Positive Behavior Support Plan 1

Positive Behavior Support Plan

Brianna Caldwell/Linehan

Towson University

SPED741
Positive Behavior Support Plan 2

Positive Behavior Support Plan

Background Information:

Justin is a 4th grade student at Dogwood Elementary school. He has been attending Baltimore

County schools since 1st grade. He attended another school up until 2nd grade and then spent part

of his 3rd grade year in the home and hospital program due to his behavior. He then transferred

and went to Dogwood at the end of the 2015-2016 school year. Justin is currently in the SST

process for his behavior in class. In the fall, the teachers and parents completed Vanderbilt

Assessment checklists and we are currently waiting on a diagnosis. Justin is in an inclusion

classroom with 23 other students, a general educator, and an instructional assistant. In both

reading and math he is performing below grade level and receives small group instruction to

work on his skills. He is often times off task and misses out on important parts of instruction. He

is currently in an after school mentor club to help work on his behavior and communication

skills.

Definition of Specific Behavior:

Justin is a bright student who has great success in class when he is on task and attentive.

However, too often Justin is off task and noncompliant with teacher redirections. Many

times during whole group and small group instruction, Justin is off task, playing with things in

his desk, making noises, or talking to classmates. During independent work, he is often times

out of his seat, staring around the room, and making noises. He needs constant cues and

reminders to do his work and stay quiet. He often times becomes frustrated with the redirection
Positive Behavior Support Plan 3

and shuts down. He will refuse to do the work, even with the teacher attempting to work with

him.

This behavior with Justin occurs multiple times daily. It occurs during all subject areas and also

with special area classes. Justin often times needs reminders to get back to his work or follow

along with the lesson. During whole group, the teacher has to provide him with constant cues to

get back on task. Justin struggles more during small group or independent work when he is on

his own. Without the teacher providing him with reminders, he rarely gets any of his work done

and becomes a distraction to himself and others. He is constantly moving around in his seat,

playing with things in his desk, and making noises/talking out loud. Justins off task behavior

lasts until he is given a redirection from one of the two teachers in the room to get back to

work. If during small group, where the teacher is working with other students, he can spend up to

15 minutes off task before the teacher redirecting him. When he is redirected, depending on his

mood, he can become frustrated and shut down.

Due to his behavior and how often it occurs, Justin is missing instruction time and is also causing

a disruption to the rest of the class. When he is off task and requires redirection, the teacher has

to stop teaching to redirect him. At this point in the year, Justins behavior has never lead to a

potential dangerous situation. He acts up and can be loud and distracting but he never has

acted out to cause danger to himself or others.

Literature Review:

1. Attai, S., Bankhead, J., Dacus, S., Davis, T., Fuentes, L., Haupert, M., Kang, S., Lang, R., &
Zoch, T. (2014). A Comparison of Self-Monitoring with and without Reinforcement

to Improve On-Task Classroom Behavior. Journal of School Counseling, Volume 12.

Positive Behavior Support Plan 4

Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?

q=off+task+behavior&pr=on&ff1=dtySince_2013&pg=2&id=EJ1034764

This article was about a study that analyzed a type of intervention in which the student used self-

monitoring in order to improve their on task behaviors. In this study, they worked with high

school students in different settings to see if students could use self-monitoring strategies to stay

on task. In the study, they observed the students in a setting in which they used the self-monitor

strategy and then another setting in which they used the self-monitor strategy along with

reinforcement from a teacher. Based on the study, they found the intervention only worked when

the teacher reinforcement came along with it.

2. Axelford, M.I., Bellini, S. & Markoff, K. (2014). Video Self-Modeling, A Promise

Strategy for Noncompliant Children. Sage Journals, Volume 38. Retrieved from

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0145445514521232

This article was about a current study which investigated the effects of a Video Self-Modeling

intervention on both the compliance and the aggressive behavior of a few students. In this article,

it explains how they used the intervention to demonstrate to students the correct behavior. The

students would watch the video every day before doing different tasks. The students all showed

improvement with their behavior during and after the intervention was put in place. This

intervention was used in a hospital setting and then transitioned to a school setting.

