How Do You Create a Functional and Feasible Behavior Intervention Plan?

Understanding Behavior Intervention Plans

Hello again , school counselor Steph Johnson here , so glad to be back with you for another episode of the School for School Counselors podcast . The last few podcast episodes have really centered on behavior intervention , the who , what , when , where , why , why shouldn't we be doing it , how to address it if we are the behavior interventionist on campus all of those good things . In this episode I want to take a little bit of a different focus . I want to talk through behavior intervention plans and admittedly I am not a great expert on behavior intervention plans , but I do want to explain them to you as I understand them , just to give you a concept or outline of what's involved with this . I think so often we assume that if we are able to label a concern on campus , if we're able to identify an approach to help or something like that , that our job's done , bing bing , boom , we're out , we're finished . It should work , and that's not often the way it goes . So let's walk through the process of a behavior intervention plan , just so you can see what I mean . And I'll say too that different areas , different campuses and districts might have different procedures for how they write up their behavior intervention plans . So don't panic if this isn't exactly what you've seen in your location . It's not a deal breaker . What we're looking for right now is just the general gist of how these things work . All right .

So number one is going to be our initial assessment and observation . This is going to be conducted by people who observe the disruptive behavior . That could be teachers , that could perhaps be you , could be other school staff . We would like to keep this , in my opinion , as organic as possible . What I mean by that is we want this to be done by people who are typically in the environment with that student on a regular basis , because we want the most true data we can get . Y'all know , sometimes we walk in these classrooms and kids act completely differently when we're there . Then they do after we leave , right . Same with our administrators anybody like that . So we don't want a picture of their best behavior or their behavior meant to impress us which , by the way , is a byproduct of some psychological diagnoses . So we got to be careful with that too . We want a true picture of what's going on . How often is it happening ? What seems to trigger it ? Are there any potential patterns of this ?

So we want to observe the student behavior across different settings and at different times . We need the antecedents documented what happened right before the behavior ? Then we need the behavior itself documented and the consequences . What happened after that ? Was the student remorseful ? Did they feel empowered ? What happened ? And we need to collect this data over a specified time period at least a week , if not more so that we can get a true picture of what's going on .

I'll be honest with you this is going to annoy some folks , because what they want to do is make you aware of the behavior and have you come in and fix it , and so you're really going to have to get these teachers invested in the idea of helping you collect the true data . There might need to be some solution-focused conversations going on there . Sometimes we have teachers who are really resistant to this idea . They either feel like it shouldn't be their job to have to do that . That should be ours . Sometimes they're adamant that they don't have the time to do it . There's no way they could possibly record all of that , and so on and so on and so on . So we need to have some solution-focused conversations with our folks . We need to guide them toward their own solutions and gathering this data so we can empower them in the process as well .

After we have collected that initial observation data , then we're gonna start looking at the functional behavior assessment itself . Typically you're gonna see a behavior specialist or a school psychologist conduct these Less often you can see school counselors complete them . It's not ideal , but sometimes it's just the way it has to roll . And really the whole point of it is just to determine the function or the purpose of the behavior . You guys all remember your four functions of behavior from when you were in grad school right , escape , attention , tangible items and sensory needs . Typically , I think , is what you see as the four functions . So we got to figure out what is the purpose of the behavior that the student is showing us in the classroom ? Are they trying to gain from it ? And we're going to use that data to identify the triggers for that , maybe the possible patterns that we see . We might need to be talking with teachers and parents , sometimes the student , if it's appropriate just to kind of gather some more information to develop that full picture of the situation . There are some assessment tools and checklists that we can use to help really pinpoint the function of the behavior so that we can identify what the true need really might be . So that's the second step in this process .

After we've done our initial observation , we've tried to determine the function of the behavior . The next thing we do is set clear goals and objectives . Again , this needs to be a team approach . We need to have our teachers on board . If we have behavior specialists , we need to have them on board . Parents need to be involved and we need to establish those smart goals for one specific component of behavior . Remember your smart goals , right ? Specific , measurable , achievable , relevant and time bound . So as a group together , we're going to collectively determine what the desired behavior change is . Keep in mind we can't change them all at once . Right , we can't go from student will no longer explode in the classroom . That's not gonna help .

We've got to pinpoint and really identify on a granular level which behavior we want to change . First , we wanna set clear , realistic goals and objectives that address the identified function of the behavior . If it's a sensory component , what can we do to meet that sensory need in a more appropriate way ? If it's escape , why is the student trying to escape ? What's driving that behavior ? Let's pinpoint that , all different pieces of this and then we wanna make sure that these goals are something we can measure so that we can determine if we're making progress or not , think a lot of people just kind of try to throw any intervention they can think of at the student . Wait a few days . If they don't see the kind of movement they wanted to see , then they say , oh man , that didn't work and they go on to the next thing and they're not getting a real , true picture of that intervention or of the behavior needs . So be very , very careful about that . All right , then , after we set those goals and objectives , then we're gonna plan the intervention .

We're going to look toward evidence-based interventions to tailor to the students' needs and goals . This is not the time for your teachers . Pay teachers printable . You guys are getting tired of hearing me say that , aren't you ? This is not the time for those . We need substantially evidence-based interventions . There are several resources online that you can go to to start gathering some of those . We'll leave some links to those in the show notes here for this episode in case you want to check them out .

Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions for Behavior

But we need to make sure that these evidence-based interventions also match the function of the behavior . If we have someone who is attention seeking , how can we provide that attention in a better way ? Can we provide more consistent , positive reinforcement for that student so that they're not seeking the negative attention in another situation . But the most important part of this is that whatever strategies you select need to be supported by research and best practices . Select those strategies and create a plan that outlines how those interventions are going to be implemented in different settings . For instance , we've identified these three strategies we want to work with with regard to this student In the math classroom , they look like this One , two , three .

In the English classroom , they look like this . In the physical education classroom , which is typically more unstructured , right . They need to look like this . At home , encourage parents to do this . Now we're outlining all the different places the student goes , where these interventions will be appropriate and how they should be implemented . This is highly collaborative , right ? So again , you see why we should not be the lone behavior intervention person on our campus . It's just not going to work . Well .

Then , after we've done all of that , after we've gotten our initial data , we've determined the function of the behavior , we have set those goals and objectives and we've identified the interventions that we want to use evidence-based . Then we're going to implement them . This is going to involve your teachers , for sure it's going to involve parents . It's going to involve support staff pretty much anybody on campus that has contact with this student . We're going to put the intervention plan that you wrote , all of the different details for all the different settings in the student's life . We're going to put that plan into action . We are going to help , monitor and encourage so that these interventions are implemented consistently .

Consistently this is where we most often drop the ball in schools . In my opinion , we've really got to make sure we're being consistent with this and that everyone who's supposed to be providing that intervention is on board . Again , that's often a sticking point . You'll have one or two people that'll say I'm not doing that , that's not my job . If they need that , they should be somewhere else . Have you ever heard that ? Yeah , so you're really going to have to work hard to get these folks to buy in , to paint a picture for them about how their life is going to be easier if they do these things . You're really going to have to for lack of a better word , you're really going to have to campaign on campus to get this thing to move .

We can help provide clear instructions to all these folks about how to apply these interventions . Check in , make sure they're not having any questions or concerns throughout the process , and we're going to continuously monitor the student's progress and we're going to document any changes in behavior , not only positive changes . We may see some negative changes as well . We may see something called an extinction burst , if you've ever seen one of those where it actually gets worse before it gets better . That's a real thing and so we need to be documenting and being very intentional about how we approach it and , as we're implementing interventions , we're collecting this data . We're progress monitoring . We need to have some sort of a data system so that we can see the changes in the targeted behavior . We need to be looking at this regularly and then adjusting the plan as needed as we see . Perhaps new needs emerge , needs intensify , whatever it is , we've got to be flexible with our plan .

I will say I think sometimes people are too quick to jump to the next thing . If something doesn't seem to work immediately , then we're already thinking about well , what else can we do ? What can we do next ? If you implement an intervention and it doesn't seem to be taking , give it at minimum a couple of weeks . I think best practice is probably more like a month of intentional , concerted effort with the intervention , but certainly at least a few weeks to see if you're moving the needle at all . Don't just start changing things willy nilly because you perceive that you're not making progress .

And last , and I sort of already alluded to this , we're going to review and adjust . We're going to talk with teachers , with our behavior personnel , with our parents , maybe the student , depending on their age , their cognitive ability , their developmental level , and we just want to assess how effective this plan has been . Do we need to adjust anything ? Does anything need to change ? Did it work ? Did it not work ? Do we need more time ? And then we need to schedule some regular meetings to continue reviewing the data and discussing the progress .

And then , if the plan is working well , then as a committee not you , because , remember , you're not supposed to be doing this on your own theoretically right , we need to consider reducing the intensity of the interventions . We need to start weaning the student off these supports . Let's see if we can start pulling them back a little bit and not have us backslide too far . If the progress is slow , if we're seeing setbacks , then we might need to either change the plan , provide some additional supports or those kinds of things . That's where this group think really comes in handy .

And then , just as an aside I think this goes without saying , but it's worth talking about making sure that we're providing ongoing support and communication . This is another place that I think the ball is dropped a lot , and I don't think it's done intentionally , but it just kind of happens , because everybody on a school campus is running 100 miles an hour . They have a million things to do and they can't keep everything at the forefront of their mind all the time . Sometimes certain situations slip through the cracks , and so we need to make sure that we're maintaining this consistent communication with teachers , with parents , with the support staff , that we're keeping everybody informed about the students' progress , that we're providing resources to teachers or parents so that they can consistently implement these interventions . Maybe they need some more training to implement those , maybe they just need some encouragement , and then that's going to allow us to better adjust our level of support based on the students' needs and progress .

So I hope that kind of helps give you a better idea of what's involved with a functional behavior assessment . It is certainly nothing that we can't provide in school counseling , but then again , not something that we should be expected to provide , not independently . We can be a beautiful addition to the behavior intervention team . We have a lot to contribute . We're great at collaborating and communicating across campus , but we don't want to be the behavior interventionist if we can help it . But you know , if you are called to be one , because sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it .

Hopefully this helps clarify for you what's involved in a functional behavior assessment . Again , I'll tell you we're going to have some resources linked in these show notes . If you need to look up some more information about these some interventions for certain functions of behavior , what some of these plans look like , how they're structured , how they're written , those kinds of things . We'll have links for you in the show notes . Just hop on over and check them out . They should give you what you need . And if that doesn't quite do it for you , remember we always have our School for School Counselors Mastermind at the ready . You can find out more about that at schoolforschoolcounselorscom . Slash mastermind . All right , I'm going to end this one here . I can't wait to come back and talk with you for the next episode . So keep listening and in the meantime I hope you have the best week . Take care .