Chapter 11: Individualized and Intensive Supports
Every student can learn, just not on the same day or in the same way.
—George Evans
Opening Vignette: Safe Hands
Blaine, a four-year-old preschool student who is nonverbal, moved toward his carpet square for circle time. As he approached the circle, Blaine appeared agitated. He was flapping his hands and bouncing slightly on his toes. Once seated, he continued flapping and started moving his hands toward his face. Upon seeing this, his teacher, Ms. Holly touched his hands, saying “safe hands” because she was concerned he would scratch himself or others. Ms. Holly was gentle as she held his hands together within her own, but he had an immediate, strong reaction. Blaine instinctively pulled his head back and thrust his head forward toward his teacher’s face. Ms. Holly was not able to move out of the way quickly enough, and she sustained an injury to her nose, leaving her very shaken. After several minutes Blaine calmed down, but it changed the course of the day entirely. The other students were unusually quiet, Blaine was unwilling to engage, and Ms. Holly was stressed and frustrated.Ms. Holly contacted her supervisor who directed her to fill out an incident report and organized a behavioral support team meeting to debrief and make plans for moving forward. As the team reflected on the incident, they acknowledged Ms. Holly had good intentions when she held Blaine’s hands. During the reflective discussion, however, Ms. Holly realized she actually escalated his stress response. By holding his hands, she may have restrained Blaine while he was attempting to self-regulate. As the behavioral support team talked, they made plans for collecting additional data to refine intervention plans focused on strategies for promoting Blaine’s self-regulation skills, while also creating a supportive learning environment.
Introduction
Intensive supports are used in situations in which there are persistent, escalated behaviors and children are not responsive to previous approaches. Moreover, these behaviors are part of a pattern that interferes with the child’s learning or social engagement, as referenced in Chapter 6. These interventions are intensive and they require additional time or resources. These interventions are also individualized and focused on helping the child master specific skills. Students need these supports to varying degrees and in different stages of development.
This magnitude of support is represented at the top of the tiered systems of support (see Chapter 5). Tier 3 supports are intended for a small percentage of children (Center on PBIS, 2024; Hemmeter, Ostrosky, & Fox, 2021). In Tier 3, the supports provided are strategically individualized and recursively use data-informed decision-making processes to establish behavioral goals. In this way, intervention supports are intensified in terms of environment, resources, and data. Figure 11.1 illustrates the key shift in support at Tier 3.
Tier 3 supports leverage intensified environmental and human resources to support a child’s meaningful engagement within classroom communities. Specialized environmental modifications, coupled with explicit teaching of individualized strategies, are integrated to meet the specific needs of an individual child. Tier 3 supports frequently draw on the expertise of a variety of specialized professionals who collaboratively work with the child and their family to document, design, implement, monitor, and refine strategies enacted.Intensive and individualized supports are often, but not always, used with children who have formal diagnoses or have individualized education plans (IEP), individual family service plans (IFSP), or accommodations through Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (commonly referred to as 504 plans). Some children, however, benefit from the integration of intensive support strategies to address behavioral challenges outside of these formal processes. In some cases, children who are not receiving special education services do receive intensive and individualized behavioral supports. Conversely, in other cases, children may access special education services but do not require Tier 3 behavioral support.
Teachers often feel overwhelmed when working to support children who need intensified, individualized behavioral supports. Indeed, it is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. Conceptualizing, implementing, and assessing potential solutions with the child are difficult because children’s stress responses are related to so many different factors. Additionally, within classroom communities, we are concerned about all children’s well-being, not just the child displaying challenging behaviors. Balancing the needs of all children in the community can be difficult when individual students have significant behavioral support needs. Successfully navigating these challenges necessitates developing intentional strategies for continuing to nurture relationships with individual children and families while also relying on close collaborations with other teachers and specialists.
Quality practices and guidelines are available for educators seeking to support children with individual and intensive intervention needs. These interventions can be implemented by classroom teachers and other early educators as well as specialists. As we discussed in Chapter 9, learning about intensive interventions expands the number of tools in an educator’s toolkit and deepens their knowledge regarding which tools to use when.
In this chapter, we will
describe various types of intensive environmental modifications (11.1),
explain how intensive resources can be used in educational settings (11.2), and
critically examine the purposes and usage of data collection for intensive intervention (11.3).
11.1 Intensive Environmental Modifications
As we discussed in Chapter 7, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework encourages educators to create spaces in which all children have access to the learning environment. UDL suggests that making modifications in classroom environments benefits all students. For example, providing clear pathways prevents overcrowding in high-traffic areas and minimizes the stress individuals feel when they are trying to accomplish a task, but other bodies are in the way. Similarly, using music or a rainstick to get students’ attention serves to support student transitions. Most teachers engage in these differentiation practices to provide high-quality supportive environments. These universal supports reduce problematic behaviors because the environmental design strives to mitigate stress points.
