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With federal mandates to develop and implement programs for students with disabilities who have behavior problems that impede their educational performance, school personnel are faced with increasing responsibility for developing individualized interventions. Developing interventions that appropriately, effectively, and efficiently address the relationship between learning and behavior problems is a complex task that requires a host of essential elements and procedures. For intervention team members who lead and design the functional behavior assessment and behavior intervention plans, specific issues to consider in developing and monitoring these plans are discussed.
Keywords: behavior intervention plans; assessment; intervention
Behavioral difficulties that interfere with a student's school performance have long been a challenge for educators. Tb address this issue, the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required educators to develop and implement behavior intervention plans (BIPs). When IDEA 1997 was reauthorized in 2004 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), BIPs were included again. These plans consider the relationship between student learning and behavior problems that impede classroom performance. Behavior intervention plans outline strategies and tactics for dealing with the problem behavior along with the role that educators must play in improving student learning and behavior. Although many students respond positively to conventional classroom behavior management strategies (e.g., establishing classroom rules, redirection) many others require specially designed interventions to address the relationship between learning and behavior (Morgan & Jenson, 1988). Educators are increasingly placed in a position to develop specialized interventions, yet developing an intervention plan that appropriately and effectively addresses the relationship between student learning and the problem behavior is a complex task. Despite good faith efforts to develop a plan that best meets a student's behavioral needs, educators may find that their plans do not achieve desired results. This article examines specific issues that must be considered and addressed by school personnel who design and monitor the BIP process to enhance the effectiveness of BIPs.
Functional Behavior Assessment
With IDEIA 2004, a functional behavior assessment (FBA) is required prior to the development of a BIP for students with disabilities who have behavioral challenges that impede functioning in the educational environment. Practitioners have sought to analyze the factors involved in student behavior, and fortunately for educators, a behavioral technology for the assessment...