ASSESSMENT AND
INTERVENTION FOR
INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS
PBIS SUMMER INSTITUTE 2012
Objectives



Identify basics of behavior.
Understand factors that contribute to problem
behaviors.
Establish why it is important to determine the
function of a behavior when choosing
interventions.
Participant Expectations

Be Responsible




Be Respectful




Return promptly from breaks
Be an active participant
Use electronic devices appropriately
Maintain cell phone etiquette
Listen attentively to others
Limit sidebars and stay on topic
Be Kind


Enter discussions with an open mind
Respond appropriately to others’ ideas
Attention Signal
Please make note of time limits and watch
your clocks!
 Trainer will raise his/her hand.

Finish your thought/comment.

Participants will raise a hand
wait quietly.
and
Positive Behavior Support
A systems approach for establishing the social
culture and individualized behavioral supports
needed for schools to be effective learning
environments for all students
- Rob Horner, Ph.D.
Co-Director National Technical Assistance Center for
Positive Behavior Support
CONTINUUM
OF
POSITIVE
BEHAVIOR
INTERVENTION
AND
SUPPORT
5%
FBA/BIP
De-escalation
15%
Social Skills
Mentoring
Check In
Self Management
Classroom Based Intervention
80%
Defining & Teaching Expectations
Routines & Procedures
Reinforcement Systems
Effective Consequences
Social Competence &
Academic Achievement
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Decision
Making
Supporting
Staff Behavior
PRACTICES
Supporting
Student Behavior
Positive
Behavior
Intervention
and
Support
BEHAVIOR BASICS
Behavior Basics: Scenario
Student is tired
There is a quiz
today
Student puts head down
on desk and refuses to
complete quiz
Teacher asks
student to leave the
class
Student leaves
Behavior Basics: Analysis
Antecedent
Consequence
Student Behavior
Teacher Behavior
Consequence
Student Behavior
Behavior Basics: Assumptions

Behavior is learned.

Every social interaction you have with
a child teaches him/her something.

Relationships matter!

Behavior alters when those involved
have a prior positive relationship.
Behavior Basics:
The ABCs of Behavior
Understanding the purpose of behavior comes from
repeated observation of:
A: Antecedent: stimulus before the behavior
B: Behavior: observable and measurable act
C: Consequence: what occurs after the behavior
that serves to maintain or increase frequency of
behavior
Behavior Basics: Antecedents

Antecedents are events that happen
before the behavior.

There are two types of antecedents:

Conditional

Situational
Behavior Basics:
Conditional Antecedents

May occur anywhere

Increase the likelihood that behavior will
occur
 Oversleeping
 Medication
or lack of medication
 Hunger
 Conflict
with a particular person
Behavior Basics:
Conditional Antecedents
Home
School
Community
Disability
Activity 1:
Conditional Antecedents

How have you seen conditional antecedents
impact behavior in your school?

Pair with a fellow workshop participant.

Share your ideas. Be sure that each person
gets to share.
Behavior Basics :
Situational Antecedents

Behavior triggered by specific event
Changes to regularly scheduled events due to bomb
threats, fire drills, etc.
 Teasing/sarcasm/threats
 Challenged by others


May be consistent
Group work
 Math


May be unique to one situation
Field trips to the zoo
 Substitute teacher

Behavior Basics:
Situational Antecedents
Social
Academic
Environment
Personal
Activity 2:
Situational Antecedents

With a colleague, brainstorm possible
situational antecedents.

List them on your activity sheet.

Be sure that each person gets to share ideas.
Behavior Basics: Behavior
Behavior is…
 anything
that we say or do.

how we react to situations and/or
conditions.

learned because a purpose or
function is served.

repeated because a desired
outcome occurs.
Behavior Basics: Consequences

Consequences are:
 The
outcome of the behavior
 The
responses of adults and/or peers to the
behavior

Consequences that reinforce behavior lead
to repetition of the behavior.
Behavior Basics: Consequences
Behavior is affected by its
consequences:
Emily raises her hand. Emily’s
teacher calls on her to share. She is
likely to continue to raise her hand
to share ideas.
Behavior Basics: Consequences
Behavior is strengthened or
maintained by reinforcement:
Adam correctly completes his
assignments. He is allowed extra time
on the computer. He will likely continue
to complete his assignments again
because he enjoys computer time.
Behavior Basics: Consequences
Behavior is weakened by withholding
consequences that have maintained it:
Riley constantly fidgets and taps her pencil
to get the teacher’s attention. Instead of
scolding her, the teacher gives positive
attention to another student sitting quietly.
Riley is more likely to sit quietly to get the
teacher’s attention.
Behavior Basics: Consequence
To understand the consequences of a behavior,
observe what happens in the environment
immediately after the behavior.

