Connecting FBAs and BIPs to PBIS
systems
Kevin Filter, Ph.D.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Let’s look at some concrete examples…
Acknowledge & Recognize
Teaching and acknowledging
appropriate behavior
Question: Why do we teach and acknowledge?
• Answer: Because behavior that leads to
positive consequences will be repeated
– This is called, “positive reinforcement” and is a
basic principle of behavior function
Data-based decision making
Looking for antecedents and consequences to school-wide
problem behavior in order to change it
Office Re fe rrals pe r Day pe r M onth
N um ber of R efer r als
Re fe rr als pe r Prob Be havior
50
40
30
20
15
10
5
0
20
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
School Months
10
0
A v e R efer r als per D ay
Last Year and This Year
L a n g Ac h o l Ars o n Bo m bCo m b sDe f i a nDi s ru p tDre s sAg g / f g tT h e f tHa ra s sPro p D Sk i p T a rd y T o b a c Va n d W e a p
Types of Problem Behavior
Apr
May
Jun
Functional Info from ODRs
Antecedent
Behavior
Location
Consequence
• Classroom
• Hallway
• Lunch room
Bullying
Escape
Instruction
Time of Day
Tardiness
Obtain
Attention
Verbal Abuse
Escape
Attention
• Before school
• Afternoon
SubPopulation
• 7th Graders
• 8th Graders
Defiance
THINKING FUNCTIONALLY
Making the Teacher Angry
Brett makes numerous comments about the
teacher behind her back. Classmates laugh
and teacher gets mad.
Why?
• He’s a delinquent
• He’s a comedian
• He’s a bad kid
Brett: Other possibilities
• Has a long history of getting other students’
attention by insulting people (Function: obtain
peer attention)
• Is looking for a quick ticket out of class
(Function: escape aversive task)
• Wants the teacher to be flustered and
discontinue instruction (Function: Escape
aversive task)
Skipping Class
Andrea skips chemistry two or three days per
week.
Why?
• She’s unmotivated
• She doesn’t care about her education
• She’s a bad student
Andrea: Other possibilities
• She has to meet her drug dealer at an off-site
location (Function: obtain sensory
stimulation)
• She hates chemistry and doesn’t understand it
(Function: escape difficult task)
• Her friends all have free study hall at that time
and gather at the pizza place in town
(Function: obtain peer attention)
Functions
Problem
Behavior
Pos Reinf
Escape/
Avoid
Something
Obtain/Get
Something
Stimulation/
Sensory
Tangible/
Activity
Social
Adult
Neg Reinf
Peer
Function is about what comes after
AND what comes before
SETTING EVENT
(setting up)
ANTECEDENT
(setting off)
BEHAVIOR
CONSEQUENCE
(reason for
behavior)
APPLYING FBA ACROSS THE TIERS
When Collecting FBA Data, Think A-B-C
Our goal is to fill in the A-B-C blanks
Setting Event
Antecedent
A
Behavior
B
Consequence
C
High
Slope of Efficiency
Low
Intensity of Assessment Process
Efficiency of Assessment
High
Low
Number of Students Served
Tier 3: Full FBA with
interview and observation
to write individual student
intervention
~5%
~15%
Tier 1: ODR patterns for
intervention planning and
outcomes for ALL students
~80% of Students
Tier 2: Do brief individual
FBA to plan best package
intervention
FBA as a formal process for Tier 3
in PBIS
Definition of FBA
(O’Neill et al., 1997)
“A set of processes for defining events in an
environment that reliably predict and maintain
problem behaviors”
– Outcome: Precision hypothesis statement
– Purpose: Develop behavior intervention plan
The definition, outcome, and purpose of FBA will
remain stable across all three tiers. What will change is
the POPULATION SERVED and the DATA collected.
