reading and mathematics level

by the end of the academic year. When speaking to his teacher of record it was stated that

currently in his IEP, he does not receive any services for his behavioral challenges.

Jason has expressed an interest in video games, karate, and various other forms of

violence. He often talks about sex, shooting people or blowing things up for entertainment. He

talks about watching wrestling on TV or watching shows about prison and killing. He has

expressed an interest of these topics to other students in his class, which has been one of the

factors in leading him to his current isolated position. Part of this student’s problem behavior is

that he chooses to talk about inappropriate topics during school. This extends to verbally threaten

to kill student’s families, using inappropriate language, making loud noises, being aggressive

towards other students and being a disruption in many settings.

The problem behavior exists in at any point in the day and in any given setting. It is more

frequent in unstructured settings, but does occur in the classroom as well. While he has been

isolated by teachers, most of the social isolation he has done to himself. The other students do

not include him and have shared their concern with the teacher many times. His disruption alters

and class climate and disrupts everyone’s learning. There is a constant need to take Jason out of

class or to stop everything to address his behavior. Thus, all of the students seem to be negatively

impacted by his behaviors. Overall, this appears to be a form of escaping his work, the loss of

self-control and means to get attention. This problem is being concentrated on because it has

affected the student in all settings, as well as, disrupting the day of many other students.
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Outside of the school atmosphere, Jason is currently living with his mother, her

boyfriend, his much older brother, and someone he refers to as his babysitter. According to his

mother, the babysitter is his older brother’s girlfriend. When speaking with his teacher, she

expressed that Jason’s mother is rarely involved with the school and does not normally return

phone calls. His mother is required to take him to doctor’s appointments to maintain the

medications prescribed to him in his most recent two week stay at Meadows Hospital. Since she

has missed more than two of his appointments, he has been taken these doctors appointments by

the school family liaison in order to make sure he is receiving all needed medication.

Description of Settings:

The first setting, the structured setting, is the self-contained classroom (Please see

diagram following the paper). This classroom is setup with two or three instructional desks and

individuals desks for each of the students. The special education teacher sits and the table in the

front of the room and the paraprofessional sits at the table in the back of the room. When there is

a student teacher or early field experience teacher, there is a third table for small group

instruction. All of the students either sit alone or with one other person nearby. Most of the day

they are not at their desks, but when they are sitting they are expected to be doing some sort of

work. The overall expectations of the classroom are to constantly do work (staying on task),

meet with groups when called, and to participate during small group instruction. The students are

responsible enough to make it back and forth from the room to lunch, recess and their specials,

and are expected to do so in a timely manner. When rules are broken the students are asked to

take a token.
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The less structured setting is the cafeteria during lunch. The room is set up with three

horizontal long tables and one shorter table on a vertical angle (diagram to follow). All of the

students in the fourth grade come together and eat around 11:10 am. All of the students that buy

or receive free/reduced lunch go through the line and then everyone sits together. The students

are expected to eat appropriately and talk amongst themselves. When the time in lunch is coming

to an end, one of the three or four lunch room monitors will ring a better and start a ten second

countdown for the students to be quiet. When the students are quiet they can throw away their

trash and lineup for recess. Jason has been removed from this process almost completely. He sits

at the isolated table and removes his trash prior to the other students. He also does not line up for

recess with the other students. His expectations are to eat quietly and not speak unless spoken to.

Both of these settings were chosen because the student’s behaviors occur in each. Also,

he has had dramatic changes in his placement (the isolation) due to his behaviors. In both

settings Jason has been taken away from his peers and still maintains the behavior. Furthermore,

it seems that the student displays many more behaviors in the unstructured setting than he does

the structured setting. These locations are important for the behavior plan because the plan will

need to extend beyond the classroom in order to meet the needs of the student.

Observation of Peers Setting #1:

The first setting is in the student’s self-contained classroom. The walls of the room

remain plain other than a few posters and bulletin boards. There are cabinets that contain various

supplies and three computers, one of which the students can use. As previously described, there

are 12-15 student desks and three larger tables that the students do all of their small group
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instruction. Jason’s desk is currently facing the wall, while all other students sit in the middle of

the room and most have another person to sit near. Unless called up to a small group session, the

students are to remain in their seats and work.

