How do I address Behavior in the IEP?

Behavior is identified as how people act, function, and/or react in a particular situation. Children can have behaviors related to their disability that are considered inappropriate. When behaviors interfere with the child’s or others’ ability to learn, a functional behavioral assessment can be used to examine the behavior(s) and develop a behavior intervention plan to manage, replace, reduce or eliminate the behavior(s). Children can be taught appropriate behavior skills once behaviors are analyzed and understood.

Step One

Once an inappropriate behavior or behaviors, have been identified by the teacher, parent, or Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team, a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) can be conducted.

•When describing the behavior use descriptive words like kicking, hitting with hands, screaming, or throwing book.
•If there are multiple concerns it is important to prioritize which behavior should be targeted first.

Step Two

Begin gathering data about the behavior.

•When does it occur?
•Where does it occur?
•What happened immediately before and after the behavior?
•What happens after the behavior occurs?
•What has worked to prevent the behavior?
•What has worked to reduce the behavior?
•How do others, including adults, respond?

Step Three

The Team will analyze the information collected about the behavior.

•Is there a pattern of when or where the behaviors occur?
•Is there a consistent trigger to the behavior?
•What is reinforcing the behavior?
•What is the function of the behavior?

Function refers to a consequence that has reinforced or strengthened a behavior; it’s why a child continues to engage in the behavior. An event that occurs after a behavior and increases the chance that the behavior will occur again is a consequence. Not all conse- quences are negative corrective actions. Typically, the function of the behavior will fall in to one of two categories: either it helps the child gain something or it helps the child avoid something. It is very important to be accurate in identifying the function to prevent implementing an intervention that inadvertently makes the situation worse.

Step Four

The IEP Team then develops a behavior intervention plan (BIP) based on the conclusions drawn from the analyzed information. Behavior plans describe what adults will do to manage the behavior.

•Prevent – avoid or change the antecedents (triggers) so that the problem behavior is less likely to occur.
•Teach – a new behavior to replace the problem behavior. Replacement behaviors should serve the same function as the inappropriate behavior but, ideally, cannot be done at the same time as the targeted behavior.
•Extinguish – do not allow the problem behavior to be reinforced so that it weakens over time.
•Reinforce – the new replacement behavior so that it strengthens over time.

Step Five

Record data to monitor progress; there are a variety of forms available to document and track data to determine how well the plan is working. As new data is collected it may be necessary
for the IEP Team to modify the behavior intervention plan.