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Instruction in Functional Assessment, 2014a

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<strong>Instruction</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Functional</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> Chapter 3<br />

Special Education Perspective: Positive<br />

Behavioral Support and Response to<br />

Intervention<br />

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT (PBS) is generally the first and most appropriate choice<br />

at a school-wide level for <strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> schools for children with challeng<strong>in</strong>g behaviors.<br />

PBS has long been recognized as a prevention approach to undesirable behaviors (Vaughn<br />

& Bos, 2009). PBS is often taught <strong>in</strong> teacher education tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g programs as the preferred<br />

treatment approach <strong>in</strong> public school classrooms, rather than the use of punishment. Quite<br />

simply, PBS is a focus on the desired behavior, rather than focus<strong>in</strong>g on the undesirable or<br />

challeng<strong>in</strong>g behavior. PBS requires the teacher and other related professionals to systematically<br />

look for positive behavior. This is generally accomplished with the use of social,<br />

tangible, or verbal re<strong>in</strong>forcers specific to the desired behavior, such as say<strong>in</strong>g when Mary has<br />

her head down and is quietly read<strong>in</strong>g the passage, “Thank you for your attention to the task,<br />

Mary.” Teachers <strong>in</strong> the classroom can use such positive re<strong>in</strong>forcers to encourage positive<br />

behavior and to focus attention on a model of appropriate behavior. As another example, a<br />

TOKEN ECONOMY <strong>in</strong> the classroom can be employed where children can accumulate po<strong>in</strong>ts<br />

or tickets for desirable behavior that can be turned <strong>in</strong> for free time, a special lunch with a<br />

friend, a free pass on one homework assignment, or other positive re<strong>in</strong>forcers. Other prevention<br />

approaches <strong>in</strong>clude teach<strong>in</strong>g children conflict resolution and <strong>in</strong>terpersonal problem<br />

solv<strong>in</strong>g. Some curricula <strong>in</strong>clude aspects of character education and pr<strong>in</strong>ciples for teach<strong>in</strong>g<br />

social skills (Vaughn & Bos, 2009).<br />

With<strong>in</strong> recent years, professionals <strong>in</strong> public school sett<strong>in</strong>gs have also used an approach<br />

called RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION (RTI). RTI was mandated by federal law (IDEIA, 2004)<br />

as a means of not allow<strong>in</strong>g children to fail either behaviorally or academically without<br />

access to a variety of research-based <strong>in</strong>terventions <strong>in</strong>dividualized for that particular child.<br />

RTI requires all professionals to monitor academic and social skills on an ongo<strong>in</strong>g basis,<br />

collect<strong>in</strong>g data on performance of every child, and review<strong>in</strong>g that data with a team of related<br />

professionals. The <strong>in</strong>tent of RTI is to prevent problems or to quickly <strong>in</strong>tervene before<br />

a child loses skills. Monitor<strong>in</strong>g occurs at three levels or tiers. Those tiers are:<br />

Tier 1: screen for behavior problems, <strong>in</strong>troduce <strong>in</strong>terventions, convey expectations<br />

Tier 2: provide supports and feedback for students with similar behavior problems<br />

Tier 3: provide more specific and <strong>in</strong>tense <strong>in</strong>terventions for students whose behavior has<br />

not improved (Vaughn & Bos, 2009)<br />

PBS and RTI work <strong>in</strong> conjunction with one another and the focus of both approaches<br />

is on prevention of problems or prevent<strong>in</strong>g the severity of a problem exist<strong>in</strong>g without research<br />

based responses <strong>in</strong>dividualized to the child.<br />

Complet<strong>in</strong>g an FA will assist <strong>in</strong> identify<strong>in</strong>g the function of the student’s challeng<strong>in</strong>g<br />

behavior result<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the design of the best treatment for that situation. The knowledge<br />

ga<strong>in</strong>ed by implement<strong>in</strong>g an FA will provide the basis for an effective behavior <strong>in</strong>tervention<br />

plan which is an essential component of the student’s INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM<br />

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