What is the pay-off?

What does the student get?

What does the student avoid?
Activity 3:
Behavior Basics Quiz

Complete the quiz on your own.

Pair with a neighbor.

Compare answers.

Discuss relevance of this information to
planning effective interventions for
students.

Watch for the attention signal.
UNDERSTANDING
FUNCTIONS OF BEHAVIOR
Functions of Behavior
 The
function is the purpose or reason that the
behavior occurred.
 Why
is it important for us to know the function
of the problem behavior?
 To
understand the need behind behavior
 To
find an appropriate replacement behavior
 To
target appropriate antecedents and consequences
to alter
 To
develop the best behavior support plan
Functions of Behavior
Behavior has two major functions:
 To get something
 preferred task or activity
 attention of an adult or peer
 a specific item or object
 sensory input

To avoid something

a specific task or activity

an adult or child
a specific item or object
sensory overload


Functions of Behavior
GET
ATTENTION
TANGIBLES
AVOID
SENSORY
Functions of Behavior
One behavior can have multiple
functions:
John throws a tantrum at home in order
to avoid cleaning his room, and he
throws a tantrum at school to get adult
attention.
Functions of Behavior
Several behaviors can have the
same function:
Mike might cuss, walk away, and/or put
his head down in order to avoid
completing writing assignments.
Assessing the Function: Process
Step 1: Prioritize concerns and define one
target behavior.
Step 2: Collect data.
Step 3: Develop a hypothesis.
Assessing the Function: Process
Step 1: Select and define behaviors.
 List
all problem behaviors and determine the behavior to
target.
 Operationally
define the behavior:

Measurable

Observable

Objective
Assessing the Function: Process
Step 2: Collect Data

To determine the function, you must collect data about
target behavior.

Data should be collected in a reasonable time frame

Data can be collected through:
 indirect
 direct
methods
observation tools
Assessing the Function: Process
Indirect methods for data
collection:

Interviews

Anecdotal records

Assessment tools
Assessing the Function: Process
Direct data collection involves repeated planned
observation of
antecedents, behaviors and consequences.

Context: Under what conditions does the behavior occur?

Frequency: How often does it happen?

Duration: How long does it go on?

Intensity: How disruptive or damaging is it?
Chafouleas, Riley-Tillman & McDougal, 2002
Assessing the Function: Process
Direct data collection tools
 ABC
observations
 Frequency
counts
 Duration
recording
 Intensity
recording
Wright, 2011; Jenson, Rhode, Reavis, 1994
Activity 4: Assessing the Function,
Steps 1 and 2
Read the paragraph about Rachel on your activity sheet
and answer the following questions:
1.
Which behavior would you target first?
2.
How would you define the behavior?
3.
What data collection tools would be helpful in determining
the possible function of the target behavior?
Assessing the Function: Process
Step 3: Form a hypothesis about the problem
behavior.

Use data to determine if the main purpose of the
behavior is to gain or avoid something.

Refine broad category into a specific hypothesis
statement.
Assessing the Function: Hypothesis

Once you have determined whether the purpose
of the behavior is to avoid or gain, then you can
create a specific hypothesis.

The goal of the hypothesis is to generate a
statement regarding the conditions in which the
behavior is most likely to occur.
Assessing the Function: Hypothesis
Hypothesis Template:
During ______ , when/and _____ (antecedent) occurs,
the student does _____ (behavior) in order to gain or
avoid _________ (consequences/outcomes).
Assessing the Function: Hypothesis
Sample:
During independent or small group work, when Pat is
left unattended by a teacher for longer than 5
minutes, Pat leaves the seat or area to gain adult
attention.
Activity 5: Assessing the Function,
Step 3
Using the word bank on your table, write them on
the template to create up to three hypotheses
that contain the antecedent, behavior, and
consequences/outcomes.
CREATING EFFECTIVE
INTERVENTIONS
Function Based Interventions:
Rationale
Understanding the function or
purpose of the problem behavior is
essential in developing an effective
behavior support plan.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Rationale
 Reinforcement
maintains behavior.
 It
is more efficient for people to use existing
behaviors.
If you keep doing what you are doing, you
will keep getting what you are getting.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Guidelines

Connect directly to hypothesis by applying interventions that are
logically related to function.