3. Bates, K.E., Battaglia, A.A., Dadakhodjaeva, K., Dart, E.H., Radley, K., & Wright, S.J.
(2016) The Classroom Password: A Class-Wide Intervention to Increase Academic

Engagement. Psychology in the Schools, Volume 53. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?

q=off+task+student&pr=on&ff1=dtySince_2013&pg=3&id=EJ1092989

This article was a study that investigated the effectiveness of a type of intervention called the

classroom password. The purpose of the intervention was to increase academic engagement of
Positive Behavior Support Plan 5

students who have more off task behaviors. The study worked in 3 middle school classrooms.

The study said there was a decrease in disruptive behavior due to the intervention.

4. School-Wide Strategies for Managing Off Task/Inattention. Intervention

Central. Retrieved by http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-

interventions/challenging-students/school-wide-strategies-managing-task-

inattention

This website provides strategies for teachers to use during instruction for students who are off

task during instruction. It lists out what strategies to use to help the students stay on task and how

to teach students strategies to use to stay on task and get their work done. It also provides

suggestions for teachers as to how they can change their set up of their classroom and the layout

of their lessons to keep students more engaged and increase the time that they are in the

classroom doing work.

5. Perle, J.G. (2016). Teacher- Provided Positive Attending to Improve Student Behavior.

Council of Executional Children. Volume 48. Retrieved from

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0040059916643707

This article was another reflection on past practices that have worked with teachers who are

working with noncompliant, disruptive students. This article focused on teachers providing

positive talk to their students. In the article it described the type of specific, positive talk that

teachers should use for their individual students.

Baseline Data Collection:

In order to track Justins behavior and the amount of times he is given redirection, I created a

behavior sheet in which I used tally marks to track the amount of times Justin was off task

and also track his work completion. I decided to observe him for increments of 30 minutes to

see how often he needs redirection. I work with Justin for most of the school day and have
Positive Behavior Support Plan 6

observed this behavior in all subjects. For the 3 observations, I chose to observe him during

the reading and math time. I wanted to see how often the behavior occurs and if the subject has

any influence on his behavior.

On day 1, I observed Justin during our reading block of time from 11:00-11:30 during whole

group time. In this lesson I was introducing the culminating event in which the students had to

choose a social issue and create either a podcast, blog, or screencast. I went over the student

directions and then showed examples to the students of each of the 3 types of technology. During

the modeling part of the lesson, the students used their white boards and wrote down features

that they noticed for each of the 3 types of technology; blog, podcast, or screencast. Within the

first minutes of the lesson, Justin needed to be given redirection to get back on task. During the

student directions, he was playing with his pencil in his desk and needed to be redirected to read

along with the class. When I reviewed over the type of technology, I had to stop 4 times to ask

Justin to stop talking or look up at the board to see the examples. At the end of the 30 minutes, I

asked the students to take out white boards to do an interactive activity with blogs, screen casts,

and podcasts. Justin had to be asked 3 times to take out the supplies and then became upset and

put his head down. He did not complete the questions on the board.

On day 2, I observed Justin during the reading block of time but instead focused on small group

instruction. I observed him from 12:00-12:45. For part of this time, Justin was working with me

in small group with 7 other students and then for the second part of the time, he had to work at

his seat on his own. During the portion of time when he was with the teacher, he appeared to be

more on task. The students were reading a chapter book for their guided reading time. In small

group, Justin sat across from me so I was able to quickly get his attention to get him back on

task. In small group, he read part of the book aloud and followed along with the story. He did
Positive Behavior Support Plan 7

need 2 reminders to not call out when I was asking questions. After small group, his group went

on to their independent work. Justin struggled with his independent work. He was out of his seat

2 different times to pick things up off the floor or sharpen his pencil. The instruction assistant,

Mrs. Niles, had to tell him 3 times to get back to work. At the end of the lesson, he had not

finished most of his assignment. Justin appeared to have less off task behavior when he was

working in a small group with the teacher.