In Chapter 9, we examined strategies for responding to unproductive behaviors by embracing a problem-solving approach in collaboration with children to change specific behaviors. These solutions use environmental resources (e.g., scheduled breaks, calm-down spaces, transition signals) to support and teach children different self-regulation skills. As we move through the tiered systems of support, however, we use these differentiated strategies with more intensity and individualization, leveraging environmental resources to meet children’s specific needs.
Accordingly, we can individualize environmental components in intentional ways to support children who persistently become dysregulated. Intensive modifications will require scaffolding so that children are prepared to access what they need, in the way they need it, when they need it. Although some of these strategies may be accessible to all students (e.g., flexible seating, calm spaces), for children with behavioral challenges, teachers provide an additional level of support and attention. Teachers remain in a problem-solving mindset to ensure that the environmental strategies implemented are helping the child identify and recognize when they are experiencing stress, use the planned strategies to reregulate, monitor the effectiveness of the strategy implemented, and modify as needed.
In the opening vignette, Blaine’s stress response to joining the class circle was to flap his hands repeatedly. We can work with Blaine’s regulatory response by ensuring that he has enough space in the classroom to comfortably move his hands without bumping into others (e.g., allowing him to select a special place on the carpet where he will not distract other children when flapping his hands). Another way to strategically modify the environment is to teach Blaine an alternative behavior that he can engage in when participating in a group setting. The incorporation of a sensory device could be a meaningful tool for Blaine (e.g., a fidget toy such as a squish ball). Sensory items may already be a part of a special calming space in the classroom for all children. Blaine, however, is not yet able to use an external sensory device as a strategy for remaining or regaining a positive state of regulation. Therefore, teaching Blaine how to select and use a specific sensory tool to alleviate stress during whole-group experiences is more intensive and further individualized.
Individualizing Routines
Individualized routines are an important and frequently used aspect of intensive modification. In the following vignette, we describe a follow-up scenario with Blaine. As you read the vignette, consider how the teacher integrated more environmental cues and taught individualized routines to change the environment and offer Blaine a less-stimulating space to support self-regulation and engagement.
Vignette: Defining the Baseline with Blaine
After the “safe hands” incident, Ms. Holly met with colleagues, including Blaine’s occupational therapist (OT). His OT suggested that Ms. Holly monitor Blaine’s behavior for specific patterns focused on what is happening when Blaine starts flapping his hands.Within a few days of data collection, it became clear that Blaine becomes particularly agitated at circle time and in any activity in which the whole group is positioned close together. For instance, brand new autumn leaves were added in the sensory table, and the class was crowding in to look at the items. This experience was triggering for Blaine.
Once Ms. Holly determined where the behaviors were occurring, she decided to create a visual card with a picture of multiple kids to warn him that a crowded activity is coming up. She showed Blaine the card and explained what the data had revealed. She asked him if using the card would help him know that he might want to back up and find some space. Blaine nodded in agreement. They decided to try this routine intervention for a few days and monitor his progress to see if the visual support reduced his stress in crowded settings.
Over the next few days, Ms. Holly used the card to signal when Blaine may feel crowded. In turn, Blaine waited a moment before finding a participation spot. Ms. Holly noticed that Blaine gravitated to a spot near the activity but also just a little back from others in the group. From his new vantage spot, Blaine was able to rock, bounce, or move his hands without running into others.
Like Ms. Holly, we need to teach intensive routines for students who engage in aggressive “fight” behaviors in the classroom. Other children will engage in “flight” behaviors in response to stress and attempt to escape a particular situation. This type of escape can look like running out of the school, running from the current environment and hiding in a small space, or bolting off the playground. Sometimes children who are trying to escape are referred to as runners. Labels such as these carry a negative stigma and can reinforce these behaviors. It is important to remember that both fight and flight behaviors signify how the child is responding to the environment.
Teachers can work with children to incorporate appropriate escape and refusal strategies to avoid a fight-or-flight response. Teaching students to escape may seem counterproductive, but identifying a safe location together reinforces the teacher’s position as a supportive adult. Once individuals are in a dysregulated state, they will typically rely on practiced methods or routes of escape. Similarly, young children often have underdeveloped verbal skills and need communicative strategies to express refusal. For example, when children engage in throwing objects or striking out toward others, giving students the language to say, “No, I don’t want to,” or “Not right now” is preferable to relying on nonverbal behaviors of refusal that may emerge under stress. Sometimes it is necessary to allow a dysregulated child time and space to calm their bodies and engage in coregulation with an adult without an audience. Although running out of the classroom, even to a predetermined area, and saying “no” when given a task is not the goal, it provides the foundational scaffolding for developing communication and self-regulation skills.