Most of the students maintain on task the majority of the time. As with all kids, there are

times when they get off task, but the rest of the group gets back on track in a timely manner or

takes a token for their misbehavior. Also, all of the peers use proper language and are respectful

in class. They do not raise their voice to the teacher or use foul language. When the other

students need something they wait patiently at their desk until one of the teachers can come over

and assist them. If it is time to go to a special or lunch/recess they will wash their hands or pack

up their things quietly and try their best not to disturb others that are on a different schedule.

Observation of Peers Setting #2:

The unstructured setting for this FBA is the lunchroom. During this time there are either

three or four lunch room monitors that watch over the students. Each lunch time is set up for a

specific grade level, and the students have twenty-five minutes to eat their lunch. They line up

for lunch and come down as a class. The students who bring their lunch can take a seat and the

students who eat a school lunch go through the line. As the students get their food they sit

wherever they would like and with whomever they would like. During lunch time they are free to

talk amongst themselves and eat.

If the students want to clean up their plate prior to the bell bring rung or if they have a question

they can raise their hands and one of the monitors will come over. Other than students raising

their hands, the lunch room monitors have little contact with the students. For the most part the
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students follow this procedure and the hardest part of lunch is getting the students to quiet down

when they ring the bell. Other than expected barriers, lunch tends to run smoothly and the

students have little interaction with the monitors.

ABC Observation Setting #1:

During the classroom observation the student displayed the defined behavior a total of

nine times. This meant that there were nine observed times that the student was making noises

like saying “EEE—EEE”, stomping his feet, getting out of his seat, gazing around the room (not

on task), or disrupting the teacher with commentary.

Setting Frequency

Classroom IIIII IIII

TOTAL: 9

When comparing his behavior to the other students it seems that he is always in need of the

teacher’s attention and will go to extreme lengths to receive positive or negative attention. While

the other students are working diligently, Jason was often slouched in his seat, staring around the

room or playing with his paper or pencil. He was often told to get back to work or to re-do his

work.

When observing student-adult interactions, it seems that the tone of voice that the

teachers use with some students is different than with Jason. There is a softer tone with the peers

and the teachers seem to be more willing to help them. As for Jason, there is a lot of tension in

the room and the only time the teachers tend to speak to him is if he is doing something wrong.
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Statements that are heard are, “You make one more noise and you will take a token!” or

“JASON! Erase this and start over!” The feeling within the setting completely changes when this

student is addresses versus when the other students are addressed.

Aside from the altered way that Jason is addressed by his teachers, his seating

arrangement is also altered. While all of the other students generally sit in the middle of the room

and have another desk close in proximity, this is not the case for Jason. As a consequence of his

behaviors, Jason has been placed in the far back corner of the room where he faces a wall in front

of him and to his right. To his left is one of the teacher’s desks. He is expected to sit facing the

wall and do his work without any interaction with other students and often without interaction

with the teachers. When Jason deviates from this behavior by getting up or repositioning his

chair he is quickly reminded and he returns to his original placement.

It seems that the constant reminders of his poor behavior are an antecedent for his

behavior. Without any interaction and the interaction that is provided being negative, he has little

motivation to act appropriately. When he does have good behavior he is never praised for it. As

room as he moves his head or taps his foot on the ground there is a “JASON! Get back to work!”

ringing in his ear. When observing his response to these reprimanding statements, one can tell

that he does not seem to care. Sometimes if he upsets someone else a smirk will appear on his

face, but he never appears to feel remorse after exhibiting a behavior. The consequences of his

behaviors are receiving some attention and losing whatever privileges he has left. Most of the

time, by Tuesday or Wednesday all of his privileges are taken away; consequently, his behavior

worsens. His teacher has stated, “I have nothing else to take away from him”.
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The general context of all of the behaviors is the student’s lack of attention or positive

reinforcement and the need for attention. If he does not want to do an assignment, he just does

not do it. Even when he does do the assignment, he is not praised for it. Since he is given little

support on his assignments in or out of school, he simply does not turn in his homework or

complete his assignments. The only way to get attention from his teachers is to act out; thus,

getting him in trouble. He is isolated to the point where the building teachers and students do not

want to be around him and often get upset with him or ignore Jason completely.

