In this replication study, we examined the effect of educators' participation in a practice-based professional learning series for designing, implementing, and evaluating Functional Assessment-based Interventions (FABI; Umbreit, Liaupsin, Ferro, & Lane, 2007) on their actual knowledge and perceived knowledge, confidence, and usefulness of…

For decades, research has shown that function-based support is effective in reducing the frequency and severity of problematic student behaviors. One way for schools and districts to implement these supports effectively is by building local capacity to intervene with function-based interventions at the first signs of persistent problem behavior…

Over 15 years after passage of legislation requiring the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to inform the development of positive behavior support plans (BSPs) in special education, schools are still struggling to implement BSPs based on FBA and the function of behavior. A primary concern is that school teams regularly fail to use…

The functional behavioural assessment (FBA) is a process used in identifying the reason (i.e., function) for challenging behaviours when working with students with disabilities and the circumstances and/or environment that reinforce the continued use of the problematic behaviour. However, the procedural definition of the FBA in US federal…

Behavior management can be a key to student, teacher, and district success. When students with disabilities are served, effective behavior management is even more critical. Failure to implement proper discipline with students with disabilities can have financial consequences. For students, the emotional toll can be greater, albeit intangible.…

Since the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 1997) through the current reauthorization (IDEA 2004), disciplinary procedures and functional behavioral assessment (FBA) have been widely used in school districts to assist in the prevention and amelioration of problem behaviors. Although researchers have…

The amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require states address the training needs of in-service and pre-service personnel for developing and implementing positive intervention strategies (Gable, Quinn, Rutherford, & Howell, 1998; Shelladay & Stichter, 1999; The Center for Effective Collaboration and…