On day 3, I observed Justin during our math block of time from 2:00-2:30. During this time the

students were introduced to the first skill of the fractions unit. The students were learning how to

identify fractions using representations. The students were first given several pictures and asked

to write the fraction on the white board. As a class we then reviewed over the definition of

fractions and types of models. The students then did several practice problems before going into

small group. During the model part and explanation, Justin was off task. He got out of his seat

twice during the teacher explanation without asking and needed at least 4 redirections to stay on

task. At one point he had to be told to turn around and not make noise. He was distracting to both

himself and others during the math lesson.

Behavior Chart

Day 1
Positive Behavior Support Plan 8

Subject: Reading Comments

Time: 11:00-11:30
Reminders to get back to -only 2 redirection during small group
work:
5 -redirected with computer
-off task with independent work
Times out of his seat: -Stayed in his seat during the whole group part of
the reading lesson
0
Work Completion: -Did not finish the worksheet which was supposed
to be done during independent time
Incomplete

Day 2
Positive Behavior Support Plan 9

Subject: Reading Small Group Comments

Time: 12:00-12:45
Reminders to get back to work: -had to be redirected going over student
6 directions
-Redirected for playing with pencil
-Redirected for making noise
-off task
Times out of his seat: -During independent work
-went to pencil sharpener
2 -was on the ground by his desk
Work Completion: -Refused to answer the questions on his white
board
Incomplete -was asked 3 times to take out the materials
and use the white board

Day 3
Positive Behavior Support Plan 10

Subject: Math Comments

Time: 2:00-2:30
Reminders to get back to -making noises during whole group work
work: -off task with definitions
7 -playing with items at his seat
-had to be asked twice to take out his journal
Times out of his seat: -one time on the ground in front of his desk
-other time at the water fountain
2

Work Completion: -had to take notes

-his notes were incomplete (taken from the board)
No independent work

Summary of Data
Positive Behavior Support Plan 11

The observations from the last three days show that Justins behavior is causing him to miss

important parts of instruction and is causing him to be unable to complete his work. Justin

easily gets off task and is noncompliant when given redirection. Based on the observations, he

appears to have more success in small group when working with the teacher along with a smaller

number of students. When he has to work independently, he does not demonstrate to have to

ability to keep himself on task. He needs constant reminders to stay on task and complete his

work and if a teacher is not giving him those reminders, he will not accomplish the task he has to

complete.

Based on Justins past few school year reports, he appeared to show the same type of behavior.

Before he attended Dogwood, he was enrolled at another school in the county. In the report card

comments, the notes were relatively the same. His off task behavior and disruption has lead him

to receive lower grades. At his other school, he was sent to home and hospital for several months

due to his behavior. It was not stated what occurred and why he was sent out of school but

when he returned, he was enrolled at Dogwood.

In his time at Dogwood in 3rd grade, his 3rd grade teacher told me that it was very difficult to

keep Justin on task. He frequently became off task and didnt listen to the teacher when he was

given directions. She said that his grades suffered and he received Cs and Ds in reading and

math. Due to his negative behavior in 3rd grade, his teacher brought him up to the Student

Support Team (SST) to review his records and behavior. This year, the SST team met and the

parents and teachers filled out Vanderbilt Assessments based on his behavior. We are currently

waiting for the results.

Positive Behavior Support Plan 12

Overall, it appears Justin has always struggled with his attention in school and this has

caused him to have lower grades throughout his schooling. Also, his behavior has lead him to

have issues with classmates and teachers in how he deals with situations.

Hypothesis of Functional Intention:

Based on the classroom observations and other data collected from Justins past report cards and

records, it appears that Justins intention when he gets off task with his work and is non-

compliant with directions is avoidance of work. His functional intention is to avoid classwork.

