Are You Ready for Some Behavior? The Rationale Behind Using
a Team Approach to Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior
Intervention Plans
by Kristin Holst, M.Ed.
from T/TAC Link Lines
November/December 2005
“For their third pick the Lincoln Elementary School Improvement
Team chooses Kenneth Epstein.” Is this a draft for some fantasy
football fan? No, this scene is played out more or less at the beginning
of every school year as teachers are mandated to volunteer for the
various teams in their buildings. In fact, some would say that there
are now more teams in the average school than there are in the entire
National Football League. Teams range from grade-level and content-area
teams to teams to support school-based initiatives such as Instructional
Support Teams. Adding required participation in IEP teams, is there
room for one more team? The answer, friends and fellow fantasy draft
enthusiasts, is “yes.”
The Functional Behavioral Assessment/Behavior Intervention Plan
(FBA/BIP) process also requires a team approach. A collaborative
versus “expert-driven” approach is most effective for
designing and implementing FBAs and BIPs (Office of Special Education
Programs, 2005). School-wide support is essential to ensure that
building-level initiatives and priorities do not conflict with the
time and commitment needed to develop FBAs and implement BIPs (Center
for Effective Collaboration and Practice, 2005). The benefits of
using a collaborative approach include:
- Students and those who will be responsible for
implementing the behavior interventions can ensure that the information
contained in the FBA is accurate.
- Paperwork and stress levels are reduced when
the workload is shared.
- Behavior interventions are implemented with a
high degree of integrity and fidelity when a team is responsible
for the outcomes.
- Team members hold each other accountable for
the portions of the behavior intervention plan they are responsible
for implementing.
- Interventions designed for the target student
may be applicable to other students in the classroom.
Henry Ford once stated, “Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
When initiated effectively, a team approach is paramount to behavioral
success. Then, having sipped from the victory cup, educators can
look forward to the future and next season’s draft.
References
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice. (2005). Obstacles
to effective functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention
plans and supports. Retrieved September 1, 2005, from http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior3/obstacles3.htm.
Office of Special Education Programs: Technical Assistance Center
on Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. (2005). School-Wide
PBS. Retrieved September 1, 2005, from http://www.pbis.org/schoolwide.htm.
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