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Introduction to Functional Behavior
Assessments (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP)
by Tricia Luker, Bridges4Kids
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
IDEA '97 formally recognizes for the first time that physical,
mental or emotional disabilities can and do interfere with a
child's ability to benefit from a free appropriate public
education. IDEA '97 requires every IEP Team, at every IEP
meeting, to review the child's behavior and determine whether
it significantly impedes the child's learning or the learning
of others. When IEP Teams identify behavior difficulties, the
behavior challenges are evaluated (skills deficits,
performance deficits and environmental modifications) and a
needs-based behavior intervention plan is put into place to
help the student, family and school respond to the challenging
behaviors as they happen.
IDEA '97 uses
two tools, the functional behavior assessment [FBA] and the
behavior intervention plan [BIP] to promote positive supports
to a child's behavior difficulties.
Functional
Behavior Assessment
A functional behavior assessments is the primary tool used to
identify and attempt to understand a child's behavior. The FBA
has four goals:
1. to describe
behavior
2. to predict when and where the behavior will occur
3. to identify possible reasons for why the child behaves the
way she or he does
4. to develop intervention support strategies that conform to
the IEP Team's best understanding of why the behavior is
occurring
Data for
the FBA come from several sources:
¨ complete review of the child's entire school record and all
available outside professional records
¨ extensive,
direct observation of the child in school (classroom and
common areas), community and home settings
¨ interviews with the child, the child's parents and siblings,
teachers and other school personnel, community service
providers and friends who know the child
¨ completion and review of rating scales, observed behavior
charts and related assessment tools
A formal FBA
requires commitment from all participants. Although good FBA's
may take months to complete, they are invaluable tools for
helping to identify what happens before and after a
challenging behavior occurs, allowing behavior team members to
develop comprehensive, positive strategies to support the
child in learning new behaviors.
What are
Behavior Intervention Plans?
A behavior intervention plan [BIP] is a written,
individualized support plan based on a functional assessment
of the child's challenging behavior. BIPs include positive
behavioral support to address identified academic and behavior
concerns. A BIP is:
¨ based on the
FBA and guided by a reasoned understanding of why the behavior
happens
¨ directed
toward skill building and environmental changes
¨
comprehensive; involving multiple intervention components
¨ assessed on its effectiveness -- not just the change in the
targeted behavior, but on the broader quality of life issues
such as maintenance across time and generalization across
settings (Bambara & Knoster, 1995)
A BIP may teach a child how to replace banging her head on the
table with raising her hand as the primary method of getting a
teacher's attention. The plan may positively reinforce a child
for working independently. The BIP might include specific,
success-assured tasks that the child will do while learning to
raise her hand and work independently. The BIP describes how
its success will be evaluated, contains a regular review
schedule and identifies those conditions that require
immediate revision or modification.
The BIP is a
active document which needs periodic review and revision.
A strong, well written BIP under IDEA '97 is vital to
developing an IEP, but the BIP does not have to be part of the
IEP to be effective. In fact,
most schools and families prefer to separate the BIP from the
IEP. An IEP can refer to a BIP, but a BIP standing alone can
be changed without having a formal meeting of the whole IEP
Team. Once in place the BIP should be evaluated as often as
the child's targeted behavior is evaluated.
IEP Team Informal Behavior Intervention
Ideally, most behavior challenges will be identified early in
a child's life or school career, and parents and teachers will
already have a plan in place to address the behavior. IDEA '97
embraces the concept that most of the time behavior challenges
can be addressed at the IEP level through carefully crafted
goals and objectives. FBA's and BIP's are not required at this
early stage in the process, but parents can, and in some cases
should, ask for FBA's and BIP's if strategies implemented
through the IEP goals and objectives section seem to be
ineffective or lack school support and commitment.
IEP Team
members should collect, share and review all available
information describing the challenging behavior, the events
occurring before and after the behavior, and data identifying
the child's emotional and educational stressors.
