Education 5306/5406

Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

EDUC 5306/5406: FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENT PLAN TEMPLATE

Complete an FBA for EACH BEHAVIOR that is interfering
with the students academic and social potential

STUDENT FIRST NAME: M.

DATE: 05/01/14

DATE OF BIRTH: 11/26/2002

AGE: 11

MALE/FEMALE: Male

GRADE: 5

STAFF PARTICIPATING IN ASSESSMENT: Kelsey Olson

DATE (S) OF ASSESSMENT: 4/21/14, 4/23/14, 4/25/14

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 forms.)

This student regularly does not pay attention or engage during classroom activities. He will get
up multiple times while the teacher or another student is talking and walk to the water fountain
or pencil sharpener, stopping to talk to other students on his way. During lessons students are
regularly expected to fill out graphic organizers with notes and/or drawings. M. routinely leaves
these sheets blank or will write only one or two facts down during an entire forty-five minute
lesson. Instead of following along and talking notes, M. has been observed to play with school
supplies in his desk, draw, stare into space, and attempt to talk to other students during lessons.
During group work M. has been observed talking to students in other groups and walking around
the classroom instead of using the time to work with his group. M. has been performing poorly
on tests and class assignments, which is the reason for the referral.
II.

STUDENT PROFILE

Gather background information in order to assess the behavior in each of the following categories:
IEP
Medical
Family consultation (family interviews)
Previous interventions
Defining and prioritizing behavior
Assessing student environment

M. is a 5th grade student in a general education classroom. He does not have an existing IEP.

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He is an English language learner and has a CELDT score of intermediate.

Last school year M. broke his arm and had to have surgery. As a result he missed a lot of
school. This also resulted in a very obvious scar on his arm. According to his teacher other
students have teased him about this scar and he responds aggressively. She believes this may be
one of the reasons that he shuts down and tunes out while at school. Otherwise, there have
been no reported medical issues. His hearing and vision have been tested and are both fine. He
does not wear glasses. M. is very active and likes playing soccer during recess and before school
with his friends. He actively participates during P.E., but his teacher has reported that he talks
while directions are being given.
M.s family did not attend open house night or the scheduled parent teacher conference. Both
parents speak Spanish so an interpreter is used for all communication between the teacher and
home. M. rarely returns forms that are sent home and require a signature by a guardian. This
includes forms explaining that he has not been doing his homework.
Previous interventions for M.s behavior have included asking him to return to his seat when
he is walking around during class time as well as reminding him that he needs to have his
materials out and should be working when he is off task. He is sent outside the classroom with
adult volunteers for one-on-one help with assignments during class time to help him focus, but
he still completes his work at a much later date then his classmates and struggles with tests. In
addition, all 5th grade classrooms at this school use a discipline response for uncompleted
homework called porch. Students who do not turn all of their homework in have to stay inside
their classroom for the first few minutes of recess and lunch, with the idea that they are working
on their homework during this time. The students are then excused to go play. M. is regularly on
porch, but still continues to not do his homework the night before.
The main behavior concern is M.s lack of attention during class time. The big issue is that
he does not appear to be learning due to his lack of attention. His academic performance is very
low, despite interventions of one-on-one support from volunteers. Even after spending weeks on
a topic, M. still usually does not understanding its basic ideas according to his teacher. In
addition, he also distracts the students around him by walking around or trying to talk to them,
which takes away from their learning. M.s behavior during class sometimes also leads to him
showing a visible lack of respect towards his teacher by talking back to her, rolling his eyes, or
refusing to acknowledge her request for him to pay attention or start working. While the main
concern is M.s learning, it is also important that he starts turning in assignments on time and
completing them fully, so his teacher has a fuller idea of his academic understanding.
M.s class student size is relatively large. There are thirty-one students, fifteen boys and
sixteen girls. The desks are arranged in rows of four in the middle of the classroom and then on
each side, students are seated in a row facing the center of the classroom with a column of desks
right in front of them facing the front of the classroom. This arrangement causes the students to
be very close to quite a few students, which could be distracting. M. is currently seated on a side
row towards the front of the room. This means that he is not directly facing the board when
looking straight ahead, but rather other students. He has three desks touching his so these
students are close enough to talk to during lessons. M. is on the same side of the classroom as the
water fountain and pencil sharpener so when he does get up to use them he does not have to walk
too far, limiting the students who are distracted by this. Decoration wise, the classroom has
multiple posters related to the curriculum hanging around the room with visuals and words to

