Education 5306/5406

FBA template, 2013

EDUC 5306/5406: FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT PLAN TEMPLATE

COMPLETE AN FBA FOR EACH BEHAVIOR THAT IS INTERFERRING WITH
THE STUDENTS ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL POTENTIAL
STUDENT NAME: R
DATE OF BIRTH:

DATE: September 5, 2014

AGE: 9

STAFF PARTICIPATING IN ASSESSMENT:

MALE/FEMALE: Female
GRADE: 4th grade

DATE OF ASSESSMENT: N.A.

I.
REASON FOR FBA
Explain the target behavior in specific, observable terms, describing what the behavior looks like
and the reason for this referral. If there is more than one behavior, complete additional form(s).
R has emotional disturbance as well as an other health impairment that has to do with attention
deficit. In addition to these two qualifications, R exhibits challenging behaviors that require
referral for further behavior intervention. She already has a Behavior Support Plan and is
receiving speech, resource, and counseling services from the school.
The behavior that R exhibits include the following:
- Angry outbursts towards other students and adults, impolite responses and approach toward
anyone who attempts to suggest/tell/ask her anything. In addition, when R becomes frustrated
(specifically during activities that include writing, math or loud group interactions), this leads to
physical responses such as throwing, objects at other students and hitting or kicking other
students as well.

II.
STUDENT PROFILE
Gather background information in order to assess the behavior in each of the following
categories:
IEP
Medical

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Family consultation (family interviews)

Previous interventions
Defining and prioritizing behavior
Assessing student environment

R has an IEP that contains goals for work completion, coping, and pragmatics. Goals include:
1. Work Completion: With a BSP and opportunities for breaks and shortened assignments,
Rachel will complete 75% of classroom assignments (measured by teacher records)
2. Coping: When feeling frustrated/angry/irritated, Rachel will use coping strategies such
as break requests, talking to an adult, asking for help, moving to work in a quiet area, etc.
to regulate her emotions in order to participate in classroom activities or complete her
work with 2 or less prompts
3. Pragmatics: When given up to 3 visual and verbal cues (facial expressions, direct
request pictures), Rachel will modify her behavior (eye gaze, body proxemics, language)
to match the group
4. Pragmatics: At least 3 times per session, Rachel will identify what others are thinking
and how they are feeling about her behaviors based on contextual clues (e.g. tone of
voice, facial expressions, language, etc.).
Rs eligibility qualifies her under Emotional Disturbance and Other Health Impairment for
Attention. A Student Study Team (SST) meetings have been held throughout Rs academic
career to address concerns surrounding social-emotional concerns. In general, R is a very
healthy, typical fourth grade female who is very engaging, creative, and a good reader and
problem solver.
R lives with both her mother and father and older sister. Her parents are both actively involved
in Rs academic/social/behavioral environments. They willingly participate in all IEP meetings,
check-ins, and other meetings.
Previous interventions for Rachels behaviors have and are based upon the above IEP goals.
Last year in third grade, she was able to take breaks from classroom activities when she felt it
necessary. In addition, she was provided with opportunities to do arts and crafts activities as a
reward for utilizing her tools for coping, work completion, and pragmatic skills. In addition, R
was provided with a quiet area in the classroom to which she could remove herself when she felt
unable to participate in the classroom activities. Other previous interventions used to help R to
regulate emotions and meet her goals include the following: shortened assignments, the option to
talk to an adult, or take a sensory break.
The priority behavior addressed in this FBA is Rs ability to regulate emotions to ensure
participation in the academic environment both socially and academically.
This school year, R is in a fourth grade, general education classroom with a classroom teacher

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who has twenty-eight years in the field. She is still receiving Special Education services in the
Learning Center five days per week for forty-five minutes. During this time, R works
independently on assignments brought down from the general education classroom. During the
time R is in the RSP setting, the general education class is interactively working on assignments
from the math lesson that is taught each morning. Because this is a high-anxiety subject for R,
she is removed to the Learning Center to complete her math assignments for a 45 minute block
of time. Upon completion of a designated amount of work (designated by Education Specialist),
R is allowed to complete 5 to 10 minutes of origami free art contingent upon her good behaviors.
She is also receiving Speech Therapy one time per week for approximately one hour. In addition,
R receives counseling services with the school psychologist one day per week. In the general
education classroom, R works well independently. Presently, she completes assignments in the
general education classroom at a rate of approximately 60%. There are no current concerns
surrounding Rs academic development, however R has a tendency towards not completing all
work due to the interruptions caused by the behavior.
However, during whole class activities or small group work, R struggles to participate
appropriately with her peers. She struggles with noise levels she believes are too high, during
subject areas she does not enjoy such as math and writing, and with desire to control other
students around her particularly when sharing materials is a component of group work. When
noise levels are too high, R becomes overwhelmed and will lash out at peers angrily and at times
physically. She has been known to yell, hit, kick, or throw items at other students. During these
outbursts, R also yells at her teachers or replies to requests in an angry and defiant manner.
R also struggles during transition periods in the classroom. Her attention becomes very focused
upon completion of the task at hand and she does not want to move onto the next activity or
assignment until she feels personally ready. R does not like to receive reminders or directions
from adults possibly because it interferes with her thought processes and adds stress to Rs
attempts to focus, understand what she is being asked to do, and transition appropriately. In
addition, she struggles with focusing and keeping her attention on one thing at a time.
The general education classroom this year is a positive match for Rs needs. The teacher is
flexible where necessary but also firm in order to ensure that classroom behavior expectations
are clear. Rs peers have begun to lose some patience with her bossy and sometimes mean tone
of voice and at times R is isolated from the other students in the class because they are anxious
around her.
Expectations are the same in all settings for R, whether she is in the Learning Center, the Speech
Room, or in a counseling session. This ensures that R is provided with opportunities to utilize
tools and coping strategies, and that she is held to the same standards in all academic settings.