Sometimes, it also appears his intention is to seek attention from his classmates however,

overall it mostly appears to be avoidance. Based on the observations, whenever Justin was being

taught in whole group, he was often times off task playing in his desk, looking around the room,

and doing anything except what the teacher said. With any type of redirection, he gets upset and

becomes noncompliant. It was also observed that any type of independent or assessment time,

Justin was observed being off task and noted that the assignments were not getting done. It

appears he is avoiding doing any type of his work. The only time it was observed that he did

work, was when he had a teacher by him giving him constant redirection. I do feel some of his

behavior is seeking attention but from his classmates. He was observed getting off task, talking

to others. I feel this is due to him avoiding his work and trying to cause other classmates to get

off task with him.

Replacement Behavior:

Justin should complete his assignments during independent work during the time given

without needing redirection from the teacher. During small groups/station work, when Justin
Positive Behavior Support Plan 13

is working independently on an assignment, he will use the time he is given to complete his work

to the best of his ability. If he has any types of questions, he will use an appropriate way to ask

the teacher for assistance to help him with the assignment. At the end of the given time frame,

Justin should be prepared to hand in his completed work. Through working with Justin on this

behavior, he will hopefully take more ownership of his work and improve his overall grade by

getting his assignments turned in.

Based on observations, independent time is when Justin struggles the most with staying on task.

Without having an adult or some type of reminder given to him frequently, he easily gets off

task. I will use several different strategies to teach Justin this new behavior with completing his

work. I will first sit down with Justin and discuss appropriate ways in which he can ask for help.

It appears that he is trying to avoid his work and part of that can be because he doesnt

understand it. Working with Justin, we will create a checklist with different ways in which

he can ask for help appropriately. We will practice these and then will tape the checklist onto

his desk, so he has easy access to it. Second, I will introduce Justin to a timer. Again, during

independent work he is getting off task. I will use the timer to track 5 minute increments. For

every 5 minutes he stays on task he will get a sticker, 5 stickers equals a ticket (PBIS school

award). I will explain this to Justin and then spend the first day modeling the timer and the

sticker. Each time he begins to work on his independent work, we will set the timer and see if he

can make it to 5 minutes. As he progresses, we will bump up the time to 8 and then 10 minutes. I

will also model to him the off task behavior, in which the timer will be reset. Lastly, to help teach

him the new behavior, I will meet with Justin one on one after he has done his work to see if

he completed it and discuss strategies he should use the next day to work on staying on task. We
Positive Behavior Support Plan 14

will also use a behavior chart to track if he stayed on task during his independent work and

completed his assignment. This way, we can monitor his behavior subject to subject, day to day.

I will teach Justin this new behavior during small groups with ELA and math. Before

beginning my groups, I will conference with Justin one on one to review over his ask for help

chart and go over the timer. Once he begins his work, I will start the timer and either have I or

the instructional assistant monitor his behavior to see if he makes it to 5 minutes. For the first

few days, I will also try to meet with him afterward to see if he is successfully getting his work

done and if not, discuss with him what changes we need to make.

Positive Behavior Supports:

In order to keep Justin motivated and engaged in the classroom and with his work, I will use

these three different positive supports in the classroom. First, I will use a chart on his desk

which goes along with the timer. For every 5 minutes he stays on task during his independent

work, he receive a sticker. For every 5 stickers, he will get 1 ticket which goes towards the prize

cart. Justin has been motivated by the prize cart and gets excited to pick new items like

homework passes, play toys, and Pokmon cards. Second, to motivate Justin to complete his

work, he will be given 5 extra minutes of computer time anytime he completes an

assignment and it appears that he did it to the best of his ability. This year, Justin has been

motivated by the use of his device. Based on work completion, I will set time aside that Justin

can get on his device and choose a program to use for 5 additional minutes. Again, I will go over

with him that he only gets the additional time if he has completed the work and it appears that he

took his time on it and didnt rush to just get the time. Lastly, a daily behavior chart will be

used to track Justins behavior throughout all subject areas. The chart will track his on task
Positive Behavior Support Plan 15

behavior and his work completion. He will receive a 2 if he only a couple reminders for both

behavior and 2 if he completes work. He will receive a 1 if he needs several reminders and a 1

for some work completion. He will receive a 0 if he needs constant reminders and a 0 if he

doesnt get his work done. We will select a daily total amount and if Justin reaches the total

number of points for that day, he can select a prize from the class prize box.