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Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

help support student learning. There is also a large bookcase filled with dictionaries and other
references as well as an in-class library.
III. ASSESSING THE BEHAVIOR
Describe briefly (include data collection forms):
Interviews (student, teacher, paraprofessional, support staff, school psychologist, counselor . . . )
Observation (ABC Chart, scatter-plots, interval/duration/frequency recording, incident log, etc.)
Checklists
Questionnaires

I used the Interview Guide form to ask M.s teacher questions about his behavior. She said
that the main focus of concern is that he is not progressing academically. He rarely completes
assignments on time and usually does not pay attention during class lessons. This can sometimes
also escalate into M. distracting his friends and students around him. This behavior occurs very
often during academic classroom time. There is not a specific content area that is better or worse
than others. The behavior is least likely to occur though when M. is working one-on-one with an
adult, either a teacher or a volunteer. M. struggles during teacher led lessons, group work, and
quiet individual work time, particularly when the work is new or more challenging. His teacher
usually addresses the behavior by reminding him of the proper behavior. For example, if he is
talking to a friend, he will be reminded to return to his seat and get out his work. M. generally
responds slowly to these requests and continues to delay and avoid academic work. His teacher
definitely feels that this behavior is the result of academic difficulty. M. struggles in all subject
areas, but he also fails to turn in a large number of assignments, which makes it difficult to know
exactly how much he is struggling. A possible reinforcement for M.s behavior is that he does
get to put off doing work and often is asked to work outside the classroom with a volunteer
during activities to complete old assignments. Increasing the amount of academic supports and
arranging more structured and gradual due date goals may help increase M.s learning and
engagement during class. Arranging specific times for M. to take a break could help increase his
attention while he is in class. Most importantly, teaching M. how to ask for help when he needs it
will be an appropriate behavior that will help improve his ability to understand and complete the
work. Important information to consider is that M. is an English language learner with a CELDT
score of intermediate. He also missed a lot of school last year during fourth grade according to
his current teacher.
According to M.s teacher using the Behavior Rating Scale, the behavior often occurs when
M. is working independently or when she is working with other students. The behavior
constantly occurs when M. is asked to perform a difficult task. The behavior sometimes occurs in
the presence of certain peers, for example getting up to talk to friends. It also sometimes occurs
during transition times. M.s teacher sometimes gives him attention and allows him to stop the
academic activity after the behavior occurs. After the behavior occurs, M. rarely receives peer
attention and the often leave him alone.
I observed in the classroom three times on 4/21/14, 4/23/14, and 4/25/14. The first
observation occurred in the morning during the beginning of class and math time. The second
observation occurred during social studies and the third observation occurred during science. M.
frequently engaged in behavior that was not on task such as talking to a friend or drawing when
he should have been at his desk working. Rather than talking notes and filling out graphic

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Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

organizers with the rest of the class while his teacher was teaching, M. generally stared into
space, drew on paper, and played with things at his desk. He also left his desk to get water or
sharpen a pencil, which are both things students in this class are expected to do during breaks,
not during lessons. For all three days of observation M.s name was on the list of students who
did not complete their homework the night before. He also did not work very long on any of the
observed classroom assignments in comparison to other students in the class. In addition to
avoiding academic work, M. frequently did not have his materials on his desk when they were
needed, or have them at school at all. When M. was observed during a group work session, he
delayed joining his group, and once there he remained silent while the other group members
interacted. As a result, he not only did not get work done on his section of the assignment, but he
was also assigned to work on the most writing intensive, and thus arguably harder, sections. His
teacher says that the students have been working in different groups all year and have been
practicing delegating and working together. M. will be expected to still do his sections because
that is what the group decided.
An Environmental Observation form was filled out after observations in the classroom and
discussion with M.s classroom teacher. M. struggles in all subjects, but particularly with math.
A main identified skill deficit is his multiplication knowledge, which is very low for a 5th grade
student. His academic level seems to be the factor that affects his behavior the most. In addition
to struggling with 5th grade math, he also has a low reading level according to his teacher and has
a hard time with writing assignments. Reading and writing are involved across the curriculum,
which makes all subjects a challenge for M.. In addition to struggling academically, M. also
struggles with transitions between lessons and at the start of the day. He delays getting materials
out and ready and often does not even have the needed handout our book. During transitions he
often talks to his friends or stares into space. Other environmental observations are that the
classroom is a little crowded due to the amount of students and thus desks. This means that
students are quite close to one another, which could increase the likelihood of M. being
distracted, and distracting others. M. seems to enjoy talking with his friends a lot in the
classroom. However, he does not appear to interact well socially with students who are at a
higher academic level and routinely pay attention and complete assignments. These students do
not hide that they do not like working with M.. This seems to bother M. and make him more
reserved in these types of work environments. M. was never observed participating in whole
class discussions and hardly participated during group work. His teacher shared that this is very
normal, and besides talking to his friends privately, M. does not generally talk during class time.
The class structure involves a large degree of independence in the sense that students are
expected to know what to do on their own for assignments by now. The teacher expects them to
work together and stay on task without constant reminders. Groups and seats are assigned though
and students are expected to be working on similar things to other students at most times. In this
sense, there is not a huge degree of choice in the classroom. Students are expected to be working
on the assignment when time is given or paying attention to the teacher when she is teaching.
IV. ANALYZING THE BEHAVIOR RESULTS
Describe and synthesize the following from the multiple sources of data (Provide data collection or record review):

