Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plan Assignment

Jane Singleton

11/1/10

Functional Behavioral Assessment & Behavior Intervention Plan Assignment

Fact Finding

1)General Learning Environment

The student (TH) is nine years old and in fourth grade, identified under Other Health Impairment, specifically AD/HD and also has a Speech/Language Impairment. He is in an inclusive classroom for the majority of the day and receives support services from the speech pathologist once a week. He also receives resource room support services during reading, between 30-60 minutes every day. His accommodations include having his tests read aloud, using a calculator and an electronic spell check.

*1a) Strengths and Interests of the Student

TH is an excellent oral learner. He comprehends information well orally and has good memory skills. TH is interested in animals of all kinds and anything that has to do with fishing. He likes gadgets and technology and enjoys working on computers. In our initial conversations he mentioned that Science was his favorite subject. I have noticed he enjoys any type of hands-on experiment or project that is done in class (as long as he doesn’t have to write anything down.)

2)Student’s problem behavior is being “Off-task” - Not actively engaged in assigned independent or group work and does not participate in whole class teacher led activities, such as not having materials out for independent assignments within 60 seconds or not copying notes or writing answers to worksheet during teacher led instruction and/or independent work.

3)Setting Events : His parents got divorced a couple years ago and his mom had another child immediately with her new boyfriend. After speaking with his second grade teacher it was confirmed that a drastic change in his behavior occurred after the divorce and there may be some inconsistencies in rules between the houses. He does not live near any other children at his father’s house and does not have a social support system at school. Additionally he has a younger half sister who he does not get along with and has stated to his mother that he thinks she loves the sister more.

Additionally, at the beginning of October the student was taken off medication for a week and started on a new medication in October, in which the dosage has been switched once already. It is too early to tell if the medication is working better or worse than the previous one. The student has frequently blamed behavior on the fact that the medication is not working and does not seem to want to accept that he has control over his behavior. While the medication is only one component that influences behavior, it does effect how his AD/HD symptoms manifest themselves.

4)Review Existing Data (Summarize previously collected information (records review, interviews, observations, test results) relevant to the behavior(s).

The student’s IQ score falls in the average range, 27th percentile. His memory quotient index and reasoning quotient both fell in the average range, supporting that his non-verbal reasoning ability and short term memory are equally developed. His Nonsymbolyic vs. Symbolic quotient reasoning scores provide evidence that the student performs better at problem solving when he has visual information. It has been reported to the IEP team consistently that TH is below grade level in reading, writing and math. During his psychological testing it was noted that the student deliberately answered an entire subtest incorrectly, and continuously talked while the examiner was trying to give directions. Teachers report that TH often gives up easily and does not put forth the same effort as his peers.

*4a) Interventions that have been tried for the behavior(s), duration, and results

Interventions put in place in previous grades included a dot system, from green to yellow to red. An index card with the dots was placed on his desk, and instead of verbal attention when he was off task, a paper clip would be moved from the green dot to the yellow dot to prompt him to get to work without verbal attention. However when we attempted to use this system in fourth grade for about 2 weeks, he seemed to enjoy the extra attention and want to play with the paper clip and it didn’t seem to have a long-term effect. Accommodations have been made to minimize or eliminate writing when it is not pertinent to learning the concept, as writing assignments increase his off-task behavior due to his slow writing and deficiency in spelling, it is hard for him to do it independently. Currently TH receives daily report notes home to his parents, both positive and negative based on his behavior in each class. There has been a positive effect on his behavior since we started the notes home and since our recent parent teacher conference, which has allowed clear and consistent communication between home and school. However after a week of notes, TH seemed to be indifferent to notes going home and continued to not do his work in-class.

Possible Explanations

5)Identify Likely Antecedents: Off-task behavior occurs in the classroom and is set-off during seatwork, such as worksheets, especially assignments that require writing. The second most common antecedent is direct instruction, when the teacher is teaching a strategy and wants students to follow along either by highlighting or filling out a worksheet together. For example when reviewing a highlighting strategy to help with comprehension skills, the student would not follow along and highlight on his sheet. His off-task behavior occurs across all subjects areas.

6) Identify Likely Consequences: Negative attention is typically given to him, prompting him to begin his work and if it continues and his off-task behavior is disruptive he is given time-out through contingent observation.

7)Identify and describe any academic or environmental contexts in which the behavior does not occur.

