Summary of Function Based Behavioural Assessment

Leading Behaviour ChangeProviding Behaviour Support to All Students

Link Individual Support to Schoolwide PBS

• Using Schoolwide PBS a three tiered prevention logic is applied to the provision of student support:

• Universal for all primary prevention

• Secondary for some classroom and small group

• Tertiary for a few functional behaviour assessment and

targeted support

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OFSCHOOL-WIDE

INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE behaviour

SUPPORT

Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Tertiary Prevention:Specialised

IndividualisedSystems for Students with

High-Risk Behaviour

Secondary Prevention:Specialised Group

Systems for Students with At-Risk Behaviour

FBA

DATASY

STEM

S

PRACTICES

Social Competence &Academic Achievement

SupportingDecisionMaking

SupportingStudent Behaviour

SupportingStaff Behaviour

PositiveBehaviourSupport

Why Do People Behave?

• In most instances the reasons are obvious:– “I ate the chocolate cake because it tasted

good”• At other times it may be more difficult to understand

why people behave in certain ways:– “Jared punched himself in the face 112

times today”

What is a Functional Perspective?

A functional perspective is a way of looking at behaviours

as a means of fulfilling a need for a student (e.g., attention, avoidance of work).

It asks the question: “Why did the student do that?”

© Missouri PBS Institute 2005

What is Functional Behaviour Assessment?• A systematic individualised process for developing statements

about factors that:

– contribute to the occurrence and maintenance of problem behaviour

– more importantly, serve as basis for developing proactive & comprehensive behaviour support plans

- Sugai

Functional Behaviour Assessment is Not…

• The first thing a teacher uses when a student misbehaves• A quick fix• About changing students’ behaviour (emphasis on adult

behaviour)• A do-it-yourself technique (requires a collaborative team

approach)• A fad – based on research-validated practices in real

settings

Functions of Behaviour • Behaviour is functionally related to the teaching

environment – it doesn’t occur in a vacuum.– When a person acts, even when their behaviour is

considered to be inappropriate, they do so to achieve a result.

– The result or desired outcome is viewed as the consequence or function of the behaviour.

Function = outcome, result, purpose, consequence

Function and FormThe function of the behaviour is legitimate but the form of the behaviour may be unacceptable in the setting: – ‘Butting in’ to access entry to a game.– Leaving seat to access teacher attention.– Putting head on desk to escape difficult task. – Fighting to access sensory reinforcement.

Functional Explanations

Explain behaviour in terms of its current environmental purpose or function.

“He engages in out of seat behaviour a lot because

1) it reliably gets his teacher’s attention, or2) he gets a motor break, or3) he avoids having to begin a difficult task ”

Non-Functional Explanations

Contrast functional methodology for understanding human behaviour with “internal construct” approaches:

“He gets out of his seat a lot because:1) he has ADHD, or2) he is acting out trauma suffered at

age two, or 3) he is at a certain cognitive level of development.”

‘Internal Construct’ Explanations

Internal construct statements may be correct, but they provide limited explanations for behaviour or practical ways for teachers to intervene:– They do not explain why the problem is experienced in

some settings and not others.– They are not observable or measurable– They may rule out simple environmental changes that

could improve the situation.– They encourage locating the ‘problem’ in the learner.

FunctionsOnly two research-validated functions to peoples’ behaviour:

• To access something (positive reinforcement)– “Positive reinforcement is the condition in which a behaviour

has an increased likelihood of occurring in the future if something (object or event) is given or presented after the behaviour occurs.”

• To avoid or escape something (negative reinforcement)– “Negative reinforcement is the condition in which a

behaviour has an increased likelihood of occurring in the future if something (object or event) is avoided, escaped, or removed after the behaviour occurs.”

Sugai & Horner

Functions

ProblemBehavior

Obtain/GetSomething

Escape/Avoid

Something

SocialTangible/Activity

Adult

Stimulation/Sensory

Peer

Behaviour is Positivelyreinforced

Behaviour is Negativelyreinforced

Non-Functions

• Examples of non-functional (inappropriate) labels:“Power and control,” “bullying,” “authority,” “intimidation”– They go beyond the behavioural foundations– Locate problem within students– Lack empirical verification– Not observable and therefore measurable– Focus responsibility for change on the student– Are not useful in the active design of behaviour support

-Sugai

Interventions that only focus on the form of a behaviour but fail to address the function of the behaviour are always ineffective in the long term.

Interventions based on function are more likely to be successful and durable.

Function and Form

Conducting a Functional Assessment• Screen the problem for seriousness

– Eliminate possible medical causes– Test for any cultural bias– Can you eliminate the problem through correct application of

universal and classroom strategies?– Use only evidence-based strategies– Focus on teacher behaviour – timeliness, organisation of instruction,

ratio of positive to negative interactions– Attention to ecological factors: physical, social (expectations),

curriculum– If no significant improvement proceed to functional assessment

Conducting a Functional Assessment

• Form a collaborative team– Team members must know the student– Active administrator involvement– Use facilitator trained in Functional Assessment– Form an agenda for each meeting– Time limit for each step– Keep minutes– Define responsibilities – who what when

Conducting a Functional Assessment

• Define the behaviour in concrete terms– Teacher must be able to pinpoint behaviour causing learning

or discipline problems– Behaviour must be observable and measurable– Not, “Warren is aggressive”, but– “Warren hits his peers if they come close to him when he has

the ball”

Conducting a Functional Assessment

• Collect data– Indirect data collection: student learning and social history,

including family and medical– History of school interventions and their outcomes

• Behavioural• Academic

– Direct data collection: based on observation of student in actual settings where behaviour occurs

• Frequency within interval• ABC Narrative• Scatter plot and graph

Conducting a Functional Assessment• Analyse the data

– Use data to formulate problem behaviour pathways• Describe the behaviour• Describe the maintaining consequences• Indicate environmental conditions in which the behaviour is

likely to occur (“setting events”)• Identify factors that occasion the behaviour (“triggers”)

– Methods:• Problem behaviour pathways• Data triangulation• Summary statements

Conducting a Functional Assessment

• Formulate and test hypotheses– What is the purpose or function of the behaviour?– Predict the general conditions under which the problem

behaviour is more likely and less likely to occur– Experimentally manipulate some of the relevant conditions

affecting the behaviour– If the behaviour remains unchanged then re-examine the

hypothesis with a view to changing it

Function Based Support Planning

• Behaviour intervention plans should include– Well formed goals– Structured tasks and reinforcements for school personnel– Positive strategies, programs and curricular and pedagogical

manipulations– Supplementary aids and supports that address the behaviour of

concern– Emphasise skills needed by the student to achieve success and

how those skills can be taught and practised– Evidence-based practices that provide proper motivation, e.g.,

differential reinforcement

Function Based Support Planning

• Evaluate the support plan1. Measure fidelity: consistency with which the plan is

implemented• Constantly check for ‘contextual fit’: is it possible for the

teacher to actually implement the plan?

2. Measure behavioural changes• Use direct observation data and summary graphs

3. Team review and re-evaluation of support plan at least annually and as required