Education 5306/5406
Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

Predictors/triggers:
Setting events
Antecedents
Consequences: What happens after the behavior occurs?
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?

Predictors/triggers:
Setting events
The main setting predictor for M.s behavior is academic classroom activities. This
covers all subject areas, but according to his teacher, it is specifically bad during math
and social studies. M. displays a lack of paying attention during teacher led lessons,
group work, and individual work times. These settings all require the students to
participate either vocally or through writing activities, which seems to be a strong
predictor of the target behavior.

Antecedents
The most common antecedent for M.s target behavior is an expectation that he should be
participating in an academic activity, such as following along with the lesson, answering
math questions, or filling out a graphic organizer. Another antecedent is his teachers
request to do something academic, such as open the book, get out notes, or get into
groups.

Consequences: What happens after the behavior occurs?

Consequences that maintain the behavior
The consequences that result from M.s lack of engagement were generally quite minor
while he was being observed in the classroom. His teacher usually reminded him of what
he should be doing and attempted to redirect his behavior. On days when he is
particularly avoidant of work, his teacher has had private conversations with him to
discuss that things need to improve.

What other consistent consequences were found?

In general, there are not many obvious punishments for M.s behavior. The largest
consequence is that he is not completing work that his teacher uses when deciding grades.
This results in him having to do the work at another time, which may not always be
considered a negative consequence for him since he is able to avoid other activities. M.
does not provide many examples of his learning, which leads to the additional concern

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Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

that he is not adequately learning at school.

Frequency, Intensity, and duration of behavior:
When does the behavior occur?
The behavior occurs multiple times during lecture style teaching moments and during the
majority of group and individual work times

How long does the behavior continue?

The behavior is generally not very intense, but it does continue throughout class lessons.
When he does get up to walk around or tries to talk to other students the behavior can be
distracting, but otherwise his avoidance of work is only hurting his own learning. Most
often, the behavior sustains the duration of each lesson.

How often does the behavior occur?

This behavior occurs multiple times per lesson, per day.

Other: What setting events or antecedents identified are associated with low rates of target
behavior?
According to his teacher, when M. is working one-on-one with the teacher or a volunteer he is
much more likely to be on task and engaged and thus not exhibiting the target behavior.
V. 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

I hypothesize that the function of the behavior is to avoid academic work. While M. does like to
interact with other students, he does not seem to be trying to make a scene to attract attention. He
also regularly refuses to do work by staring into space or drawing, which does not gain him
much attention by either his peers or the teacher. Considering M.s academic performance, it
follows that much of the work being assigned is too difficult and intimidating.
The main setting event for M.s target behavior is in the classroom during academic activities.
When the behavior occurs during transitions it is during a transition to academic time, not at the
end with a transition to free time. Since M. has not been doing well academically, in addition to
the fact that he missed a lot of school the previous academic year, it is very likely that the current
course work is too difficult. This points to the cause of the behavior being one of avoidance. M.
is frequently allowed to leave his note sheets blank during lessons and delay completing other
forms of work. When he is asked to make up incomplete work this usually entails him leaving
the classroom to work in the library, which allows him to avoid the current classroom lesson or

