Chapter 7 – Planning and Monitoring Behavioral Supports

Much like academic needs, behavioral challenges should be monitored through data collection, intervention support, and consistent follow up. When it comes to behavior, educational professionals may share they have “tried everything” and “nothing works” or that behaviors occur “randomly.” These statements, and the frustration that accompanies them, often reflect a failure to collect and analyze data, identify high-leverage or evidence-based interventions, or consistently implement a behavioral support plan. Just as academic supports should be planned for and monitored, so should behavioral supports.

The most effective way to address individual behaviors is with a functional behavior assessment (FBA) and a behavior intervention plan (BIP).  An FBA is designed to assess how variables in the environment relate to specific behaviors (Walker & Barry, 2020). FBAs should be coupled with a BIP and the FBA process should directly guide the BIP development. The data collection that happens as part of the FBA process should lead to an analysis, ideally a hypothesized function of behavior. A BIP is a proactive way to concisely and consistently support students with behavior change (Walker & Barry, 2017). BIPs should include replacement behaviors, which address the same function of the behavior of concern, as well as changes to antecedents and consequences, where necessary. BIPs may also describe instructional strategies, reinforcement, and opportunities for feedback.

From a federal law perspective, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 2004) states that if a child with a disability experiences behaviors that interfere with their learning or the learning of others, a team must decide if that child needs behavior support. This may or may not include an FBA/BIP, but this process is certainly included under the umbrella of behavioral support. It should be noted that any child can have a BIP and this process is not exclusive to those children who have been identified with a disability under IDEA.

While Virginia has planning documents to support behavioral data collection, analysis, and planning, the FBA and BIP process is fundamentally consistent across states and localities. This process should include a team approach. For students with disabilities this likely will be the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team, if one already exists. The first step of the FBA involves identifying a behavior of concern to target for intervention. Typically, the targeted behavior of concern is the behavior that resulted in the formation of the team, but a student may demonstrate multiple behaviors concurrently. When selecting the target behavior, the team should consider which behavior is unsafe, pervasive, or disruptive to the student’s or classmate’s learning. Once this behavior has been identified, data on the behavior across settings, times of day, and school staff must be collected.

To ensure a complete picture of the behavior and to correctly develop a successful plan, data that captures at least 10 incidents of the behavior should be collected (O’Neill et al., 1997). Direct data can be collected through a variety of methods to include duration, frequency, latency, and descriptive observation. In short, duration measures how long a behavior occurs, frequency measures how many times a behavior occurs, latency captures how long after a prompt is given that a behavior starts or stops, and a descriptive observation captures everything that happens in a specific time frame using observable and objective language. Utilizing a standard form or method of data collection for the entire team ensures consistency and allows for more concise and streamlined analysis of data. These data forms can be developed by the team or found online through sources like PBISworld’s data tracking website.

Once data has been collected, it should be analyzed through a team approach. Analysis may focus on finding patterns with times of day, settings, or people, using an antecedent- behavior- consequence (ABC) chart, or calculating percentages of behaviors as related to antecedents and consequences. Once the team understands the data and sees the “story” the data is telling, they can begin to hypothesize the function (or purpose) of the student’s behavior. Functions of behavior vary, depending on the source, but the most commonly identified functions include attention, power and/or control, escape/avoidance, and play or sensory regulation.

When the function of a behavior is attention seeking, students may seek attention, either positively or negatively, from peers, adults, or both. This may take the form of calling out during class, name calling other students, or acting as a “class clown.” Behaviors that serve the function of gaining power and/or control involve the student looking for, or creating, opportunities to exert power or control over situations. This may look like refusing to complete tasks, electing to engage in a task not aligned with a schedule, or making decisions in opposition to a teacher’s or other authority figure’s directions. Escape/avoidance behaviors may include refusal to complete work, leaving an assigned area during a specific task or subject, or sleeping. Students who are engaging in escape/avoidance behaviors are looking to avoid something that they perceive as uncomfortable or unpleasant. Students may seek to avoid specific content instruction, people, types of interactions with peers, or locations. Finally, a student who is engaging in play or sensory regulation may exhibit behaviors in an effort to decrease or increase sensory stimulation. For some students this may mean avoiding particular sounds or visual stimuli and for others it may mean seeking out these sensory activities in such a way that may appear to be excessive or extreme. Students whose behaviors serve the function of play or sensory regulation may roll themselves across the floor, refuse to participate in an assembly or enter the lunchroom, bounce in a chair, or become agitated with other students’ vocalizations or behaviors. While examples of how these functions may manifest have been provided above, these certainly are not all inclusive of the range of behaviors students may exhibit for any of the functions.