The best routines are of little use if children do not understand how or when to utilize them. Children who need intensive supports will often require multiple opportunities to learn a routine that we expect them to utilize in stressful situations. It is not productive to introduce a routine when a child is already dysregulated and frustrated. We need to introduce individualized routines when children are in a state of calm.
Individualizing Transitions
Individualized supports are particularly important during transitions. Unstructured time can be difficult for any child, but for the child who needs individualized supports, transitions are often even more challenging. For example, some children find it hard to stay on task if they are essentially being asked to “get ready and wait.” Waiting is a static activity and staying in one place might feel nearly impossible for some children. Alternatively, a child might become overwhelmed with feelings of frustration when prompted to move away from the task they are currently engaged in. Therefore, individualized transitions can provide helpful cues to support students’ productive engagement.
Some children will need more time to prepare for an upcoming transition. To facilitate transition times, teachers can work with the child to integrate stronger visual cues to signal when a transition is approaching. Hourglass or digital timers can be used with a child who has shown difficulty transitioning. A child who regularly struggles during transition times, however, might need a teacher to incorporate multiple strategies to intensify the supports. For instance, a child who consistently refuses to leave the art center could benefit from a timer, a transitional chime, and an adult guiding the transition with verbal cues. As the child practices using the new supports, it is beneficial to offer encouraging feedback.
Systems, such as visual schedules and calendars, are meaningful environmental supports. These can be intensified and individualized to support children who need additional structure to navigate the environment. Figure 11.2A shows a personal daily schedule with pictures and words for each part of the day. As the child moves through the day, they can open the strip as a visual reminder of what has happened and what is coming next. It is also a helpful visual cue if an activity will not be occurring, such as outside play on a rainy day. Figure 11.2B features a mini schedule for a child (i.e., Claire) who is working on cementing her morning routine and uses the step-by-step instructions to help her move through that particular time of the day.
Long Description for Figure 11.2
On the left, an individualized daily schedule is shown using a vertical strip of laminated pink cards with Velcro, each card depicting a picture and label for sequential tasks such as boarding the bus, playing with toys, and participating in circle time. On the right, an individualized mini-schedule titled “Claire Morning Mini Schedule” uses four illustrated boxes to show the morning routine: saying hello, taking items out of the backpack, putting the backpack in the cubby, and going to the morning table activity. These visual tools help guide children through their daily transitions and tasks.
Individualizing Skill Building
Some children will need additional supports for skill building as a more individualized or intensive intervention. This might be necessary to help children cope with frustration, master tasks, or complete any other targeted skill. In Chapter 7, we explored social narratives, a commonly used strategy to help teach and reinforce routines and procedures. Social narratives are similar to the Social Story™ instructional practice. Social Stories are short narratives intentionally crafted to help children anticipate, cope, and enact specific routines (Gray, 2015). Written from the learner’s perspective, social stories use descriptive, prescriptive, affirmative, and directive sentences to explicitly guide children’s engagement (Gray, 2015). Stories that support children’s understanding and explicitly guide children’s behavior are plentiful online and are frequently connected with supporting children with autism or who display challenging behaviors (see Table 11.1). These narratives can also be used as a universal strategy for helping all children learn to enact specific routines, find solutions to social problems, or reflect on and manage emotions when confronting difficult situations (i.e., a neighborhood flood).
| Resources for Social Stories |
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Before creating and implementing a story to help children with a social situation, you need to identify the situation that is causing the child to become dysregulated. The resulting story clearly depicts the plan for how to respond to these situations. It also allows the child to see themselves responding to the situation adaptively (see Chapter 7 for tips for constructing social narratives). For example, a child with a severe aversion to loud or unexpected noises might need quick access to headphones and a head start in the event of an emergency drill. We would first work with the child to identify how they feel when the alarm goes off and then develop a social story. The social story could show the child grabbing headphones, lining up, and walking the exit route in an individualized way. Social stories such as these can alleviate the stress the child feels when the alarm goes off and anticipate how they will navigate the situation. Frequent rereading of the social story and practicing the routine with the child is often necessary. Children need to practice the supportive behavior when they are calm, so they can implement the plan during more challenging situations.
Visual prompts are similar to social stories, but they do not have to be used sequentially. Visual prompts are carefully selected images that help prompt a child to take or choose an appropriate action. Using photos of real items in the physical environment or people in the environment personalizes the social stories and visual cues, making them more effective. For example, Ms. Holly explicitly shared what she noticed about how Blaine responded in crowded situations. The visual cue helped Blaine anticipate when children might cluster closely together and make strategic decisions about where he would be most comfortable engaging.