Focus on adult and environmental roles.

Identify proactive strategies that prevent, rather than suppress,
undesirable behaviors.

Provide strategies to teach desired skills.

Teach replacement behaviors that serve a similar function.

Plan to help student generalize new behaviors to all settings.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Steps

Develop a replacement behavior and acceptable
alternatives.

Choose strategies that meet functional need through a prosocial skill.

Consider how to affect the behavior using the ABC format.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Replacement Behavior

Function can be met with two or more different
behaviors.

Desired replacement behavior should serve the
function in a more acceptable and socially
appropriate way.
Horner, Sugai at www.pbis.org
Creating Effective Interventions:
Replacement Behavior
Must be stated in measurable, observable, and positive
terms.

Context/Setting Events…when, where, with whom?

Learner…who?

Behavior…what?

Criterion…how much?
During language arts class, when the teacher is providing direct
instruction, John will raise his hand and wait to be called on three
out of five opportunities for responses.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Replacement Behavior
Acceptable alternatives
 Once
you have an ideal replacement behavior, consider
acceptable alternatives.
 There
is a wide range of possible behaviors that meet the
function.
 Alternatives
 Allowing
need to be better than the problem behavior.
alternatives helps the student feel successful as
he/she moves towards the goal.
Setting
Events
Determining Replacement
Behaviors and Alternatives
Antecedents
Problem
Behavior
Acceptable
Alternative
Outcome of
the Behavior
Desired
Replacement
Function Based Interventions:
Function of Avoidance

Student behavior may be overt or subtle.

Usually occurs when a student is facing an
undesirable task or class.

Behavior reoccurs in specific situations.
Function Based Interventions:
Examples of Avoidance Behaviors

Saying “I don’t want to do this!”

Complaining of being sick

Making excuses

Asking unrelated comments

Putting head down

Asking to use the bathroom

Asking to see another teacher

Being tardy

Finding other things to do in class
Function Based Interventions:
Strategies for Avoidance Behaviors

Modify instruction and give student choices.

Teach students what to do when faced with
a situation they are trying to avoid.

Provide attainable goals.

Create appropriate methods for taking a
break.
Function Based Interventions:
Strategies for Avoidance Behaviors

Collect data to help determine what student
is avoiding.

Talk privately with student to reveal the
reasons for frequent escapes.

Avoid embarrassing student and escalating
situation.
Function Based Interventions:
Function of Gaining

Student behavior may be overt or subtle.

Student could seek to gain attention,
tangible item, or an activity.

Attention could be desired from peers
and/or teacher.
Function Based Interventions:
Examples of Gaining Behaviors

Frequently needs feedback from adults

Whines, cries or complains

Focuses on others’ sensitive issues

Enjoys being class clown

Is disrespectful or hostile

Hoarding or stealing items

Spending time on preferred activity instead
of assigned task
Function Based Interventions:
Strategies for Gaining Behaviors

Teach appropriate behaviors to gain
attention, items, or activity.

Reinforce desired behavior and use planned
ignoring for misbehavior.

If behavior cannot be ignored, rather than
acknowledge student individually, remind the
class of expectations.

Plan a time to give the student feedback on a
regular basis.
Activity 6: Function Based
Interventions Practice

Choose one of the scenarios to read.

List antecedents, behaviors, and consequences.

Note possible function(s) of the behavior(s).

Answer the following question: Given the
scenario, what is likely to happen the next
time the situation occurs?

Describe at least two possible intervention
strategies.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
Effective plans…

identify potential triggers and ways to avoid
them.

teach acceptable replacement behaviors to
mastery.

create outcomes that increase use of
replacement behaviors and reduce use of
problem behaviors.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
Strategies need to include changes to the antecedents, behavior,
and consequences or outcomes.
Antecedents
Behavior
Consequence or
Outcome
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies



Antecedents

Remove or modify the antecedents that prompt problem behavior.

