Running head: BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION

Early Behavior Interventions in the Classroom Amanda Brightman-Uhl University of New England

EDU 690 Greg Kearsley February 10, 2013

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Almost every student at one time or another has engaged in a problem behavior. It becomes concerning when students continue to engage in these behaviors, the disruptions start to negatively impact their education as well as their peers. When a child is engaging in a negative behavior they are trying to get a need met, what is the function of the negative behavior? It is important to intervene early in this type of situation and figure out what this need is without reinforcing the negative behavior. If a student is trying to get attention and attention is given from the teacher to stop the disruption, what behavior is being reinforced? Most of the time negative behavior gains attention, for some students negative attention is better than no attention. Small classroom disruptions can often be handled with good classroom management skills and the use of a general classroom behavior plan. There are some instances though, when a student needs extra support to be successful in the general education setting. There may be instances where teachers need extra support or training in classroom management and behavioral interventions. If problem behaviors are caught early enough and a behavioral response to intervention (RTI) is tried, studies have shown that; special education referrals for behavior should reduce, the amount of punitive punishments used should go down, and student achievement should go up. General Education Teachers Perceptions of Behavior Management and Intervention Strategies by Tillery, A., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., Collins, A. (2010) explains a series of in depth interviews with kindergarten and first grade teachers to see how they view their impact on student behavior. This study was conducted in 21 rural public schools in the Southeastern United States. It describes their different approaches on behavior management and what they see as most important in regards to this. Tillery, et al. (2010) states that because problem behaviors become more entrenched in a students repertoire over time, early identification and treatment is imperative to ensure positive future outcomes. Consequently, teachers of children in BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 3

the primary grades are ideally positioned to serve as the frontline defense for intervening with behavioral difficulties if provided with the proper training and resources. Using a RTI for behavior problems in the classroom sounds like a logical step, it already done for academics everyday. Having specific tiers as Tillery, et al. (2010) explains, using behavior interventions within an RTI framework can be an effective and efficient method for determining eligibility for special education as well as achieving federal mandates for early intervention and accountability. Most important, positive behavior interventions and supports are a preventive measure that can allow children to receive much-needed intervention before they reach a crisis state. Teacher involvement and philosophies of education will often have an impact on their classroom management skills. The research in this article really brings to light the fact that most general education teachers do not have the training in behavioral management beyond the typical student occasionally acting out. It was also found that teachers often take a one size fits all approach with little to no differentiation of their classroom behavior plans. Overall, teachers agreed that when their students are on task and following directions, engagement and academic achievement is higher. The article Functional Analysis of Precursors for Serious Problem Behavior and Related Intervention by Langdon, N., Carr, E,. & Owen-DeSchryver, J. (2008) does an outstanding job of explaining precursor behaviors. It gives specific examples of how to detect behavior problems by identifying the precursor behaviors before the interruption occurs. Langdon, et al. (2008) states that precursor behaviors are innocuous behaviors that reliably precede the occurrence of problem behavior. It has been suggested that problem behaviors occur in a sequence, from least to most problematic. Langdon, et al. (2008) states that the relationship between precursor behavior and problem behavior could provide information useful in the prevention of problem behavior. It has been hypothesized that intervention efforts applied to these earlier, often more BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 4

innocuous behaviors, might prevent the occurrence of more severe forms of problem behavior. For example, if a students precursor behavior is task refusal which then typically leads to aggression (kicking, hitting) it would be safe to assume intervening when there is task refusal would cut down on the occurrences of aggression. Without appropriate training or knowledge of functional assessment, general education teachers might not know how to appropriately treat these precursor behaviors. Using Assessment-Based Curricular Intervention to Improve the Classroom Behavior of a Student with Emotional and Behavioral Challenges by Kern, L,. Childs, K., Dunlap, G., Clarke, S., & Falk, G. (1994) explains the use of functional analysis and functional assessment to manage behaviors in the classroom. Childs, et al. (1994) takes a look at behavior in a very systematic way using data collection and event recording to determine what behaviors to target and how to appropriately address these behaviors. In order to address problem behavior in the classroom Childs, et al. (1994) explains it is first important to identify environmental variables and stimuli that are associated with occurrences of the targeted behavior. The advantages of this systematic approach to identifying controlling variables include increased confidence that the identified variables are related functionally to the target behavior and a greater likelihood of intervention effectiveness in cases in which other approaches have failed. Knowing what precursors behaviors are and how to target them before more challenging behaviors present themselves are key to this process. Childs, et al. (1994) believes that teachers who posses good classroom management skills are more likely to change, make accommodations or modifications to the environment and their own teaching styles to best accommodate their students individual needs. If a general education teacher is able to identify the most basic functions of problem behaviors and make small changes based on that, this is in all actuality a very basic form of functional behavior analysis. This study found that curricular based BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 5