A wealth of resources are available for educators online, but verifying research supporting internet sources can be challenging. Table 11.2 includes resources for evidence-based strategies and interventions that are well researched and can be used in the classroom. As we have discussed in other chapters, it is critically important that we evaluate all supports to ensure that they align with our philosophy of management and what we are learning about brain-based intensive supports. As you review examples in the sources listed in Table 11.2 continue to think critically; numerous strategies complement the community model for classroom management, but some of these sources also suggest incorporating rewards and punishments that focus on compliance instead of coregulation.
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Pause and Consider: Adjusting the Environment
11.2 Intensive Resources
The opening vignette offers an example of how teachers work with the best of intentions to guide children and keep them safely engaged. Nonetheless, at times, teachers will need to work collaboratively with others to support a child exhibiting challenging behaviors. A number of additional professional resources are available across school and community systems that support educators and families caring for and teaching children who need an intensified level of support to successfully engage within school communities.
Tier 3 supports frequently integrate additional “human resources” to establish a collaborative network of stakeholders who use a problem-solving approach to support a child’s social and emotional development within home and school communities. Additional human resources can be utilized to gather information about the child through observations, assessments, and interviews. They can also share specialized knowledge, offer fresh perspectives, and, in some instances, serve as an additional educator in the classroom community. These resources can be found at the building level, district level, or in the community.
Families are also important collaborators, as children who exhibit lagging self-regulation or social skills at school likely struggle with the same issues at home. As a result, family engagement is critical for success. Families and primary caregivers are valuable sources of information and invested problem-solvers. When working with families, it is important to understand that our role is to be an equal partner when making decisions, including the consideration of intensive resources. One way we can do this work is to build our awareness of the community and school resources that exist. Sharing this information with families from an advocacy perspective demonstrates that you are an invested partner and helps to retain positive relationships and build trust.
Early Intervention Resources
Early intervention services are available to infants and toddlers who are showing signs of developmental delays or have a diagnosed medical condition that may slow a child’s development. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) emphasizes interagency partnerships to support the growth and development of children under the age of three (Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, 2025). Families generally access early intervention through early identification/child find services operated by local and state agencies, which vary state to state. Once a child qualifies for early intervention services, service coordinators work with the family to develop an individualized family service plan (IFSP). An IFSP outlines the specific services a child and their family will receive. Intervention services described in an IFSP are developed collaboratively with families.
Early interventionists hold specialized degrees grounded in a variety of disciplines (e.g., occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, and early childhood special education). Early intervention services are offered in natural environments, such as early care and education settings or home settings. For example, a speech and language pathologist may visit a toddler classroom once a week to support a specific child’s language development. Many early interventionists, however, work directly with children and families within the context of their home. Collaborating with families in their home emphasizes the critical role families play in their child’s development. Home-based services “focus on helping parents and other caregivers know how to find ways to help the child learn during everyday activities” (Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, 2025, para. 1). Chapter 12 will explore the role of early interventions further.
School-Based Resources
Most schools now have access to behavioral support specialists that work across both general education and special education settings. These professionals could include social workers, school psychologists, mental health professionals, school counselors, social-emotional learning specialists, family resource specialists, and other professionals who focus primarily on supporting students and their teachers in planning and implementing behavioral supports. The type of support personnel and application of their skills varies among districts and localities. The value of tapping into human resources is that their skills and intervention strategies are implemented across tiers, lending an enhanced perspective of the way in which services are intensified and individualized at every level.
School psychologists and school counselors frequently bring specialized knowledge and expertise to collaborative behavior management teams. A school counselor can facilitate social skills groups, help create visual aids, intervene in a moment of crisis, and support formal intervention plans. Counselors can also provide curricular lessons in social and emotional learning and work with individuals or groups of children. School psychologists can help identify appropriate assessments to identify lagging skills, explain test results and outside diagnoses, or suggest more significant modifications that affect functioning beyond the classroom.
Drawing on the specialized assessment skills school psychologists possess is helpful because sometimes a child’s perceived lack of mastery or hesitancy to expose their own difficulties manifests in maladaptive behaviors that mask the lagging skills. For example, students’ stress response may be elevated when confronted with taking a test, working in a group setting, or when other children are being acknowledged for prosocial behaviors or academic growth. All of these situations pose a risk of exposure for an anxious child that can easily be avoided by focusing on actions that strengthen the lagging skill rather than the disruptive behavior.
Once a specific skill is identified, other resources such as literacy specialists or teacher consultants may be integrated to work with a child on the targeted skills. By extension, literacy specialists, special education teachers, and teacher consultants can do more than provide direct, specialized instruction. They can also provide insight and tips on how to implement strategies in the classroom and how to initiate intensive supports while honoring student’s self-worth and confidence.