ABC Observation Setting #2:

When observing Jason during lunch time he displayed the defined behavior a total of 16

times. This was almost double the amount of times the behavior was displayed in the structured

classroom. While the classroom behaviors were often being off task or disrupting others, the

behavior in the lunch room involved loud noises, stomping, fake playing with guns and engaging

the other student at the table in talking about shooting or blowing up the school. Overall, these

behaviors were much more outward and easy to detect.

Setting Frequency

Lunch room IIIII IIIII IIIII I

TOTAL: 16

While it is apparent that Jason’s behavior is much different than his peers, due to his

isolation from others, he has not been observed when interacting with any peers. From speaking

to lunchroom monitors and other teachers, it was said that the subjects he spoke about were

unacceptable and the result is the removal of interaction. Even after being cut off from peers,
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Jason often stomps his feet and talks about violence with the one other student at his table. The

other removed student is not permitted to talk or move during lunch. Jason’s behavior in the

lunchroom setting is more frequent and generally more obvious. He does not have any work to

avoid during lunch, but he does seek social attention. He will stomp his feet until a teacher

comes over or make an “EEE” noise until he makes someone mad enough to yell at him. While

the other kids are able to talk freely and interact with one another, the only interaction Jason has

is with the lunch room monitors and occasionally, the other student.

The isolation of Jason and the other student is an issue in the physical environment of the

lunchroom. Although Jason is in the same room as other peers, he does not eat with them; he

does not line up with them and does not go to recess with them. Due to the fact that Jason is

away from his peers and in front of the room, all of the students know that he is in trouble. Also,

while all other students are permitted to talk and move around, it is very hard for Jason not to

react and be upset that he no longer has those privileges. As a result, he makes noise, stomps his

feet, pretends to shoot people and tries to get the attention of the other student at his table.

The setting as a whole is an antecedent to the student’s behavior. Any social interaction

has been taken away from him, as well as any hope to earn his place back. He sits and watches

all of the other students engage in a lunch where they are free from many of the restrictions of

the classroom the classroom has. His physical and social isolation from others provokes him to

create more attention seeking behaviors. When the teachers or other students are near him he

creates less noise. Similarly, when given the chance to get up for a napkin or to throw out his

trash he often stops to talk to three or four people before getting summoned back to his seat.
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After the behavior there is either no consequence at all, due to ignoring, or whatever adult

is near will make a statement at him. After spending four lunch periods with Jason, there was

only one time that a lunch room monitor sat and talked to him without giving him directions or

scolding him. Often the verbal consequences are “Don’t you sit back there and talk—EAT!”

(Lunch monitor) or “Turn around!” “No talking!” Physical actions are often teachers pointing at

him in close proximity to his face or physically turning him back around. Although this may not

be the preferred attention for a student to receive, it seems to be the only attention this student

receives and he thrives off of it. The negative attention is mostly contextual. With the loss of

attention and socialization he acts out and receives attention. He acts out when the monitors are

trying to have a conversation amongst themselves, when they place another student at the table,

when they are trying to get everyone quiet or when it is time to go to lunch or leave lunch. They

seem to be the critical time in lunch where order is most needed. He is capable of following

lunchroom behaviors; he has done it before without a problem. Yet, the more and more that is

taken away from him, the more the problem behaviors are displayed.

Interview:

The person who was interviewed about this student was his Physical Education (P.E.)

teacher. She has been his teacher for the past three years and since the nature of P.E. is both

structured and unstructured, she has seen him in a variety of situations. According to Mrs. J.,

Jason’s problem behaviors are his impulsiveness, isolation, lack of on task behavior and issues

with him being an instigator among his peers. While the issues that he causes in her class are

substantial, most of the time he is not harmful to himself or to others. This excludes a few

physical fights which he had participated in last year.

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Mrs. J. feels that his behavior has been much better this year than last year. Antecedents

to his behavior is often not getting his way or having to do something that he does not want to

do. As a consequence to the behavior that follows the antecedent, he is placed in time out or has

been asked to leave the class. Generally speaking, Mrs. J. stages that all actions around him must

benefit him, “he is selfish”. His behaviors most affect the class when concerning team sports. He

is physically able to participate in all activities during P.E. class, but often he chooses not to.

Due to his behaviors other students in the class do not pick him for their team or leave him out

when playing. In this case, the teacher has not isolated the student; as stated by Mrs. J. he has

been isolated by his behaviors. She says. “No one wants Jason on their team”.