interventions by teachers can in fact significantly reduce problem behaviors in the classroom. Once again, the training of teachers or having a school wide plan of action concerning behaviors is crucial to early intervention. The Relationship of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support to Academic Achievement in an Urban Middle School by Lassen, S., Steele, M., & Sailor, W. (2006) examines schools implementing Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) to see if behavioral interventions cut down on student suspensions, office discipline referrals, academic achievement, etc. This study was done over a 3 year period (2000-2003) involving multiple schools in urban areas with a high number of mixed races. This article and research gives another perspective on SWPBIS by giving insight on interventions being done with older students. When starting a SWPBIS in a school for the first time you dont always have the luxury of starting with strictly five year olds, you may be trying to implements behavioral interventions with eighth graders or even higher. Lassen, et al. (2006) states that it is estimated approximately 10% of children and adolescents in the United States suffer from some form of mental illness that significantly impairs their ability to function in everyday settings. There are some instances where a more restrictive environment is needed, but many times disruptions from behavior can be addressed and maintained in the general education setting. SWPBIS rely on being proactive and not reactive, solving behavior problems before they get to a place where special education referrals must be made. When reading about this study it gives perspective on SWPBIS being implemented in urban schools with moderate to severe behavior challenges. If school wide interventions can work in these struggling schools to create a better school environment, cut down on punitive punishments and boost academic achievement, it should be able to be done anywhere. Its a known fact that disruptions in class impacts instructional time and student engagement. It is important to note that teachers were given extra training on handling BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 6

classroom behavior disruptions. The students were also trained in a school expectation program called Step by Step. After reviewing the data after three years most of their hypotheses were proven to be true. Suspensions were greatly reduced, their school recovered an approximate 659 instructional hours per year since implementing the SWPBIS and standardized assessment scores in math increased significantly while surprisingly scores in reading decreased the first year and then slowly increased the next two years. This reminds us that SWPBIS can greatly improve many areas of a school, not only academic achievement. There are other factors at play here of course. Behavioral interruptions account for lower academic achievement, but they are not the sole reason. It was interesting to compare this study of urban schools, with the rural schools. It showed even though they are different in many way, they have many of the same worries and problems regarding behavior. These articles bring together some important ideas regarding behavioral interventions. They touch upon school wide, single classroom or individual student interventions. They focus on the data that supports each of these types of interventions and how they each impact students achievement. A common theme in all of the articles is the needs for teachers to be better trained in behavioral interventions. In hopes to eventually create a behavior response to intervention in my own school, I found these articles to be very useful in my research. I have the tools and training needed to use functional behavior assessment with individual students and create individual behavior plans. I hope in doing so, this will cut down on the special education referrals for behavior, help guide teachers in differentiating for behavior, and help increase students achievement in the classroom. I am aware that behavior disruptions take away from instructional time so my overarching goal of a SWPBIS will be well on its way after this research project is complete. It is important to note, some behavior problems are caused by an underlying mental health disorder and may need more restrictive interventions no matter what in-class BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 7

interventions are tried. It is important to rule out all medical reason for why a student may be engaging in negative behaviors. An individual behavior support plan may be implemented after finding the function of the behavior and choosing key behaviors to target. This would be done when other classroom behavior management strategies have been tried but have not worked.

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION References

Kern, L., Childs, K. E., Dunlap, G., Clarke, S., & Falk, G. D. (1994). Using assessmentbased curricular intervention to improve the classroom behavior of a student with emotional and behavioral challenges. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 719.

Langdon, N., Carr, E., & Owen-DeSchryver, J. (2008). Functional analysis of precursors for serious problem behavior and related intervention. Behavior Modification, 32, 804-827.

Lassen, S. R., Steele, M. M., & Sailor, W. (2006). The Relationship of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support to Academic Achievement in an Urban Middle School. Psychology in the Schools, 43(6), 701-712.

Tillery, A., Varjas, K., Meyers, J. & Collins Smith, A. (2010). General education teachers perceptions of behavior management and intervention strategies. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12(2), 86-102.