III.
ASSESSING THE BEHAVIOR
Describe briefly (include data collection forms):

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Interviews (student, teacher, paraprofessional, support staff, school psychologist,

counselor. . . )
Observation (ABC Chart, scatter-plots, interval/duration/frequency recording, incident
log, etc.)
Checklists
Questionnaires

Methods for collecting data included an ABC Chart, a teacher interview, observation of
the student in the Special Education and General Education settings, and reference to the
students CUM file and previous IEP, BSP, and school psychologist notes. Antecedents to Rs
behaviors include loud noise level activities, group interactions, writing and math. In addition,
she reacts poorly to unsought teacher interventions. The teacher interview concluded and
validated the results of the ABC Chart. Observation of the student in the general education
setting allowed the observer to witness a small incident in which R was placed in the group
setting to read a book. Overall the group worked well together, however there were
approximately five small arguments that broke out between R and two other students within a
twenty-five minute period of time. Referencing Rs CUM files, previous BSP and notes made
by the school psychologist provided direction regarding what interventions have been previously
used and those that have not. Providing unscheduled breaks to be requested by R for example,
are ineffective due to Rs tendency to utilize them too frequently. In addition, allowing R to
remain on her own schedule and giving her extra space to self-adjust is ineffective due to Rs
desire to remain in this space for the entirety of the day. Lastly, R was given options such as
choosing to talk to an adult or take a sensory break. Unfortunately these interventions did not
yield the sought out results. R faced challenges when asked to transition out of these selfregulated breaks and decisions. She had a tendency to take advantage and therefore, remaining
in complete control of her surroundings.
See attached data collection forms for direct evidence.
Data also collected through observation, direct work with the student and referencing student
files.

IV.

ANALYZING THE BEHAVIOR RESULTS

Describe and synthesize the following from the multiple sources of data (Provide data collection
or record review):
Predictors/triggers:
Setting events
Antecedents
Consequences: What happens after the behavior occurs?

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Consequences that maintain the behavior

What other consistent consequences were found?

Frequency, Intensity, and duration of behavior:

When does the behavior occur?
How long does the behavior continue?
How often does the behavior occur?
Other:
What setting events or antecedents identified are associated with low rates of target
behavior?
There are no true predictors for Rs behaviors. However, there are certain settings, events, and
circumstances that do make them worse. Overall it truly can just depend on the day and how she
is feeling, how things are going, or just what day it is. The factors that act as antecedents to
increase the behaviors however include things such as group work activities and assignments or
subject areas that are more difficult for R such as writing, math, and handling a louder working
environment.
Consequences that typically follow the behavior include things such as ignoring Rs behavior, as
long as it is not directly affecting other students in the classroom and the rest of the classroom
environment. Other consequences that follow the behavior include asking R to take a break,
remove herself from the classroom, or move to an individual space to complete work. In
addition, when the behaviors become so bad that they disrupt the entire classroom and its ability
to function, the general education teacher will call down to the RSP room and have either the
Education Specialist, student teacher, or one of the instructional assistants to come into the
classroom and attempt to either mitigate, pull R aside or take her out of the classroom completely
until she can behave appropriately in the class again.
The frequency and duration of Rs behavior varies dependent upon the day, Rs mood, medicine,
and the activities and assignments being done in the classroom. The behavior takes place at least
once a day, oftentimes more. Both the severity and duration vary greatly day to day. Some days,
the behavior may continue for anywhere between five and thirty minutes. Others, the behaviors
can begin in the morning and continue on throughout the entire school day and into the end of
the day at home. The intensity of the behavior also varies on a daily basis. There are good days
that can span for just one day or for a sequence of three or more days.
Low rates of the target behavior are associated with R being able to work independently, remain
in control of her surroundings, do activities that are interesting to her on her own time and
without any unwanted interruption.