Collaboration with Community Resources
Collaborating with families to support a child experiencing behavioral challenges often means engaging with community resources. Community mental health agencies are an excellent resource for mental health referrals and supports, professional development, and clinical or home-based services. When working with community mental health providers, you will often hear terms like wraparound or person-centered planning. This approach values seeing the child and family holistically and finding meaningfully ways to contribute to overall growth and wellness. Educators can play an important role in wraparound services by intentionally collaborating with other community stakeholders. Collaboration with community resources overlaps with and fortifies tiered systems of support and amplifies continuity across systems of care.
In some situations, community providers will reach out to school staff to ask about a child’s school functioning and behavior. This happens when families consent to sharing information between home, school, and community partners. This can include mental health providers, psychologists, and pediatricians. Teachers may be asked to complete rating scales or provide a synopsis of behavioral observations. When communicating with outside resources, it is important to understand the parameters of confidentiality. Schools and educators are bound by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This means teachers must remain sensitive to the privacy of families and children and only communicate with individuals in the community who have a specific need to know and for whom the family affirms their consent. Similarly, community-based resource professionals are bound by other laws of confidentiality, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
In addition to clinical partners in the community, other community resources may not directly address social and emotional learning, but they may contribute to basic needs and overall wellness. Educators, working alongside school resource specialists and administration, can provide awareness and information about services like mobile dentistry or optometry. Food, clothing, and diaper banks are other areas of support that, although not directly affecting challenging classroom behaviors, provide critical resources to families experiencing significant levels of stress. There are many ways we can leverage both school and community resources to provide supports for students exhibiting challenging behaviors.
Pause and Consider: The Power of Collaboration
11.3 Intensive Data Collection
Chapter 10 provided a broad view of data collection, and in this section, we examine data collection that is more intensive and individualized. Intensive data collection should identify behaviors of concern; measure frequency, severity, and duration; and guide informed decision-making. Once data are collected, it is important to decide how they will be interpreted and communicated to stakeholders (e.g., parents, guardians, classroom staff, physicians). In addition to aggregating the data in clear, concise terms, the data should be tied back to the impact on classroom functioning and engagement. For example, if a two-week period of intensive data collection demonstrates that a student is off-task and disruptive for up to 15 minutes at a time, four to six times per day, it is important to highlight that this results in the student losing an hour of instruction every day. Once we understand the purpose and process of data collection, we are better able to professionally communicate how behavior affects learning and social interactions rather than simply highlighting undesirable behaviors to caregivers who are likely already aware of these behavioral challenges.
Data are used to support a number of essential elements guiding behavioral interventions (Witt, VanDerHeyden, & Gilbertson, 2004). Salient elements include (1) identifying the student’s baseline for behavior, (2) developing goals and intervention plans to support the child, and (3) monitoring progress. Collecting baseline data is important for presenting an accurate understanding of how the child is engaging in the classroom setting. Data help stakeholders identify goals and design intervention plans to help the child engage in more productive and appropriate behaviors. Subsequently, ongoing cycles of data are collected to monitor how students are responding to intervention supports, a process also known as progress monitoring. Engaging in the cycles of assessment and data collection can keep educators focused on helping the child and noting where to make changes in their approaches (see Figure 11.3).
Baseline of Behavior
It is important to use assessments to gain a holistic perspective of the situations provoking moments of dysregulation. Meaningful data collection begins with assessing behavior to determine a baseline. Baseline assessment data establish a starting point for intensive interventions by clearly documenting the student’s level of current functioning. In academics, teachers use a variety of formal and informal assessment tools (e.g., achievement tests, observational assessments, anecdotal records, unit tests) to determine where the student’s abilities lie and to identify areas of growth. Likewise, using assessments to determine a student’s baseline is also important when addressing behavioral difficulties. Baseline intervention data help all stakeholders (e.g., child, family, educators, and other collaborating professionals) identify specific behavior goals, develop appropriate intervention plans, and monitor how the plans support meaningful changes in the child’s engagement. Additionally, without baseline data, it would be difficult to show if positive behaviors have increased or if the enacted strategies are having a meaningful impact.
Vignette: Code Hedgehog
Ms. Graham, a second-grade teacher, uses an animal code system as part of her classroom management approach. Some examples include Code Penguin as a reminder to find a class buddy for partner work, Code Panther indicating children can move freely around the classroom, Code Otter indicates that it is time to quiet down and pay close attention, and Code Hedgehog means that a classmate needs space and privacy (e.g., a medical emergency or a student has become aggressive) and the other children should evacuate the classroom. Ms. Graham also has a changeable code flag on a bulletin board that serves as a complementary visual cue.Dakota, a student in Ms. Graham’s class, has frequent episodes of emotional dysregulation during the school day. These episodes can last up to 30 minutes and typically end when Dakota exhausts himself. During these episodes, Dakota screams and can become aggressive. In this state, he often strikes nearby people or objects and perceives this contact with objects or people as an attack. The classroom team understands that Dakota has a significant history of trauma and is sensitive in their response by giving him space.