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Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

activity. He does not appear to receive any other positive reinforcement from his behavior
besides avoiding academic work.
Antecedents for the target behavior generally all fall under the larger heading of requesting M. to
work academically. The behavior is exhibited during teacher led lessons, individual work times,
and group work activities. In addition, M. also shows a lack of attention during times he should
be preparing for class. He frequently comes to school without his homework and supplies and
talks with his friends instead of getting ready for the next lesson. This allows him to delay
beginning classroom activities and, in the case of missing materials, sometimes completely avoid
them.
The most common active consequence for M.s behavior is for his teacher to remind him
verbally of what he should be doing. Frequently, however, nothing is done as a direct result of
M.s behavior. Since the hypothesis is that M. is trying to avoid work, ignoring helps to
reinforces the behavior.
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?

I believe that the most important alteration that needs to be made is to increase the amount of
academic support provided to M.. A particular focus should be given to improving his math and
language abilities. This could be done through differentiation and providing him with more
easily assessable information and handouts covering the standard material as well as necessary
background information that he may have missed last year. It would also probably be helpful for
his teacher to use the time when he is already being held in from the first part of recess to checkin and work one on one with him. As he hopefully moves towards completing his homework
more often and receiving a whole recess period, his teacher could move this check-in time to an
appropriate time during class. An environmental alteration could be to move his desk closer to
where his teacher usually stands to teach so she will better be able to monitor his progress and
attention. In regards to social interactions, a private conversation should be had with M. to
review how other students feel when he does not participate during group assignments. It would
be beneficial to M. if more guidelines were given during group assignments so he is not assigned
the most difficult tasks, which appear to intimidate him. Hopefully through more support and
guidance, M.s academic skills will improve and therefor his behavior of not paying attention
and engaging during class will decrease.
A functionally equivalent replacement behavior would be to allow and teach M. to draw
relevant pictures along with his notes during lessons. This would decrease the reliance on written
language, which he struggles with, and include an activity that he enjoys. Another functionally
equivalent replacement behavior would be for M. to use a signal in order to let the teacher know

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Dominican Student: Kelsey Olson

FBA template, 2014

when he is overwhelmed by a task or needs help. A special signal will hopefully make the
request less obvious to other students and therefore increase the likelihood of M. not being
embarrassed to use this tool. Teaching M. to set smaller goals to help pace work, order tasks into
smaller chunks so he is not as intimidated, and arrange later deadlines with the teacher are also
replacement behaviors that could further help M. find ways to accomplish difficult tasks. To help
M. better prepare for the school day he should be instructed in how to use a planner to keep track
of what needs to be accomplished each day and write down what homework assignments, books
and materials need to be brought to school the next day. Teaching improved study skills and
creating an easier way for M. to ask for help are both ways for M. to better confront academic
work by making it more manageable for him to process and accomplish.
Currently, M. is frequently allowed to sit through lessons without completing the assigned
notes with the only consequence being a reduced grade on the final unit. This reinforces M.s
goal to avoid academic work. Rather than continuing to ignore M.s behavior during lessons, he
should be held more accountable during lessons through more frequent teacher check-ins. By
moving his seat to a more central location and using an increase in visuals and readings that are
at his grade level, lessons should be easier for M. to understand and follow. In addition, the
current consequence for M. when he does not complete assignments is to send him to the library
to complete the assignment during class time. While he does eventually have to complete the
work and therefore is not able to completely avoid it, this form of consequence allows him to
avoid other academic work. This current method seems to be reinforcing the behavior. Instead, I
recommend that M.s teacher work with him to arrange assigned work into smaller chunks with
longer deadlines as needed so that he is able to turn work in on time without leaving class to
work on it. To further reinforce the positive behavior, M.s teacher could reward him for
completing work on time with the classs already established token system, making sure that
rewards are in place that appeal to M..
I recommend establishing a check in check out system for M. with his primary teacher. This
procedure accompanied by the token system and changes to the curriculum and instructional
methods should help decrease the number of occurrence of M.s target behavior. I recommend
that the main goal be to increase the amount of work M. is able to accomplish and the amount of
times he pays attention during lessons, as determined by his teacher and the absence of
avoidance behavior. A suggested specific goal is that M. will complete an average of 75% of
assignments on time and receive a passing grade by May of 2015. In addition, it is recommended
that he decrease the number of times he is off task during class as determined by his teacher to
ten times a week by May of 2015.