Tier 3 FBA
• Population served = Students with severe
and/or treatment-resistent behavior
problems
– Many students who get a Tier 3 FBA have already
failed to improve significantly in Tiers 1 and 2
– Some students will need to start here because
they are a threat to themselves or others
Team-Process
• Behavior team to manage Tier 2 and Tier 3
• Required members:
– Behavior expert (Psych, EBD teacher)
– Experts of local context (Gen Ed teacher)
– Someone who can manage resources (adminsitrator)
• There are many tasks in doing FBAs that can be
distributed amongst team members
• WHOLE TEAM will be responsible for final
decisions
Tier 3 FBA
Data Collection
• Consider information from Tiers 1 and 2
– ODRs
– Brief FBA Interview
– Failed interventions
• Indirect Data
– Existing records
– Structured interview
• Direct Observation
INDIRECT DATA
• Structured Interview
– A structured interview clearly lists information that
will be collected during interview. This should include:
• Definition of behavior
• Review of Routines
• SPECIFIC setting events, antecedents, and consequences
– Functional Assessment Checklist for Teachers and
Staff (FACTS)
March, Horner, Lewis-Palmer, Brown, Crone, Todd, & Carr (2000)
Interview Logistics
• Interview multiple informants
– Primary teacher
– Other teachers
– Parent
• Best respondents are those who
– Have seen the behavior occur many times
– Have a basic understanding of behavior theory
Borgmeier (2003)
• Conduct interviews BEFORE observations
DIRECT DATA
• Systematic Direct Observation (SDO)
– In order to collect data that can be used to
efficiently analyze the problem, SDO needs to be
formalized and include detailed information about
antecedents, behaviors, and consequences
– Functional Behavioral Assessment – Observation
and Summary Form (FBA-OSF)
Filter and Alvarez (2012), modified from O’Neill et al. (1997)
Direct Observation Logistics
• The information from your interviews should tell you
what to observe and when
• If you observe at the wrong time, you won’t see many
behaviors
• You should observe at least 10 incidents of
behavior before making conclusions
• Plan for “reactivity”
Supplemental Direct Observations
• You can have other staff collect informal
observations of behavior to supplement your
SDO data
FBA Teacher Observation Form
Student: __________________Observer: _____________________
Incident #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Date & Time
Antecedent
What happened
before the
behavior?
Behavior
What did the
student do?
Consequence
What did student
get out of the
behavior?
Integrating Data Across All 3 Tiers
• Look for agreement
– Minor details may differ but broad categorical
information may agree (e.g., escape from adult
attention)
• Prioritize based on validity of data
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Direct observation
Structured interviews
Brief Interviews
ODRs
Existing Records
Validity of data
• Themes?
Outcome:
Precision Hypothesis Statement
Setting Event
Antecedent
A
Behavior
B
Consequence
C
(Fill in problem behavior) is most likely to occur
when (Fill in antecedent) and is maintained by
(Fill in reinforcer). This whole sequence is most
likely when (Fill in setting event) occurs.
Purpose:
Develop Effective BIP
• The beauty of FBA is that it leads to effective
intervention
– Most assessments that we do in school are not
conducted for intervention, but FBAs are
• This requires a SYSTEM of tying assessment to
intervention
Competing Pathways
Summary
This summarizes what you
learned in FBA plus it introduces
the idea of replacement
behavior and desired behavior
Setting Event
Antecedent
Desired Behavior
Problem Behavior
Consequence
Consequence
Replacement Behavior
This is the logic on which intervention planning is based.
Developing Interventions
• Brainstorm interventions that address each of
the four FBA terms
– These are just ideas, details will be worked out
later
– Develop at least two or three interventions for
each term
– Emphasize antecedents and teaching strategies
– Consider replacement behaviors
Brainstorm Interventions
Setting Event
Strategies
Antecedent
Strategies
Teaching
Strategies
Consequence
Strategies
Ideas:
-Prevent
occurrence of
SE
-Neutralize
setting event
-Noncontingent
reinforcement
Ideas:
-Prompt
appropriate
behavior
-Remind
student of
consequences
-Modify task/
commands
Ideas:
-Teach
replacement
behavior
-Teach when
replacement
behavior
should occur
Ideas:
-Use current
reinforcer as
reinforcer for
replacement
behavior
-Extinction
-Develop token
economy
system
Select Interventions
• Work with team to select interventions
• Issues to consider:
– Which interventions are most likely to work?
– Which interventions will staff be most likely to
implement with fidelity?
– How do interventions compare in terms of
required resources?
– Which interventions fit best into existing
programs/systems?
Advanced Issues for Tier 3
Interventions
• Develop a procedure for:
– Monitoring Fidelity of Implementation
– Monitoring Effects of BIP
• Direct Behavior Ratings
– Determining Acceptability of BIP
– Crisis Situations (Extremely Dangerous Behavior)
Write BIP
• Use FBA-BIP form from book
– Page 1: Summary of FBA
– Page 2: Interventions details
– Page 3: Measurement plan
• Outcomes
• Fidelity
– Page 4: Graph of outcomes
– Page 5: Action plan for improving BIP
Progress Monitoring
• For monitoring outcomes there are two good
sources of data
– Systematic Direct Observation
• Direct Observation Progress Monitoring System
Filter and Alvarez (2012)
• Based on momentary time sampling
– Direct Behavior Ratings
• Direct Behavior Ratings
Chafoleous, Riley-Tilman, Christ, Sugai (2010)
• Very simple, but require some teaching to staff