Data Collection and Visual Representation:

The data below represents the behaviors which Justin demonstrated over the course of 13 school

days. Some of the data is from our reading block of time which is in the morning and other data

is from our math block in the afternoon. The data was taken during small group time, when

Justin was either in small group or small group and independent work. The data is a reflection of

the information in the BIP and the negative behaviors which he demonstrates. I collected data on

how often he needed redirection for his off task behavior as well as recording whether or not

Justin completed his work.

Justin Small Group Time

Day and Subject Number of Redirection Completed Work

Day 1/Math 7 No
Day 2/Math 2 Yes
Day 3/Reading 6 No
Day 4/Reading 5 Some
Day 5/Reading 2 Yes
Day 6/Math 3 No
Day 7/Reading 8 No
Day 8/Reading 2 Yes
Day 9/Reading 7 No
Day 10/Math 6 Yes
Day 11/Math 2 Some
Day 12/Reading 8 No
Day 13/Reading 3 Yes
Positive Behavior Support Plan 16

Below is a graph which represents the number of times Justin was redirected during either math

or reading during small group instruction. Some of the times he was working with a teacher in a

group and other times was independent work time during small group stations.

Number of Redirection In Small Group

9
8
7
6
5
Number of Redirections 4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Days

Also, I wanted to see if there was a differences with the math and reading and if there was a

change with redirection. The chart below shows the same chart but with color coded for math

and reading. The math is red and the reading is blue.

Positive Behavior Support Plan 17

Number of Redirection In Small Group

9
8
7
6
5
Number of Redirections 4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Days

Lastly, the final chart shows the assignments that were completed and the assignments were not

completely or only partly completed.

Completed Assignments
9
8
7
6
5
Number of Assignments 4
3
2
1
0
Yes No

Completed...yes or no

The following are copies of the original charts I used to track his behavior. The number of

directions were from both myself and Mrs. Niles, the instructional assistant in the class who

often times works with Justin.

Day 1:
Positive Behavior Support Plan 18

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:
Positive Behavior Support Plan 19

Day 5:

Day 6:

Day 7:
Positive Behavior Support Plan 20

Day 8:

Day 9:

Day 10:

Day 11:
Positive Behavior Support Plan 21

Day 12:

Day 13:

Data Summary and Interpretation:

Positive Behavior Support Plan 22

Based on the data collected and the visuals represented, I feel that the positive supports

which were put in place did help Justin make some progress. However, I do feel that there

were still several days which the supports were not as effective and more supports might be

necessary. Based on the 3 day observation I had done earlier on in the year, I noticed Justin had

to be redirected 5-7 times in a 30 minute period, was out of his seat multiple times, and he did

not complete any of the 3 assignments. In order to decrease the number of redirections he would

have to be given, I put different supports in place. First we were using a timer to track if Justin

could stay on track for 5 minutes. He would track his stars to gain computer time. Also, we

started to use a behavior chart to track his behavior daily in all subject areas. After the 13 days

with the positive supports, the data showed on six of the days, Justin only needed 2-4

redirections which a decrease from the normal average of 7. However, he still had six days with

7 or 8 redirections. Based on this data, it does appear the supports did help improve Justins

behavior in small group some of the time but in other situations the supports didnt appear to be

as effective.

