Sustaining the Classroom Community final project 4/18/09

Helen Chung

Sustaining the classroom community

• In order to build classroom community, behavior problems must be addressed

• 5 to 15% of students do not respond to standard behavior interventions

• “According to the IDEA 1997, schools must introduce functional behavior assessment to address serious and persistent problem behavior.” (Panico, 2009)

What is a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

• An FBA “identifies when, where, and why problem behaviors occur, and when, where, and why they do not occur.” (Sugai, Horner, and Sprague, 1999)

• There is no consensus on assessment tools, and no set format

• Assessment tools may include records reviews, teacher reports and checklists, observations, and interviews

• An FBA accompanies a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP) as part of a student’s IEP

MMSD FBA components

• Strengths of the student

• Slow triggers (setting events)

• Fast triggers (antecedents)

• Problem behavior, perceived function, and actual consequences

Who can do an FBA

• Basically, anyone

• The difficulty lies in the fact that “there is a dearth of trained personnel available to conduct the functional assessments of behavior and to develop and implement the behavior intervention plans.” (Van Acker, Boreson, Gable, and Potterton, 2005)

What is a Behavioral Intervention Plan (BIP)

• BIPS are reserved for students with serious and persistent behavior problems who do not respond to traditional behavioral supports

• BIPs are designed to promote positive behaviors, suppress negative behaviors, and provide supports for a student to do so

MMSD BIP components

• Description of interfering behavior

– Intensity, frequency, and duration

– Possible antecedents

• Desired behaviors to increase, maintain, and/or teach

• Positive interventions, accommodations, and/or strategies

• Consequences which serve to increase desired behavior

• Student action/behavior, staff interventions, and consequences for stage 1 (precursor behaviors), stage 2 (behaviors of distress) and stage 3 (recovery behaviors)

Who can do a BIP

• A BIP is written as part of a student’s IEP• Therefore, a student’s IEP team consisting

of the special education teacher, related service providers, and regular education teacher writes the BIP

• As with the FBA that accompanies the BIP, no special credentials are required to write one, and few are adequately trained

Case managing S/L students

• In 2007, MMSD speech-language therapists were required to case manage all students whose only identified disability was S/L

• S/L only students with academic and/or behavioral needs were previously case managed by cross categorical (CC) teachers

S/L students w/ behavioral needs

• Some S/L only students have behavioral needs• Students who meet criteria for a disability in

addition to S/L are eligible for CC case management

• The advantage of CC case management is that CC teachers are better trained than SLPs to manage behavior, and they see their students for at least a couple hours a day instead of the 2 ½ or 3 hours a month S/L therapists see their students

Case managing S/L only students with behavioral needs

• Case managing S/L only students with behavioral needs may require creating and implementing a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavioral intervention plan (BIP) as part of a student’s Individualized Educational Plan (IEP)

• SLPs are not typically trained to write and implement FBAs and BIPs

• Limitations include the amount of time we have to see each student and the number of different teachers a middle or high school student has

How do we write an effective BIP?

• In Behave Yourself, Ambrose Pierce believes that too many BIPs have been driven by behaviorist theory that believes that behavior is a function of the interaction between the behavior and the environment. These plans have relied too heavily on rewards and punishments

• He proposes an approach that stresses a social cognitive view which believes that behavior “is the result of reciprocal influences between the personal variables (internal) of the individual, the environment (external) in which the behavior occurs, and the behavior itself.” (Kaplan, 2003)

A social cognitive approach to the BIP

• Internal variables– Cognitions (beliefs, expectations, values, etc. . )– Emotions– Competencies (self management, social skills)– Physical characteristics

A social cognitive approach to the BIP cont.

• External variables– Antecedents (setting events, cues)– Consequences (+/- reinforcements)

How internal and external variables interact in the social

cognitive approach• Antecedents – e.g., a failed test, are experienced

through an individual’s unique variables. For example, one student may become more determined to do better, another may feel defeated and angry

• Behavior is the individual’s response to the antecedent – e.g., one student will make note of errors and study harder the next time, the other might crumple his test, say that it was a stupid test anyway, and spend the rest of the period disrupting class

How internal and external variables interact in the social

cognitive approach cont.• The student’s behavior interacts with the

environment, producing a consequence. The first student might approach his teacher for extra help, the other might get sent out for class disruption

• Consequences are then processed through an individual’s personal variables, and feedback will strengthen, maintain, or weaken the behavior.