How could the problem behavior be prevented?
Behavior

Teach replacement behaviors that require less effort to meet the need.

What appropriate behaviors can we teach the student to meet the need?
Consequence/Outcomes

Decrease access to outcomes that maintain problem behavior and increase access
to outcomes that support acceptable behavior.

Can we respond with consequences that provide a learning or practice component of
the desired behavior?
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
Manipulating the Antecedents:
 Provide
attention on your terms before he gets it on his
terms.
 Spend
 Alter
extra time with student to review expectations.
lesson or activity.
 Modify
environment.
 Provide
additional support.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
Manipulating the Behavior:

Ensure behavior goal is attainable.

Teach social skills that are directly related to desired
behavior.

Help student discover connection between desired
behavior and desired outcomes.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
Manipulating the Consequences/ Outcomes:

Use planned ignoring.

Respond to behavior in a way that does not embarrass
student.

Reinforce desired behavior and acceptable alternatives.

Provide indirect acknowledgement or correction when
direct acknowledgement is not effective.

Allow student to earn what she/he wants through
demonstration of desired behavior or acceptable
alternatives.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
If it has been determined that a student calls out in order to obtain
adult attention, strategies might include:
Planned check-ins by teacher  Precorrects for hand
A
raising  Move seat closer to adult
B
Teach skills to get help, occupy wait times, and
tolerate delays
C
Ignore calling out  Reinforce raising hand  Respond
consistently and quickly to appropriate requests and
approximations
Creating Effective Interventions:
Choosing Strategies
If it has been determined that a student puts his head down and/or falls
asleep in class to avoid independent written work, strategies might include:
Alter lessons to meet student’s abilities  Start lessons
with review  Preview work with student individually
 Allow him other ways to participate in lesson to
keep engaged
Teach student how to get help, approach challenging
material, handle frustration, and accept errors
Reinforce approximations  Contract for breaks 
Become tutor for someone else  Positive reinforcement
for staying engaged and completing task
Activity 7: Design Interventions
Work in groups to create interventions for the student
below by filling in the boxes on your worksheet.
Hypothesis Statement:
During unstructured social times, when interacting
with peers, Brittany uses inappropriate language in
order to gain peer attention.
Creating Effective Interventions:
Implementation
An effective plan includes :

tools for assessing progress

data collection schedule

defined steps to goal

roles and responsibilities

plan for reinforcement

methods for ensuring fidelity
Creating Effective Interventions:
Evaluation
Steps for Evaluation
1.
Determine if behavior has improved.
2.
If yes, choose one of the following options:
3.

Modify criteria for mastery

Choose another behavior to address

End individualized plan
If not, choose one of the following options:

Evaluate fidelity of implementation

Re-evaluation function

Find ways to adjust the plan
Creating Effective Interventions:
Generalization
Practice plan in all applicable settings.
 Include a variety of adults when developing the
plan.
 Continue implementing plan for a sufficient
amount of time.
 Encourage use of replacement behavior and all
acceptable alternatives.

Tertiary Level Strategies:
Review

Understand PBIS team role in supporting individual student needs.

Coordinate with other existing resources.

Use data to determine function.

Develop achievable replacement behavior and alternatives.

Support the use of desired behavior by manipulating the ABC.

Promote consistency among school staff.

Practice plan in all settings.

Evaluate regularly.
Review:
It’s Simple Really…

Antecedent is going on, Behavior happens,
and Consequence follows.

Does C cause B to occur again?

Can A change to stop B?

Can C change to deter B?

Can you teach an acceptable replacement
for B?

Can C be altered to only reinforce the
replacement behavior?
References and Resources
 George,
H & Kincaid, D. "Basic Principles of Behavior”
Power Point Presentation. Florida's Positive Behavior
Support Project: University of South Florida. Presented
at First International Conference on Positive Behavior
Support. Orlando, Florida 2003
 “Functional
Behavior Assessment”. Power Point
Presentation. Behavior Specialist Team, Special
Education Services Wake County Public School System
 “Secondary
and Tertiary Strategies for PBIS”. Power
Point Presentation. 2nd Annual Conference on
Secondary and Tertiary Interventions. Naperville, IL,
2006
 New
Mexico Public Education Department