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V.

FBA template, 2013

HYPOTHESIS OF THE FUNCTION OF BEHAVIOR

Identify function of behavior: obtain, avoid/protest, or self stimulation

Within the context of the hypothesis, describe the following:
Setting events
Antecedents
Consequences
The function of Rs behavior is to obtain control. Because she is unable to self-regulate and
control internal factors, R tries to obtain control of external factors such as her surroundings and
other individuals. In addition, Rs behavior also functions as a means to avoid completing
assignments in subject areas she does not enjoy.
Antecedents that lead to Rs attempting to obtain control include things such as transitions,
requests from adults, and other typical school day activities. Other antecedents that can lead to
the obtaining behavior in its worst form are things such as group work activities, or activities
that require students to share manipulatives. The behavior can also tend to worsen in the
afternoon when R becomes more tired.
When R is avoiding academic tasks, it is not because she is struggling academically.
Antecedents that lead to Rs avoiding behaviors include writing, math, and activities where
surroundings become too loud.
Consequences for Rs behaviors include visual and verbal warnings, others ignoring her, or
being asked if she would like to leave the classroom.
VI.

FBA SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Describe:
What alterations in the environment, instruction or interactions could prevent the
behavior from recurring?
Identify functionally equivalent replacement behaviors.
Describe current methods of reinforcement and recommend any changes of
reinforcement.
What goals, services, etc. are you recommending?
To lessen the behavior, no alterations to instruction are necessary. R is very capable in regards
to accessing 4th grade curriculum. Alterations that can be made to the environment are as
follows:
- Removing R from working in most of/all group work situations for the time being and
allowing her to work towards rejoining the group as she works to self-regulate
- Noise cancelling headphones
- Ear inserts (less conspicuous) for louder activities in order to continue to participate

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Utilizing a contingency plan (art rewards, reading rewards, for good behavior/using her
tools)
Pre-teaching and letting her know the schedule ahead of time
Setting expectations for the day ahead of time
Using zones of regulation
Using a tone of voice scale: where is your tone? How can we move it into the
respectful area?
Setting expectations for example, I will complete all of my work, I will accept teacher
input and help, I will use a polite tone of voice when speaking to adults.
Providing R with her own set of materials for tasks requiring manipulatives. R will work
with counselor towards eventually sharing one item, then two, then three and so on.

Current methods of reinforcement for positive behaviors include rewarding Rachel with time for
origami when she is in the RSP room. Reinforcement in the general education classroom
includes specific praise, scheduled breaks, and completion of behavior evaluation each day.
Additional methods of reinforcement should include: allowing R to have a contingency plan
within the general education classroom to do artwork, crafts, etc. In addition, the behavior may
decrease if scheduled breaks are used. For example, R might have one scheduled art or reading
time in the mid morning, and once more in the afternoon. Because she struggles with transitional
periods, a strict schedule must be established. Allowing breaks to take place for 10 to 15 minutes
and using a timer to help the student track her own schedule. When R is struggling for selfcontrol, she is unable to regulate and rarely desires to exit the classroom in tumultuous situations.
Using a set schedule will be helpful in that it will not give the student an opportunity to deny
taking a break.
Recommended goals and services include the following:
- The student should continue to see the school counselor with increased time to three days
a week for 15 to 20 minutes. This will increase the amount of time for self reflection and
potentially decrease the amount of outbursts.
- R will also utilize a 1 to 5, behavior self-evaluation scale, two times per day to self reflect
upon her actions and how each day is going.
- In order to help the days run more smoothly, all of the parties involved must try to
anticipate Rs behaviors as much as possible. Scaffolding the day by letting R know
what the schedule is going to look like, what assignments are going to need to be
completed, when she is in the classroom and when she will be outside of the classroom,
and ensuring that she understands the expectations for her behavior while in the academic
environment. Reminding R of her tools (calming strategies, breathing exercises, zones of
regulation, contingency) will be helpful in pre-teaching the days activities.
- R will complete either one half or three quarters of all of her work dependent on how the
day is running, how secure Rs mood is, and the environmental factors under which she is
working.
- Further services that can be provided include using social stories to help R illustrate,
write about, and reflect upon her actions as well as the actions of others. Writing a social

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story will also help R to understand that there are other perspectives outside of her own.
Because R enjoys and needs to be in control of her settings, providing her with a timer
or watch to track the time and allow her to transition in and out of classroom activities
independently will be helpful in decreasing her outbursts.
Facilitating a workshop in the general education setting to help other students cope and
work with R as opposed to against her will be useful in maintaining a more positive
learning environment for R. This kind of collaboration will help R to feel that the
classroom is a safe place.
Increase time in counseling to minimum of three days per week at 15-20 minutes.
Lastly, moving other students and teachers away from the situation when outbursts take
place will be effective in ensuring that R is not receiving excess attention for her negative
behaviors.