Core beliefs to guide implementation (Panico, 2009)

1. Human behavior is complex

2. Misbehavior is not always willful

3. Long term success is the goal

4. Teamwork is critical

5. The student must be involved

Core beliefs to guide implementation cont.

(Panico, 2009)6. Flexibility is critical

7. Optimism is critical

8. Patience is critical

9. The plan must be positive

10. The plan must go beyond reinforcement

Tools to change behavior (Panico, 2009)

• Reinforcement based tools

• Belief based tools

• Skill based tools

• Needs based tools

• Environment based tools

• All are needed to change behavior

Reinforcement based tools

• Reinforcement based tools manipulate rewards and punishments– Contracts, rewards– Keep it positive and consistent– Include student in deciding whether

reinforcements have been earned

Belief based tools

• Belief based tools provide new information, new ways of looking at old information, or a broader context for evaluating information that positions the student to substitute empowering beliefs for disabling beliefs– Substitute rational statements for irrational

statements in self talk – Behavior change is based on belief change, not

the other way around

Skills based tools

• Skills based tools teach a skill or skill set the student must master in order to be successful– Counting backwards from 10 to control anger– Basic academic skills– Social skills

Needs based tools

• Needs based tools identify the basic need gratified by a maladaptive or socially unacceptable behavior. After the need is identified, an adaptive and socially acceptable behavior is substituted that meets the need– Finding a mentor or joining the track team to fill a need

to belong instead of joining a gang

– Most students will need adult assistance to identify the need being met by the undesired behavior

Environment based tools

• Environment based tools seek to change behavior through thoughtful adaptations to environmental variables– Seating arrangements, instructional level, test

accommodations, change in schedule– Build a more inclusive classroom community

The Plan to Do Better Process (Panico, 2009)

• Step 1: Identify and describe the nonproductive behavior, including the behavior’s characteristics and context

• Step 2: Secure the view, input, and suggestions of the students (required) and parents or significant adults (recommended)

• Step 3: Identify and describe the problem behavior’s function(s) and select the appropriate behavior change tool(s)

• Step 4: Fully develop each of the selected tools

• Step 5: Develop and describe the behavior plan’s assessment process and schedule

Step 1: Describe the nonproductive behavior

• Define the behavior that needs to change• Use specific language

– Aggressive behavior should be hits or kicks– Disruptive behavior – talks out, offers irrelevant

comments

• Place the behavior into context– Hits, kicks other students in unstructured activities

during recess– Talks out of turn, making comments during math class

such as “this is baby stuff”

Step 2: Secure the input of the student, parents, other significant

adults • Best way to obtain student input is to ask

• Behave Yourself includes a list of essential questions that include– What do you really like about school?– Don’t like?– Can you stop X when you want to stop?– What do you get out of doing X?

Step 3: Identify and describe behavior’s function and behavior

change tools• Behave Yourself has a list of essential

questions that include– Is the student conscious of his behavior– Is the behavior under his or her control– Is the student aware of the short and long term

consequences– How does the environment contribute to the

maintenance of the nonproductive behavior

Step 4: Fully develop each of the selected behavior change tools

• Try to develop plans that incorporate several tools

• For example, implementing belief based tools to change a student’s belief system will also require implementation of skill and reinforcement based interventions

Step 5: Develop and describe the behavior change plan’s assessment

process and schedule• A team has to be able to decide if a plan is

working

• Decide how assessment feedback will be provided to all stakeholders

• Include the student in the assessment process

Forms for gathering information

• Panico has included many forms for information gathering in Behave Yourself– Student interview form– Parent/guardian survey– Things My Teacher Should Know About Me:

interest inventories for middle and high school– Teachers who help me succeed (preferred

teacher behaviors)

references

• Panico, Ambrose; Behave Yourself! Helping Students Plan to Do Better; Solution Tree; Bloomington, IN; 2009