Functional Behavioral Assessment printable pdf download

Functional Behavioral Assessment

A Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) is a process of gathering and analyzing data in an

effort to determine what function an exhibited behavior may be serving for a child. Typically, the

behavior being reviewed is considered to be interfering with the student’s learning. A

comprehensive FBA process is the foundation on which a behavior intervention plan (BIP) is

created.

Though the IDEA advises a functional behavioral analysis approach in determining the “why”

behind a student’s behavior, it does not give specific guidance on techniques or assessment

strategies. However, an examination of the procedures and recording forms for a number of FBA

processes yielded ten common elements of most FBAs:

1. Student’s Identifying Information - includes documentation offering enough information to

the reader(s) to identify clearly the student for whom the FBA applies. Consideration should be

given to how the FBA may be employed by the practitioner for quick reference while maintaining

adequate confidentiality.

2. Target Behavior - (clearly defined) includes behavior(s) that are problematic to the student’s

learning and the PPT has identified to reduce or extinguish. Often includes information regarding

the setting in which a behavior occurs as well as frequency, intensity and duration.

3. Antecedent(s) - includes preceding events, conditions or perceived causes/’triggers’ of the

target behavior.

4. Concurrent Event(s) - includes events or conditions that existed simultaneously with the

execution of the target behavior.

5. Consequence(s) - includes resultant events or conditions of the target behavior.

6. Observation(s) - includes an accounting of a recent observation of the student in an

environment typical for display of the target behavior. Often, the antecedent, behavior, and

consequence (ABC) method of recording is used and discussed in the observation.

7. Interviews - includes specific questions designed to collect behavioral data from several

points of view and in more than one setting. Three types of interviews that are common to FBA’s

are parent interviews, student interviews, and teacher/administrator interviews.

8. Student Records - includes a collection of relevant data from varied sources. Common

sources of data collected are records of attendance, discipline, academic performance, prior

assessments and health.

9. Influencing Factors - includes a review of factors, which have the potential to impact the

student’s behavior such as physiological factors, environmental factors, psychological / emotional

factors, factors related to family, friends, or significant others, factors related to curricula, factors

related to instruction and a response to prior events.

10. Hypothesis/Function of Behavior(s) - includes a synthesis of data gathered to offer a

hypothesis regarding what function the target behavior(s) serves for the student. This is

essentially looking at the ‘why’ or root cause of a behavior.

Functional Behavioral Assessment