Typically, Ms. Graham only needs to use the class evacuation procedure occasionally; however, the week after winter break, she declared Code Hedgehog twice in one week after Dakota had become dysregulated. This strategy, while appropriate, hindered their ability to engage in coregulation; it also created a disruption for the other children in the class. Ms. Graham asked the behavior specialist to observe Dakota as he interacts in the classroom and make suggestions about additional environmental modifications that could minimize the need for classroom evacuations.
In this vignette, we notice how Ms. Graham uses established routines and strategies to support all members of the classroom community. Ms. Graham also relied on data to inform her growing concerns regarding shifts in Dakota’s behavior and drew on additional resources to initiate a problem-solving approach.
To be meaningful and purposeful, intensive behavioral data should be gathered in short increments (typically within a few weeks) to establish a current baseline. A similar data collection process will occur again to measure the child’s current behaviors against the baseline data to assess and monitor progress. The responsibility for assessment and progress-related data collection falls on the behavior support team or IEP team and begins by identifying the behaviors that will be measured.
Assessments should be designed to understand when and why a challenging behavior is occurring. Using a variety of assessment tools to capture a holistic picture of how the child engages across contexts is important. Executing an assessment strategy that is systematically defined is even more important when defining and developing strategies to support challenging behaviors because vague plans often result in the production of journals of bad behavior. An ongoing list of problematic behaviors may appear to offer evidence of what is occurring; however, without complementary evidence detailing when the child is calm and engaged, it is difficult to design effective strategies for guiding the child’s positive behaviors in the future.
Functional behavior assessments (FBA) are an example of one assessment practice used for documenting and analyzing a child’s behavior. An FBA is a formalized assessment process that collects information on areas of a child’s challenging behavior and then targets environmental events that reinforce or facilitate the behavior. FBA data can be collected indirectly by reviewing records or by conducting interviews, surveys, or questionnaires. Data can also be collected directly by conducting observations of the child in focused settings to evaluate the child and the circumstances. FBAs can be a team-based endeavor and draw on evaluative information from a number of stakeholders, including multiple specialists, parents, administrators, educators, and evaluators. A team approach is generally reserved for situations in which a student is exhibiting serious, chronic, and challenging behaviors and when these behaviors are interfering with the child’s goals in and out of school (Center on PBIS, 2022). FBAs serve to identify and manage triggers for the behavior (antecedents), replacement behaviors, and address the purpose (function) of the behavior. FBAs inform intervention strategies teachers and children can begin using to support the child’s meaningful engagement. FBAs can also be used to create goals and plans articulated in a behavioral intervention plan.
Plan and Goals
Behavior intervention plans (BIP) typically follow the completion of an FBA or other strategic assessment data collection and are based on the findings of the evaluations. Traditionally, the goal of a BIP is to shift maladaptive behaviors with specific, agreed-on interventions that were informed by the data. There is not one standard format for a BIP. The format, purpose, and desired outcomes of the BIP should be based on what is best for the child, family, and the implementation team. For example, a kindergartner with a history of trauma might have a more brain-based BIP that helps staff understand how to respond appropriately. BIPs can be long and thorough, or they can be as simple as implementing a task completion/free-time break system. Schedule supports like first and then cards are often included in BIPs. This strategy is not about behavior extinction, but rather about building executive functioning skills like planning, waiting, task initiation, and self-monitoring. As the collective understanding of behavior modification has moved into behavior support, BIPs have evolved beyond focusing on extinguishing undesirable behaviors to promoting prosocial behaviors.
After desirable goals have been surfaced and strategic supports determined, evaluation of the intervention needs to occur. Measuring growth and the effectiveness of integrated strategies necessitates effective goal writing. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. When creating goals for a child, they must be clear enough (specific) to illustrate what is supposed to occur. They also need to be quantifiable (measurable) or able to be counted. Goals should be reachable and connected to where the child is in their individual development (attainable). Goals should be connected to what is most important for the child to grow and be successful (relevant). Finally, goals should be time-limited so that assessment of progress can be evaluated in small, regular increments of time. For example, Dakota will demonstrate growth in prosocial behaviors by increasing his positive participation in social skills groups from a baseline of 5 minutes to 15 minutes by the end of the third marking period.
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Specific | Dakota will demonstrate growth in prosocial behaviors |
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Measurable | from a baseline of 5 minutes |
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Attainable | 5 minutes to 15 minutes |
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Relevant | increasing his positive participation in skills groups |
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Time-bound | by the end of the third marking period. |
Like plans, goal creation is not reserved for formal processes. In fact, when students are included in the process of creating shorter-term goals that are easily attainable, they are sometimes more successful. Involving students in creating their goals establishes agency and a sense of ownership for the child, fosters concepts of self-monitoring and future planning, and contributes to a student-centered culture.