In the 13 days which I implemented the positive behavior supports, I felt that the timer helped

keep Justin on track. In the beginning, he was struggling with making it to 5 minutes and I

think it was surprising to him that he wasnt making it to 5 minutes. At times he became

frustrated with it but I feel it helped to show him that he had to continue to work to make 5

minutes. Also based on the data, Justin did better when he was in closer proximity to one of

the two teachers. When he was in small group with the teacher or working on an assignment

one on one with a teacher, he got through the assignment with few reminders at all. When he was

on his own and the teacher was working with others, he required multiple redirections. Also,

part of his behavior support was he would earn extra time on the computer. Justin loved
Positive Behavior Support Plan 23

getting the chance to have more time to play on his device. He was so motivated by it that we

also chose a reward system for his daily behavior chart. If he got all 2s except for one 1, he

would get to choose a prize from the prize cart.

With the behavior plan, I was curious to see whether there would be a difference between math

and reading. Based on the data, there was no notable difference between math and reading

time. I thought that math being at the end of the day might see more redirections during that

time. However, reading had just as high of numbers as did the math block. Many times, the

number of redirections was based on Justins attitude and how his day had been going. I also

noticed any type of change of schedule in our day lead him to be more task. The final support

which I hope to continue is the daily behavior chart. By the end of the 13 days I felt like

Justin was taking ownership over his behavior and able to reflect on his day. At the end of

every day, when I would show him his chart, we would discuss how his day went. At first, he

didnt get why he got low marks and didnt think he had done anything wrong. The first week we

had to talk about his decisions and why he was given low marks. As the next week went on,

Justin wasnt as negative and was able to talk about what he did. At times he still doesnt get

what he is doing wrong but we will continue to talk and reflect on his day.

Reflection:

Through implementing the BIP and putting different interventions in place in my classroom I

was able to research and learn more behavior management strategies. When implementing the

BIP, I gained new knowledge and skills in classroom management and strategies to use with

my students. I also grew in my disposition in my classroom management in regard to my

understanding of Justin and his difficulty with attention. For Justin, I realized he was unable
Positive Behavior Support Plan 24

to sit during the duration of the time for small group due to his lack of attention and

hyperactivity. For him, this task was too much so I needed to find a way to keep him on task but

chunk the time. Through talking to some of the special educators, I learned to use a timer so

Justin could track increments of 5 minutes verse sitting for the whole half hour. With this new

strategy, Justin could see a positive reward for staying on task every 5 minutes to keep him

motivated to sit and do his work. For Justin, I took something which was impossible and made it

possible for him by modifying the time. This experience taught me to learn about each childs

individual strengths and needs and how to modify my teaching in order to help each student be

successful. Also, through this experience, I depended on other teachers for supports and ideas as

to how I could reach Justins needs in the classroom.

In order to maintain and generalize the behavior plan which we put in place, I will continue

to use the timer and sticker chart to track Justins time on track. Hopefully, as we continue to

work through it, he will be able to monitor the timer on his own and track his time on task. Also,

Justin appears to be really motivated by his daily behavior chart and earning extra time on the

computer. I hope to keep the behavior chart throughout the end of the school year and have it

transition with him to 5th grade. Also, based on how well Justin is motivated by the stickers and

time on task, I have extended it to the whole class. When they get through one rotation of small

group without needed teacher redirection to quiet the class, they receive a sticker. After 5

stickers, the class gets 5 minutes of extra recess time, which they are motivated by.

If I could do this project again, there would be a few things which I might change or try

different in order to make the interventions more successful. First, in my observations, I

observed two different subjects, reading and math. When thinking back on it, Justin behaviors

differ in the morning during reading and in the afternoon, during math. Also, he is more engaged
Positive Behavior Support Plan 25

in reading and doesnt do well in math. With the interventions, I should have focused on one

period to see if they were effective and then tried it in the other subject verse doing it all at once.

Also, I think next time I would have to implement another support to use when the timer and

stickers are not working. A few days he got just as many reminders as he did before the

interventions so it appeared he may have needed another intervention for when the first

intervention wasnt working. Overall, I do feel the project was successful and helped Justin have

more success in class.