Working in teams and participating are part of the expectations of P.E class. Mrs. J.

wants Jason to stay on task and learn to love movement. She wants to change his negative

perception of P.E. class and give him the tools to play in a group and be a meaningful team

member. This means that Jason will learn to have a mature response to winning or losing, and to

be respectful of property and others if he does lose. Lastly, it is a goal for Mrs. J. to have Jason

move at a faster pace through transition. She states that it seems as if the class is always waiting

on Jason.

The problem seems to occur almost half of the time that he is in P.E. class. It has delayed

the rest of the class and has an effect on all other students. As a result of the disruption, Mrs. J.

has tried to talk to Jason privately, immediately respond if another student is hurt, put Jason is

time out, pull him out of class completely, or suspend him for his behavior. All of the

interventions tried have had a short term effect on the student and the behaviors have continued.
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PART II: FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT

Summary of Results:

When looking at Jason’s behaviors after gathering all of the information, it seems that the

isolation that has been placed on him and the social isolation that he has created for himself have

greatly impacted his educational experience thus far. From what has been analyzed, the current

interventions in place (isolation and response cost) have had little effect on the student’s

behavior and are not motivating Jason to make a change in his behavior. Furthermore, with little

support and communication from Jason’s guardians, it becomes difficult to create a relationship

and support system which extends from school to home.

In terms of Jason’s behaviors, he is stated to be “defiant in a mellow way”, according to

his teacher of record. This means that he is not throwing pencils or hitting other students in the

face, but he causes enough disruption in the classroom and in the lunch room to interrupt others

learning and make other students feel uncomfortable. This is in the form of creating fake guns,

making noises, talking about sex related topics, and making violent verbal threats to his peers.

This behavior has gone on long enough that he has become socially isolated from his peers

during P.E. and recess. The behavior has disrupted school time to the point where he has been

taken out of the normal setting in his academic classroom, lunch and recess.

Jason’s behavior has challenged the expectations and now the expectations have become

more severe. While all other students are able to sit together or able to play and talk amongst

themselves, Jason is confined to a designated location. The other students respect their teachers
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and do not use graphic or violent terms. While isolation was used to remove Jason from the

situation where the most problems occurred, it has not served him well and the behaviors have

continued.

Defining the Problem Behavior:

Overall, the problem behavior occurs as a function of attention. It seems that Jason

cannot control his behaviors and is quietly defiant. These behaviors include the following:

• Threatening other students with violent acts (talking about killing someone’s father,
putting a knife to another child’s throat, blowing up the school, etc.)
• Using cuss words
• Talking about and making fake weapons (drawing guns, making shooting noises, fake
shooting, motions to simulate bombs going off)
• Engaging peers in conversation about sexual conduct (pornography, having sexual
intercourse, sex acts, sex on television, etc.)
• Making noises with his mouth (EEE-EEE!)
• Stomping his feet on the ground
• Getting out of his seat without permission
• Not responding to teachers or staff members when asked to do something (gazes off,
avoids eye contact)
• Not completing work both in class and as homework (does not turn in work or turns in
blank pieces of paper)

All of these items are observable and covert. They are the words coming out of his mouth, noises

he makes with his body as well as clear actions that he takes to avoid work or listening to

instruction. They are noticeable to the teachers and the other students. They are not exclusive to
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any part of his day or setting change. Often the behaviors are more frequent in less structured

settings, but they are not exclusive to any particular setting.

Focusing on the Behavior:

The target behavior for this student references his speaking about violent acts, sexual

topics and threatens the safety of other students and their families. It should be noted that it is

these behaviors which have had the most influence on his current isolated placement. It is these

behaviors which get him the most attention throughout the school day. Moreover, when

displaying these behaviors he is often removed from the classroom to the office or sent home.

Since there is a little communication with the adults that live in his home, it is assumed that he

has little responsibilities at home; thus, he has escaped completing his work. Also, at home it is

known that he watches a fair amount of television and does not have restrictions on any of the

video games he plays. From conversations he has had with peers and teachers, it is known that

these games often expose him to violence. Bottom line, when the student displays these

behaviors he receives attention from many adults and escapes sitting through the school day or

completing the assigned work.

