Practical FBA/BIP: Building Local
Capacity for Conducting FunctionBased Assessment & Individualized
Behavior Support
Sheldon Loman, PhD
sheldon.loman@pdx.edu
www.basicfba.pbworks.com
Who’s here?
o Administrators?
o Teachers?
o Paraprofessionals?
o Behavior Specialists?
o Other related services?
o Others?
o How Many FBAs have you personally conducted??
o 0-3?
o 4-10?
o 11-20?
o Too many to count??
Instructional
Practices for
People w/
Significant
Disabilities
Positive
Behavior
Support
Educational Systems
Change
Goals/Outcomes
By the end of the day today you will
be able to…
• Use Practical FBA/BIP Manual, Process, & Materials in order
to conduct FBA and (possibly train others) to conduct FBA and
design Function-based behavior supports.
• Specifically define behavior, identify variables that trigger
problem behavior, and determine the function/ pay-off of
student problem behavior.
• Conduct a Functional Assessment Checklist for Teachers and
Staff (FACTS) interview
• Identify the critical features of a behavior support plan that
will make student problem behavior irrelevant, inefficient,
and ineffective.
4
Today’s Agenda
9:30-10:30
Introduction to Practical FBA/BSP
Defining Behavior (Activity Packet pages 2-5)
10:30-10:50 Break
10:50-12:15 Investigating Behavior
(Activity Packet pages 6-12)
12:15-1:00
1:00-2:30
Lunch
Observing Behavior (pages 13-20)
2:30-2:50
2:50-4:00
Break
Critical Features of Behavior Support Planning
(pages 21-23)
A primary goal of FBA is to….
• guide the development of effective positive
interventions based on the function of the
behavior (e.g. tangible, escape, attention,
automatic; Horner, 1994).
FBA is….
• an empirically supported practice that has
been demonstrated to improve both the
effectiveness & efficiency of behavioral
interventions in schools
• Blair, Umbreit, & Bos, 1999; Carr et al., 1999; Ingram, Lewis-Palmer, & Sugai,
2005; Lee, Sugai, & Horner, 1999; Newcomer & Lewis, 2004.
Newcomer
& Lewis,
2004
Challenges schools face
today are not finding what
works, but implementing
what works.
Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005
• Since 1997 FBA has not been implemented widely in schools.
• Not due to lack of knowledge, but to practicality of use
“Scaling Down to Scale up”
• Scott, Alter, & McQuillan (2010)
• In order for FBA to be applied in
classrooms we need to simplify the
practices associated with effective FBA
• It is essential to use straightforward
language, rationale, and examples of how
FBA can be applied in the context of
classroom
10
Concern
• Behavior specialists are often overwhelmed with
Basic Message:
requests to conduct functional behavioral
assessments and building behavior support plans.
Any time you feel overwhelmed the answer
is likely to include investing in the training
of others.
Behavior Support
Specialist
Train &
coach
teachers on
classroom
management
Support
Teams
building
behavior
support
plans from
Assessment
information
Train 1-2
people per
school to
conduct
“basic”
FBA & BSP
Current Issues and Needs…
• Do people already know how to do FBA in your schools?
• Can a district leader/behavior specialist teach FBA procedures in a
reasonable amount of time?
• Are the basic FBAs developed by school personnel valid for building
behavior support plans?
• Do our school teams understand the CRITICAL FEATURES of
function-based interventions ?
• Do we have materials that are practical and effective for use by
district/behavior specialists?
“Work Smarter NOT Harder…”
By using the 4 “P”s
• Proactively build capacity- Train 1-2 school personnel in each
school with a “flexible” role to conduct FBA/BSPs for students
with mild/moderate problem behaviors
• Parsimonious tools- Use simple tools and terminology that are
relatable to school personnel
• Practical Trainings- Provide short training sessions that teach
“less more thoroughly” based on established instructional
practices
• Prioritized follow-up- Through use of quick in-training
assessments to determine those participants that will require
more follow-up coaching
Training Series
• 4 training sessions on conducting functional behavioral assessments (FBA)
for students with mild to moderate behavioral problems in schools.
• The training series teaches participants to conduct interviews and
observations in such a way as to precisely determine the relationship
between student problem behavior and the context:
– What the problem behaviors are.
– When, Where, & Why a student’s problem behaviors occur.
• A summary of this information will help an individual student team
develop effective behavioral supports that:
-prevent problem behaviors from occurring
-teach alternative behaviors
-& effectively respond when problem behaviors occur.