Determining the function of a behavior requires thoughtful analysis of patterns that are evident in the data. However, even an experienced FBA team working with a large amount of data may be uncertain about the precise function of a behavior. In some cases one behavior can serve multiple functions or the functions may have a similar appearance. For example, control and escape/avoidance can be difficult to distinguish through natural observation. In order to “test” the function of a behavior, team members can monitor what happens when the hypothesized function is met. When the function of a behavior (attention, power, etc.) is met, one would expect the student’s behavior to decrease. Conversely, when the function of behavior is denied or unavailable, the behavior would presumably increase. Testing the function of a behavior in this way can be valuable in planning subsequent interventions. However, this should be done with caution so students aren’t instigated to engage in unsafe or harmful behaviors.

Once the function of a behavior is well understood, the next next step of the FBA process involves using a competing pathways chart to outline the data and create a pathway to the BIP. The competing pathways chart is a diagram that summarizes the data collected during the FBA. Steps for completing the competing pathways diagram include:

1. Identifying and naming a target behavior in measurable, observable, and objective terms to also include baseline data.
2. Identifying and naming the antecedent, or trigger, that occurs immediately before the target behavior.
3. Identifying and naming the maintaining consequence, or what immediately happens after the target behavior that keeps the behavior happening.
4. Identifying and naming the setting events, or the conditions where and when the behavior occurs. These are factors that increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur.
5. Identifying and describing the desired behavior in measurable, observable, and objective terms. This is the behavior the team would ideally expect or want to see from the student given the same setting and antecedent events. The desired behavior is also usually what peers are successfully doing in the classroom as it relates to behavior.
6. Identifying and describing the reinforcing consequences, or what will happen in the environment to elicit the desired behavior. This often means changing something in the setting to encourage the new, desired behavior.
7. Identifying the function of the behavior, or the reason the behavior is occurring.
8. Identifying and describing replacement or alternative behaviors that the student can engage in, but still serve the same function of the original target behavior.

Once the competing pathways chart is complete, the team can use this information to ensure that the BIP is aligned with the same function of the original behavior of concern. In other words, if the student was getting attention by falling out of their chair, the replacement behavior and reinforcing consequences should still give the student attention. More specifically, if the student wanted peer attention, then the outcome of the new plan should also provide peer attention.

After data has been collected and thoroughly analyzed, the team can move forward with developing a BIP to support the student in learning and demonstrating the desired behavior. Much like academics, interventions should be carefully selected and a continuous loop involving data collection and analysis of the functions of behavior should occur. While BIPs may vary in structure and design, the competing pathways document can provide essential information for moving forward. In the BIP, the team should develop strategies to address the setting event, antecedents, instructional strategies to teach the desired and replacement behaviors, and consequence strategies (Walker & Barry, 2018). The team may find it helpful to ask and answer the following questions to identify strategies for each phase of the BIP:

• Setting Events – What can be eliminated or changed in the setting to reduce the occurrence of the target behavior?
• Antecedents – What triggers can be eliminated or changed? What prompts can be given to reduce the target behavior and increase the likelihood of the desired or replacement behavior?
• Instructional Strategies – Does this student need to be taught specific skills (acquisition related) or do they need opportunities to practice skills (performance related)? Does the student need a specific plan for social skill instruction (Walker & Barry, 2018)?
• Consequences – How can replacement behaviors be reinforced? What is the response to recurrences of the target behavior? Does the student need a safety plan?

When considering interventions, those with an evidence-base or identified as a high leverage practice should be considered. While many of these interventions are often labeled “good practice” by successful educators, it is still important to examine how a particular student is interacting with these interventions if they already exist. Depending on a school division’s or individual school’s initiatives, these interventions may also fall into other frameworks such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Responsive Classroom, Restorative Practices, or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Should crossover exist with the student’s plan and an overarching system, there should be consistency and alignment between the child’s plan and the division’s or school’s plans.

Before implementing the BIP and ending the planning meeting, the team should decide who will be implementing each part of the BIP, disseminating the plan information, and collecting follow-up data. A new meeting should be set to review progress, much like teams engage in academic progress reviews. Ultimately, the BIP is a working document that may need to be changed or adjusted as a student stalls with progress or exceeds their goals.

The case studies that follow demonstrate how two teams approach the FBA/ BIP process differently to address behavioral concerns in both a high school and elementary school. While both teams collected data, their approaches were different and, in the end, they may have yielded different results.