PART III: BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION PLAN

Define Replacement Behavior:

Rather than speaking to others about violence or sex, Jason should speak to his peers and

teachers in a respectful manner, and use topics which are age appropriate. Appropriate topics do

not include sex or violence. Jason should be able to understand what conversational topics are
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not allowed in school and what topics are embraced and supportive in the learning environment.

This behavior was chosen because it is believed to the root of many of his other issues. He has

been isolated in his classes physically and socially due to the things he talks about and the way

he addresses others; both teachers and peers. The topics he talks about are frowned upon in

society and will be taken seriously at one point in his adult life. He cannot under any

circumstances tell another child that he will put a knife to their throat or that he wants to kill their

father. It is unacceptable and in his future these behaviors will result in much more than a day’s

suspension from school.

On another note, it is easily seen that Jason wants to be a part of class, be social and

receive attention. Currently, the only attention that is given to Jason is fast and negative. By

changing his behavior he will be able to re-enter both structured and unstructured environments

to be social among his peers and it should result in less negative attention from the adults. When

gathering acceptance of others and less isolation the other disruptive behaviors (stomping,

making noises, etc.) should also subside. This should work better from the student’s perspective

because he will have to make less effort to get attention and be involved. The teachers will be

more willing to help a student that is respectful and this will result in him receiving the academic

support he needs and he will no longer need to avoid the work.

Strategy for Reinforcement:

The behavior plan will start with sitting down with Jason and trying to have a talk with

him. He is at an age where he knows that something is wrong and needs to be told what is truly

expected of him and the areas in which he is not fulfilling the expectations. There is a chance
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that he may not even completely know what is right or wrong. In this meeting the student and

teacher can establish clear expectations and brainstorm ideas on what are good conversations to

have in school and what is not allowed. This will allow both parties to start on the same page and

have little confusion. We will also set up goals for the student to re-enter the classroom and be

less isolated from his peers.

Next, the student will be given a behavior chart (attached) that will have a series of

observable behaviors throughout the day. This will be assessed once in the morning, after lunch,

after recess, after specials, in the afternoon and on the bus. This is a possibility for six stickers

throughout the day, but to earn the black belt he only needs five of them. Each of the teachers

that are involved with Jason’s learning will be notified of this program and will be involved. At

first he will receive a sticker based on a combined decision between the teacher at the designated

activity and Jason, and then later we will move towards and more self-evaluation policy. First,

the student should learn what the teachers are expecting and how that looks in any given setting.

Knowing that the student is interested in karate, Jason has the opportunity to earn belts

which each signify a different positive reinforcement. At the end of the day he will have a

specific number of stickers which signifies a color belt. Also, using karate is means for reaching

the students interests and giving him an opportunity to learn the real meaning behind karate

which is grace and control. This will show him that sports like karate are not about violence and

that they have a deeper meaning than what he sees on the TV or computer screen.

Number of Stickers Color Reinforcement

1 White Time to work on the

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classroom puzzle
2 Yellow Learn about Karate
3 Green 5 minutes on the computer
4 Brown 5 extra minutes with a peer
5 Black 10 minutes choice activity
(will be pre-approved)

Beyond the behavior chart, the student will be given the opportunity to have five minutes

per day to talk with the teacher or another student (permitting that the other student feels

comfortable talking to him) this will increase his social confidence and show him how people

respond when he talks about. Aside from learning what is and is not acceptable in class, Jason

should gain confidence in talking to other students. This will also show the other students that he

is changing his behaviors. Hopefully the other students will be as forgiving as children are and

embrace him back into the classroom community. Lastly, as the student learns to control his

behaviors and gains acceptance among his teachers and peers he will be able to move back into

the classroom. He may start on the outskirts of the room alone and then move further in and

eventually have someone to sit with.

This plan is appropriate for the student because it is getting to the target problem and also

working to prevent any further issues. Jason’s current behaviors, if continued, have the

possibility to get him into a lot of trouble in his future. This plan is gradual and obtainable for the

student. Since there are extrinsic incentives to working to control his behaviors and also an

intrinsic incentive of being able to be social the plan is likely to work for the student. It has been

created to be motivating to the student and involve his personal interests.

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Goals and Objectives:

During all structured and unstructured parts of the day with the assistance of a behavioral

chart, social incentive, and staff support, Jason will decrease the amount of unacceptable

conversations he has. These topics include talking about pornography, sexual conduct, violence,

threatening violence upon others, weapons, and destruction of places with the use of weapons.