The hope with any intervention plan is that it is the beginning of an upward trajectory. Any marked departures from continued progress are a signal to review the behavior in the context of the environment and make necessary adjustments.
In addition to tracking Dakota’s progress on goals and his response to the interventions, progress monitoring helps track the level of support Dakota needs on an ongoing basis. This data may be helpful later on if the team is considering a change in placement or programming.
Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring is used to ascertain how well an intervention is helping the child attain the articulated goals. Progress monitoring helps us keep track of the level of support individuals need on an ongoing basis. To measure progress, follow-up data should measure the same behaviors that were collected when determining a baseline.
After the team has agreed on the behaviors being monitored, the team needs to decide how to define the data being collected. For example, if inappropriate language is a behavior of concern, how is inappropriate language defined? If a student uses swear words in conversation with a friend at recess, is that included? If a student uses creative substitutes for swear words, but the intention is to be hurtful or disruptive, is that included?
Part of the difficulty in dealing with behavior is that it is so frequently subjective. Clarifying what we are measuring and documenting the situation and environment in which the behavior happens can help identify the needed supports. It is also important to have discussions with the team and the child about the progress monitoring data to ensure that we understand what the data show. When we stop to consider our expectations and incorporate the child’s viewpoints, we can address concerns in a systematic way.
Vignette: Reflecting on the Process from FBA to BIP
After observing Dakota several times, the behavioral specialist noticed that Dakota seemed to be triggered by unsuccessful bids for connection or interaction with other children. Although he could sometimes negotiate these interactions with Ms. Graham’s support, if he perceived her to be unavailable at the moment he needed her, the feeling of rejection was compounded and would lead to more intense periods of dysregulation.Dakota’s attempts to interact with his peers were often unsuccessful because he lacked the skills to appropriately engage (e.g., choosing to wrestle with students or take their game pieces during indoor recess). Because he enjoyed these actions, he could not understand why his peers did not. In addition to the observation data, Ms. Graham also completed a frequency and duration assessment and noted that once Dakota was triggered, he remained agitated and was unable to reengage for an average of 5 to 7 minutes. She also learned that Dakota’s inappropriate peer interactions were most frequent during open-ended activities, transitions, and on the playground.
After collecting FBA data, the first intervention the behavioral support team implemented was to create a social skills group that included Dakota so he could learn and practice new social skills. The second intervention addressed his growing attachment to Ms. Graham. The behavior specialist encouraged Ms. Graham to add “I need my teacher” to his visual prompts.
Once Dakota felt safe in his routines, his capacity for learning and taking social risks increased significantly. He also enjoyed the facilitated social skills group, likely because it allowed sustained periods of structured (predictable) interactions with his peers.
Ms. Graham and Dakota developed a set of individualized visual prompts to help him communicate how to get his needs met once he started to get upset. Dakota’s visual prompts were posted near his desk with a laminated version near the door, in case he needs to escape. He can point to what he needs or Ms. Graham can suggest a prompt by discretely pointing to the visual when she notices he is becoming agitated. In this way, Ms. Graham begins to scaffold how Dakota can get his social and emotional needs met, while also increasing his awareness of his emotional state.
There is a distinction between conducting formal or diagnostic assessments to inform intervention planning and ongoing assessments that aid in progress monitoring. Both are important in the process of identifying intensive interventions and implementing individualized plans and goals. During progress monitoring, data are collected and used to measure the effectiveness of interventions in practice. One process that outlines how intentional interventions combine assessments for planning and evaluating for progress toward clearly articulated goals is data-based individualization (DBI). DBI is an ongoing process of integrating high-quality interventions, determining children’s response to the interventions, refining goals for the student, and monitoring effectiveness of the strategies used to meet the goals in an iterative process. Behavioral DBI is often used with students who have severe and persistent behavioral issues for which teachers are already consistently integrating Tier 2 strategies. To strategically support the child’s social and emotional engagement ongoing data collection and progress monitoring cycles are intensified. Following are the five aspects of the DBI problem-solving process:
- begin with the integration of a valid intervention and implement with fidelity;
- engage in progress monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the intervention(s);
- if the intervention strategies are not yielding positive results, engage in more diagnostic assessments (use data to make informed, objective decisions about skill growth);
- make adaptations to the interventions that are data-driven and suit the individual needs of the student; and
- engage in progress monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the intervention adaptations.
Note that steps two and five are the same. The DBI process is a continuous cycle of implementing, evaluating, intensifying (if needed), and improving (National Center for Intensive Intervention, 2013). A caveat to implementation is the concept of implementing with fidelity, a phrase that is often used when discussing intensive supports. In Chapter 5, we highlighted the challenges of this concept, noting that it dismisses a teacher’s attunement with the student and robs the teacher of the ability to instinctually adapt or individualize an intervention as needed. Table 11.4 aligns the problem-solving aspects of the DBI process to the experiences Ms. Graham and the team used to support Dakota’s social and emotional development.