He is not off-task when someone reads aloud to him and is capable of answering comprehension questions. This setting is different because it does not require any work on the student’s part other than listening and TH is a good oral learner. Additionally his off-task behavior is not a problem during the “Centers” block in the morning, which includes, art, P.E. and music. I hypothesize the behavior does not occur during these times because the class is very interactive and hands-on and requires little writing.

Validation

8)Functional Assessment: Evidence includes narrative of student observation, input from the general education teacher, an interview with student’s mother, and time sampling data of off/on-task behavior over a three day period, which are pasted below. Additionally daily progress notes are attached at the end of this document.

Summary of Teacher’s Input:

TH does not copy down his assignments in his planner and typically does not work on his morning work, unless it is coloring. I typically have to prompt TH numerous times to get started. He seems engaged during read aloud sessions, but any independent work is a struggle. He is behind his peers in turning in in-class assignments. He turns in homework, but I am missing several in-class assignments from him.

Notes from Interview with Mother: 9/30/10

Q: What types of behavioral problems do you experience the most with your child at home and is their something specific that sets them off?

Summary of Mother’s response: I have a lot of problems with him tormenting his sister. He pinches her a lot and I feel that I can’t leave them in a room alone together. He says that I love his sister more than I love him and that I always blame him for everything. But I told him that when I come in the room and he is up out of his seat and the baby is crying and still in her chair, it doesn’t make sense to blame the baby as I know she hasn’t done anything.

Q: What are your biggest concerns for your son academically?

Summary of mother’s response: I do not want him to get used to people doing his work for him. I want him to be able to work independently. I am concerned he is spoiled when he is at his dad’s house as he lives with his grandmother who spoils him and doesn’t think he can do anything wrong. His grandmother frequently gives into his behavior and still dresses him in the morning.

Q: What is the routine for homework after school and does he resist completing it?

Summary of response: He typically gets a snack after school and then he does his homework. Often times I have to sit right next to him and it can sometimes be a battle to get him started, but once I get him started he usually completes his work without too much trouble. He doesn’t like math so it can be a battle to get him started on that. I know he gets a calculator as an accommodation, but I would like him to learn how to calculate and understand how to multiply.

Q: Does he have any neighborhood kids that live near your house?

Summary of response: Yes there are kids in our neighborhood, but not at his fathers. He is only with me every other weekend and Thursday nights though, so there isn’t too much opportunity to make neighborhood friends. I would like him to make more friends.

Additional info from interview: Mother has concerns about finding the right medication and is in the process of making appointments with the doctor to change it as currently his medication makes him withdrawn and he has a serious loss of appetite.

TH Math Class Narrative: 10/7/10 1:20 – 1:30 p.m.

TH is sitting without Math materials out and is talking to neighbor. When prompted to get book out, he said he left it in his cubby. He leaves to other class to go get it. When he returns, brings wrong notebook. I got get correct notebook. When prompted to put materials away he doesn’t need (i.e. binder), he slowly puts things away including his pencil, which he needs to use during class. I remove remaining materials he does not need from desk, so he can’t play with them.

The teacher requests the student to open his math journal. In response, the student flips through pages of notebook without stopping on appropriate page. It seems as if he is mocking request to see if the teacher will continue to watch.

Teacher requests worksheets be glued into journal. TH sits still and does not take any action to respond to prompts to glue math sheet in journal. He plays with glue making small dots on paper. I glue in sheet. TH picks at sheet. I shake head and then ignore his off-task behavior for the rest of class.

Student continues to sit and do nothing, sighs and is looking down at the ground. The class is following along with the teacher as they fill out the work sheet. TH is not writing down anything as the teacher fills out the worksheet with the rest of class. He does not have a pencil in his hand.

Several minutes pass without him doing anything. I stay on opposite side of room and help other students. TH eventually picks up pencil and starts to write in his math journal.

Baseline data chart: Time Sampling of On/Off-task behavior

The student’s on/off-task behavior was monitored over a 3 day period during reading, which requires students to follow-along, read aloud and participate in assessment activities. The chart below shows that TH is on-task at the beginning of the one minute intervals 47.2% of the time or 17/36 interval observations.

-= off-task + = on- task

8b) Summary of data from # 8 above.