This also includes attention seeking behaviors defined as getting out of his seat, making loud

noises with his mouth, stomping his feet, or verbally disrupting the teacher or other students

while talking. These will decrease from a rate of 10-15 times per 20 minute session to less than 5

times per session during 4 consecutive weekly observations by the end of the next quarter.

Plan for Monitoring:

During the week, each teacher that the student works with will be responsible for going

over their behavior feedback for their portion of Jason’s day. If Jason goes to PE that day, he and

Mrs. J will decide if he earned a sticker for that portion of the day. This also includes the head

lunch monitor and any other teacher who works with Jason on a consistent basis. There will be a

section for comments for the time period and the teacher who is monitoring the behavior at that

time.

The plan will be monitored through weekly meetings with the student and also meetings

with staff members who are involved in the intervention. In order for this to work across multiple

settings, all of the staff members who are involved with Jason will need to be consistent and on

board with what is going on. This will involve consistent and constant feedback for both Jason

and the teacher of record. Each week the behavior chart will be kept for records and a copy will

be sent home with Jason for his guardians. Although to this point his mother has chosen not to be

involved, it is important that she knows what is going on in the classroom and that she is
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receiving feedback on a weekly basis. After a month of the intervention, there will be a meeting

held to see if the student has made progress. If the team or staff feels that there needs to be

changes made at that point in time an additional meeting will be called where Jason and his

mother may attend.

In terms of positive reinforcement there will be a review of reinforcements when needed.

It is understood that the reinforcements may one day become less motivating to the student;

consequently, there need to be a large list of reinforcements (activities, verbal praise, extra time,

etc.) available for use. Also, beyond the behavior methods of intervention, cognitive

interventions will also be monitored. The teachers will begin by showing the student what

behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable, but as the process goes on the student will also need

to recognize these behaviors. This includes a self-monitoring, self-evaluation and self-reflection

regiment. The ultimate goal is that the student will be able to recognize and control his own

behaviors without a monitoring system created by the teacher.

PART IV: REFLECTION

Social Validity:

This intervention is socially valid and I believe that it will be generally accepted and

embraced by other teachers, students and parents. In the past two years Jason’s behavior has

been the topic of many parental phone calls to the principal and has been an issue with many

staff members in the building. It will benefit everyone who is involved with Jason by teaching

him to act in an acceptable way for school. There is nothing aversive or negative and the

intervention is aimed towards building positive ties and bringing Jason back into the classroom

atmosphere.
 Bober 22

In terms of this intervention being inconvenience to anyone, I would imagine that any

change is difficult but this change should be worthwhile. It may be a difficult adjustment for

some teachers to monitor Jason’s behavior and then remember to talk to him about his behavior

with all of the other things going on. It will take a conscience effort for each adult to take the

time to stick to the plan and be consistent day after day. If Jason is motivated by the plan and

each person is on board the plan will be effective.

Expected Changes:

As the intervention gets going and continues, Jason’s behavior is expected to change in

his demeanor towards others and their attitude towards him. If the behavior intervention plan

works as planed, Jason will alter his types of conversation to topics which are acceptable in

school and modify his behaviors to be less disruptive through the noise making and wondering.

As he learns to monitor his behaviors over time, Jason will have more opportunity to engage in

social situations with other students and teachers.

As with the change that Jason makes in his own behavior, there is also an expected

change in the behaviors of those who work with him. When teachers and other students see that

Jason is willing to change and is working to change they may be more inclined to talk to him and

treat him with the respect that each student deserves. It is expected that they give him another

change to redeem himself

Continuation of Intervention:

If the intervention is going well I would continue to monitor Jason’s progress and make

any changes as they come. This means giving the control back to Jason when deciding about

reinforcements and monitoring. The intervention would graduate fade out and allow for
 Bober 23

cognitive behavioral supports to take over the behavioral supports. There should come a point

when Jason may need subtle reminders about his behaviors but may not require six check points

throughout the day. When leaving elementary school, middle school or high school, Jason should

have an understanding of what is acceptable and also understand the consequences to threatening

others or verbalizing violent acts to another person or in reference to a home or public building.

As the intervention goes on it is an ongoing process that continues to work in decreasing the

target behaviors and increasing the replacement behaviors.