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Long Description for Unnumbered Figure 4The cycle begins with a validated intervention program, with examples listed as Tier 2, Standard Protocol, and Secondary Intervention. The next step is the Progress Monitor. If the student is responsive, the path continues positively. If nonresponsive, it moves to Diagnostic Data. From there, the process leads to Intervention Adaptation. A second round of Progress Monitor follows. Based on this round, students are again evaluated as either Responsive or Nonresponsive, guiding the next instructional decision. |
Five-step DBI process | How it might look in practice… |
|---|---|---|
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Ms. Graham made sure that Dakota had access to the calming space and sensory materials. | |
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Although Dakota accessed the calm space and the sensory materials, Ms. Graham felt that he still needed more intensified supports. | |
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The functional behavior assessment suggested that some of Dakota’s lagging skills were in the areas of social engagement and attachment. | |
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In response to the data collected in the FBA and in addition to the calm space and sensory materials, the school counselor created a social skills group that included Dakota, two typically developing peers, and two peers with underdeveloped group and friendship skills. | |
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After several weeks of social skills groups, Ms. Graham and the school counselor noted progress in Dakota’s behavioral growth but still felt he could benefit from more individualized visual prompts like the “I need my teacher” cards. |
As educators determine how best to meet a child’s needs, they may follow approaches that involve modifying the environment, enhancing the resources, and intensifying the data collection process. Some strategic supports are intensive for a short amount of time, whereas others might require a longer duration of time. Data collection is useful for providing structure and direction when determining the next steps. The interventions educators implement can be helpful for considering program or placement changes, often helping stakeholders understand the supports that have been utilized, the extent to which they advanced the child’s social and emotional skills, and how more formal processes could benefit the child. In the next chapter, we will consider the impacts medical diagnoses and special education eligibility have on intensive supports.
Pause and Consider: Got Data?
Key Points
- Classroom teachers can intensify environmental modifications to support children who have continual and significant behavioral challenges.
- The scope of interventions and classroom strategies that are implemented before program changes are made (like special education) has broadened.
- Intensive resources include collaborating with colleagues and community-based services.
- Data collection can help provide direction for supporting children with challenging behavior.
Figures
Figure 11.1: Tier 3 supports. Created by Christine Pegorraro Schull with Canva.
Figure 11.2: Visual calendars and schedules. (A) Individualized daily schedule. (B) Individualized mini-schedule. (A) From Resources: Preschool Training Modules, Module 1: Promoting Children’s Success: Building Relationships and Creating Supportive Environments [PowerPoint presentation] by the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning. Used with permission. (B) Created by Christine Pegorraro Schull with Canva.
Figure 11.3: Cycles of behavior assessment and data collection. Created by Christine Pegorraro Schull with Canva.
Figure 11.4: Dakota’s options when upset. Created by Christine Pegorraro Schull with Canva.
Table
Table 11.4: Data-Based Individualization in Practice. DBI flowchart image from “What Is Data-Based Individualization?” by the National Center on Intensive Intervention at the American Institutes for Research.
References
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. (2022). Tier 3 comprehensive functional behavior assessment (FBA) guide. Center on PBIS, University of Oregon. www.pbis.org.
Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. (2024). What is PBIS? https://www.pbis.org/pbis/what-is-pbis
Conti, E., Retico, A., Palumbo, L., Spera, G., Bosco, P., Biagi, L., Fiori, S., Tosetti, M., Cipriani, P., Cioni, G., Muratori, F., Chilosi, A., & Calderoni, S. (2020). Autism spectrum disorder and childhood apraxia of speech: Early language-related hallmarks across structural MRI study. Journal of Personalized Medicine, 10(4), 275. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm10040275
Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. (2024, November 19). Part C of IDEA: Overview. https://ectacenter.org/partc/partc.asp
Francisco M. P. B., Hartman M., & Wang Y. (2020). Inclusion and special education. Education Sciences, 10(9), 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10090238
Gray, C. (2015). The new social story book (15th anniv. ed.). Future Horizon.
Hemmeter, M. L., Ostrosky, M. M., & Fox, L. (2021). Unpacking the pyramid model. Brookes.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004).
National Center on Intensive Intervention (2013). Data-based individualization: A framework for intensive intervention. Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 34 C.F.R. Part 104.
U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. (2010). Free appropriate public education for students with disabilities: Requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. (2025). Early intervention for infants and toddlers. https://dbhds.virginia.gov/developmental-services/early-intervention-for-infants-and-toddlers/
Witt, J. C., VanDerHeyden, A. M., & Gilbertson, D. (2004). Troubleshooting behavioral interventions. A systematic process for finding and eliminating problems. School Psychology Review, 33, 363–383.