IEP Team
members are encouraged to press the envelope in exploring and
developing strategies to enhance the child's ability to
exercise greater self-control and self-determination. Positive
behavior supports provided
at this level can be included within an IEP's goals and
objectives. Parents and schools should use all special
education and related services that are available to help the
child positively address and resolve the behavior difficulty.
IDEA '97 contemplates that in most instances behavior
difficulties identified at the IEP Team level will be resolved
by the IEP Team through the use of positive intervention with
the child.
Formal
Behavior Intervention Under IDEA '97
IDEA '97 creates a second level of behavior intervention and
review to be used when a child's behavior difficulties lead to
potential suspension or expulsion. The law is explicit on
those steps schools must take when suspending or expelling a
child who has or is suspected of having disabilities. The
formal process looks like this:
General Principles
¨ IDEA '97 does not protect children with disabilities from
punishment until a child has been suspended or removed from an
educational placement for more than 10 school days.
¨ Under IDEA
'97, a suspension happens when the child is removed from the
building, rather than removed from a class within the
building. The test is whether the school is providing services
required by the child's IEP, even though the child is not in
the classroom.
¨ Before 10
days have expired the school must give the parents written
notice of their right to challenge any suspension or expulsion
beyond the initial 10 days.
¨ If the
school moves to formally expel the child, the parents must
receive notice of the right to challenge the expulsion if they
believe it is due to behavior related to the child's
disability.
¨ If the
parents challenge a suspension or expulsion the school must
bring the IEP Team together to determine whether the behavior
for which the child is being disciplined is related to his
disability. IDEA '97 calls this process a "Manifestation IEP
Team."
¨ A school may
only suspend or expel a child from school if the conduct is
NOT a manifestation of (or significantly related to) the
child's disability.
Manifestation Considerations
The IEP Team may determine whether a child's behavior was a
manifestation of the child's disability only after the Team
considers, in looking at the conduct leading to the
disciplinary action, all relevant information
including:
¨ a thorough review of all past evaluations and testing
results
¨ all
information provided by the parents and student
¨ a thorough
review the child's IEP, BIP and school environment
Manifestation Standards
The IEP Team must answer the following questions in order to
decide whether a child's conduct was a manifestation of the
child's disability:
¨ Is the
child's IEP APPROPRIATE?
¨ Is the child's IEP being followed as written?
¨ Are the child's placement, special education services, and
supplementary aids APPROPRIATE?
¨ Are the
child's educational services and supplementary aids being
provided as written in the IEP?
¨ Is the child's BIP APPROPRIATE?
¨ Are the behavior intervention strategies being applied
CONSISTENTLY in accord with the child's IEP, BIP and
placement?
If the team answers to any of the above questions is "no,"
then the child cannot be suspended or expelled for the
conduct.
Disability-Related Conduct
If the IEP Team decides that the child's IEP, BIP and
placement are appropriate and have been consistently provided
as written in the plan, the Team then must decide whether the
conduct in question is significantly
related to the child's disability. The Team must answer the
following questions:
¨ Did the
child's disability IMPAIR his/her ability to UNDERSTAND the
impact and consequences of the behavior subject to
disciplinary action?
¨ Did the
child's disability IMPAIR his/her ability to CONTROL the
behavior subject to disciplinary action?
If the Team
answers either question "yes," then the school cannot expel
the child.
"Unidentified" Students: Protected if School Had Knowledge
IDEA '97 also might protect children who have not been through
the formal IEP/BIP process. Schools must provide the same
manifestation IEP Team process to children they know or should
have known had disabilities. In order to decide whether a
school should have known a child subject to expulsion might
have a disability, the following questions are asked:
¨ Has the child's parent expressed concern in writing to the
school suggesting the child has special needs or requires
special services?
¨ Has the
child's behavior or performance shown or suggested the need
for special education services?
¨ Has the
parent requested that the child be evaluated for special
education services under IDEA '97?
¨ Have any school personnel (teacher, counselor, social
worker, administrator) expressed concern about the child's
performance to local special education offices or
administrators?
If the answer
to any of these questions is "yes", the child's parents are
entitled to the IDEA '97 procedural safeguards discussed in
this article.
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