If the intervention is not going well there would be a meeting to discuss what is not

working and what the team of teachers needs to do to make a change. This meeting will include

Jason’s guardian if his mother chooses to be a part of the process. If she does come to the

meeting and show an interest in being a part of the process, I feel that having a schedule and

consistency that follows the student into the home is the best way to reinforcement of the skills

that are being taught to Jason. If his mother does not want to be a part of the process, the

intervention may be altered and will remain at school. This may include different reinforcements,

a new behavior checklist or even a new approach to the student’s issues.

If failure is brought on by the intervention there will be another meeting set to look at

where the team went wrong. This may involve completing more observations and assessments to

see if there was something missed in the original Functional Behavioral Assessment. This may

involve starting completely over and creating a new program for Jason. If this system is truly

failing, the team would look at some essential questions:

• What about this program isn’t motivating to the student?

• Are the student’s behaviors still measureable and observable? Are they well defined?
 Bober 24

• Have the student’s issues extended beyond the schools control?

• What other resources could be sought out to help this student?

• What is within our control?

Planning Process:

Overall this is a very intensive process. There were so many people’s opinions and

observations that come into play. Also, when starting this FBA and BIP I saw the student after an

extensive amount of isolation and built up tension. It is difficult to decipher what is truly the

student and what is being done through the educational institution. Often my own views of

working with students who have emotional and/or behavioral challenges differ from the views of

the teachers and school staff at this elementary school. I do not agree with fully isolating a

student or ever shaking my finger in their face. The fact that a comment was made that there is

nothing more that can be taken away from the student made my stomach hurt. Often I felt that

the staff just did not want to deal with him and this was their way of handling it. I do not feel that

this is fair to the student. I wish that I could have come into the situation at a different time and

had been able to see just the student’s behavior.

If I were to change this process I would have not spoken to anyone prior to observing. If I

had no preconceived notions I think that I would have had a more pure perspective. Often during

my observations I would try and sit at a distance from the student, but often had the lunch room

monitors coming over to see what I was writing and throwing in their two sense about the

students behavior. In trying to be polite at my placement school I had difficultly asking them to

stay away or not talk to me. Also, I would have liked to see his IEP and notes from his time at

Meadow’s Hospital. My teacher felt that because I was not an official student teacher that I did
 Bober 25

not have the right to access the student’s IEP or any files. The information that I have off their

IEP is hearsay from the teacher. If I had access to those files, I may have a greater perspective

and the ability to look up the medications that the student is on. Although I have been told that

the student takes antipsychotic medication, I have never seen the documentation nor have I been

given any detailed information. I did not feel that I had enough information to include this or

make it a part of my own intervention. This may have been a different story if I had been allowed

to view the documentation and research the effects of the medications that the student is

prescribed to.

When I work with another student I am unsure what I would shorten. When actually

performing an FBA and creating a BIP in the future I doubt that I will normatively write out each

of the steps as I did in this document. There is not enough time to write a twenty some page

paper for each student. The same work could have been accomplished through FBA charts,

tables, bulleted listed and much less wording. Also, with access to student files there would be

less information to really seek out. While it would still be imperative to gather information from

multiple sources, the general information on a student is more than likely prepared in their IEP or

academic records.

Walking away from the project I feel more prepared for working with students and in

accordance with the law. It seems that with most other special education laws the guidelines are

well established. The laws with FBA are not clear and do not have many guidelines to follow. It

is helpful to know that I completed an FBA and BIP for a real student. Also, after completing all

of this work I am unsure if my plan will really work. I am starting to understand that no matter

how many classes one can take, there are some things you cannot fully be prepared for. By no

means do I have all of the answers. Yet, I believe that it is projects like this one which prepare
 Bober 26

me to have the tools to support students. I know where to go for help or resources that can guide

me through a process that is knew to me. I understand that the first, second or third intervention

may not work, but the key is to keep trying. Overall, I feel prepared for the unpredictable aspects

of teaching.
 Bober 27

BEHAVIOR CHART

Jason’s Day
Date:

Goal #1: Talk to peers and adults about school acceptable topics

Goal #2: Stay on task—stay seated, raise your hand if you need something, wait for your turn to
talk!

Time or Place Sticker? Comments

Morning

Lunch

Recess

Specials

Afternoon

Bus

What color belt did I earn today? ___________________

Activity? ____________________________