Practical FBA vs
Comprehensive FBA
Focus of this
training series
Practical FBA
Comprehensive FBA
For:
Students with mild to
moderate problem
behaviors (behaviors that
are NOT dangerous or
occurring in many settings)
Students with moderate to
severe behavioral
problems; may be
dangerous and/or
occurring in many settings
What:
Relatively simple and
efficient process to guide
behavior support planning
Time-intensive process
that also involves archival
records review, familycentered planning, and
collaboration with agencies
outside of school
Conducted by whom:
School-based personnel
(e.g., teachers, counselors,
administrators)
Professionals trained to
conduct functional
assessments with students
with severe problem behaviors
(e.g., school psychologists,
behavior specialists)
16
Practical/Basic FBA process
D.A.S.H.
Session #1
Define behavior in observable & measurable terms
Session #2
Ask about behavior by interviewing staff & student
-specify routines where & when behaviors occur
-summarize where, when, & why behaviors occur
See the behavior
Session #3
-observe the behavior during routines specified
-observe to verify summary from interviews
Hypothesize: a final summary of where, when &
why behaviors occur
Session #4
17
Format of Practical/Basic
FBA Training Sessions (pg.5)
Objectives
Checks for
Understanding
Review
Comments/
Questions
Activities
Tasks
Key Points
New &
Improved*
RACER
*based on recent research
Replace problem behavior with a socially acceptable, efficient behavior that
allows student to obtain the pay-off/function
Antecedent strategies to directly address triggers to prevent problems &
prompt replacement behaviors based on the function of behavior
Correct behaviors by quickly & effectively redirecting student to replacement
behavior
Extinguish behaviors by ensuring that problem behaviors do NOT pay off for the
student (i.e. does not result in the function of behavior)
Reinforce replacement & desired behaviors based on function/pay off for the
student
Examination of Efficacy of
Practical/Basic FBA for use by
school personnel
• Determined that staff with flexible roles in schools (e.g., counselors,
administrators) can be trained to conduct FBA for students with mild
to moderate behavior problems (i.e., students with recurring problems
that do not involve physical aggression or violent behaviors).
• Determined the efficacy and acceptability of Practical FBA methods
and tools with school personnel.
• Loman & Horner, in press
• Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions [JPBI]
Methods: 3 Phases of the Study
Phase 1- Practical FBA training on FBA tools & methods provided
to 12 school professionals.
-Pre- & Post-Tests of FBA knowledge
Phase 2- 10 of the 12 Trained participants conducted an FBA
according to procedures they were taught for one student
within their school.
-Using Practical FBA tools: interviewed, observed, and
hypothesized summary of student behavior.
Phase 3- Functional analyses conducted by researcher to test
each participant’s hypothesis/summary statement
-Experimental manipulations to determine the efficacy of
the Practical FBA training .
Results: Phase 1
Pre/Post Training FBA Knowledge
100
97%
96%
93%
87%
80
60
Pre
39%
Post
40
20
0
Cohort 1
99% Inter-rater Total
Agreement on 25% of
tests.
Cohort 2
Cohort 3
Overall
N=12
Overall Pretest M= 39.50% (SD=18.82%)
Overall Posttest M= 92.55% (SD=7.22%)
Results: Phase 2
Acceptability Ratings
Strongly
6
Agree 5.6
5.5
5.7
5.5
5.6
5.3
Agree
5.5
5.7
5.4
5
5
4
3
2
1
Equipped me
Strongly
disagree
Will Use Again
Suggest to
Others
Tools Easy to
Use
Teacher FACTS Student FACTS
N=10
ABC Form
Confident
Inform
Intervention
Time
Reasonable
Overall Benefit
Results: Phase 3
Comparison of Summary Statements
Generated from Interviews
• 9 out of 10 of the summary statements hypothesized by
the FACTS interviews with teachers were verified by results
of experimental functional analysis.
• The one FACTS summary statement that was not verified
by FA actually resulted in further clarification from the
direct observation.
• The school participant decided to use the results from the
direct observation which resulted in a function that was
verified by experimental functional analysis.
60-minute Function-based Behavior
Support Training Results
Overall Mean Increase by 30%
Borgmeier, Loman,
Rodriguez, in prep
Accessing Training
Materials
www.basicfba.pbworks.com
26
www.basicfba.pbworks.com
Find all the training materials Here!
27
Participant Manual
Training Materials
• Participant Materials for trainings (pp. 1-77)
• When training – each participant should get a participant
manual (at least pp. 1-77)
• Blank Forms (pp. 78-91)
• FACTS Interview Forms (for Staff & Student)
• ABC Recording Forms
• Behavior Support Planning Forms
• Quick Reference Guide (pp. 92-108)
• Presentation Slides x Session (pp. 109-153)
Is this something you want to
do in your district?
• Would you like to implement the ‘Practical FBA’
training in your district?
• What steps do you need to take to propose this
idea and begin moving forward?
• District commitment & planning
• Identifying teams & appropriate attendees
• What additional support would you need to
deliver the curriculum?
29
Preparing to Train Practical FBA in
your District
30