My narrative of the student’s behavior in math class provides support that the student engages in off-task behaviors to obtain attention from the teachers, which sometimes induces attention from his peers when there is group work. Following my narrative, my cooperating teachers and I made concerted effort to ignore his off-task behavior and increase praise of those students on-task. In observing the student having his behavior ignored he occasionally began to work on his own. My interview with the student’s mother, further supported that the function of the student’s behavior is to gain attention as she described situations at home in which when she would leave a room, TH would pinch his little sister, who would cry and the mother would come back in the room and scold him. She said she tried not to leave the two of them in a room together. And the student had made comments to the mother confirming that he felt he didn’t get enough attention.

In my observations I consistently noticed more refusal to do work when it required writing, including a science test. When I made accommodations for the writing or allowed him to dictate the answers while I wrote them, he was on-task and cooperative in completing his in-class work. Both parents confirmed that getting their son to complete any homework assignment that involved writing out answers decreased the child’s willingness to complete the assignment and often they had to assist him.

9)Formulate Hypothesis Statement The function of the student’s behavior is to obtain attention from teachers and peers, as well as avoid work that he finds aversive, such as writing.

12) Measurement procedures for problem behavior(s) and replacement behaviors

The behaviors will be measured through Time Sampling, during language arts and reading between 10 a.m. to 11a.m., because frequently this is when seatwork and direct instruction occur. He will be observed for off-task behavior at the beginning of 5-minute intervals, for 12 observations within the allotted time period of 10a.m. – 11 a.m. Baseline data will be collected over a three-day period.

The observer of the behavior should have a stopwatch system with them that prompts them to look at the student every five minutes to see if he is engaged in off-task or on-task behavior. Observations should be recorded in a chart with the date and time. A plus sign (+) should be made when the student is on-task and a minus sign for off-task (-). Specific notes of the activity (i.e. independent seat work, direct instruction) should be written down each day to understand changes in the data.

Example of chart below:

Current level of performance / Baseline

Over the duration of 36 interval observations from 10 a.m.- 11a.m. during a 3-day period (10/25/10 -10/28/10), student engaged in off-task behavior at the beginning of 19/36 five-minute intervals or approximately 53% of the interval observations.

11)Replacement behavior(s): Instead of exemplifying off-task behaviors, I would like the student to engage in on-task behavior in direct instruction and independent seatwork for which he will receive verbal praise/social attention.

On-task behavior: Prepared with appropriate materials for current activity, actively engaged in independent seatwork, contributing thoughts to group work and following the directions of the teacher, such as copying notes during direct instruction or actively working independently with a pencil in hand.

13)Behavior Intervention Plan

a)Specify an objective

To increase on-task behavior by at least 5 intervals (approximately 25%), during Reading (one hour session), through providing immediate social positive reinforcements, such as verbal praise when student is on-task, as well as providing tangible rewards every time a student completes an in-class assignment.

b-c) Describe the specific steps / strategies that will be used to reduce the problem behaviorAND the steps/strategies used to increase the replacement behavior. Use behavioral terminology and make the steps/instructions clear enough so that a colleague could implement the program.

The general education teacher or learning specialist will monitor student’s progress on in-class assignments. When the student is on-task he will receive verbal praise and encouragement for each in-class assignment, such as “great job” or “keep up the good work”. If the student completes an independent seat work assignment or an in-class group/direct instruction assignment (i.e. filling in or highlighting worksheet) he will receive a sticker that he can put under the appropriately marked subject area in his chart, which is located in his binder. When the student receives three stickers he receives a food prize of his choice from the pantry (Twizzlers or M&M’s are his favorite) at the end of the day. On average the student has 4-5 opportunities to complete in-class assignments. If the student earns enough stickers for a food prize by lunch he can have it then, but not during class as it is distracting. Once the student earns eight stickers in one week he will be rewarded with a prize from the prize box, which he would have previously selected.

If the student is not engaged or actively getting ready to engage (i.e. getting materials out) within two minutes of independent work being assigned, the teacher will ask the student if he understands the assignment. If not, the teacher will explain; if so, the teacher will request that he please get started. Teacher will earshot praise to other students who are doing their assignment well. If TH continues to be off-task teacher will give the student the choice of earning a sticker for completing the assignment or he will have to work on the assignment during lunch. If TH’s behavior is disruptive while he is off-task he will be move to the small table in the back room to sit by himself.

d) Identify any changes in the physical environment needed to prevent problem behavior(s) and to promote desired replacement behavior(s).

Preferential seating is given to student in every class in the area with the fewest distractions and/or peers that may provide attention for off-task behaviors.