Students with an Intellectual Disability (ID) have complex learning and behavioral needs that can complicate educational programming and compete with their ability to fully participate in their education. This work aims to provide a conceptual understanding of the behavioral complexities involved in instructing students with intellectual…

Many teachers have difficulty supporting students with challenging behavior. Students who shout out, are frequently off task, have a tantrum, or don't follow directions can be disruptive and bring a teacher's lesson to a halt. Other students may struggle to communicate their needs. As a result, these students may engage in challenging behavior to…

We reviewed the literature on function-based interventions (FBIs) implemented by school personnel in K-8 general education settings with a focus on intervention implementation. We identified 34 studies (70 students and FBIs) that met criteria for this review. For more than half of studies and participants, FBIs were implemented by general…

In this replication and extension study, we examined the effects of educators' participation in practice-based professional learning (PBPL) to design, implement, and evaluate functional assessment-based interventions (FABIs). We randomly assigned school-site teams (k = 69; N = 342) to cohorts trained by either university or state technical…

Over the past several decades, public schools across the United States have experienced an increasingly visible diversity rift between student enrollment and teaching faculty. The number of students from diverse backgrounds continues to grow while educator ranks continue to become more homogeneous. This diversity rift presents several challenges…

An often overlooked but simple antecedent modification is student choice. Student choice can be incorporated with a variety of individuals and across a multitude of activities (Texas Statewide Leadership for Autism, 2013). Choice can be as simple as letting a student choose the assignment they want to complete first (Cosden et al., 1995; Kern…

New--and often veteran--teachers find managing significant inappropriate student behavior a formidable challenge. Although more severe inappropriate behaviors, such as aggression, often receive attention in the professional literature, survey research has shown that the high frequency of milder inappropriate behaviors (e.g., disruptions,…

A functional behavior assessment is a process for identifying events in the environment that reliably precede (i.e., antecedents) and follow (i.e., consequences) problem behavior. This information is used to develop an intervention plan. There are two types of antecedents--triggers and setting events. Triggers are antecedent events that happen…

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities have more opportunity to attend postsecondary education than ever before. Peer mentors who support these students sometimes need to manage challenging behavior. This study examined the impact of training and coaching with performance feedback on peer mentors' fidelity in implementing…

In schools, special education teachers and paraprofessionals are expected to support the completion of functional behavior assessment procedures in the development of a behavior support plan. Often times, school-personnel are limited in their training and resources, particularly in situations where experimental procedures are necessary. This…

Preschool is an important educational setting for child development, and problem behavior is a prevalent barrier within this setting. Preschool teachers have expressed the need for evidence-based classroom management interventions to address problem behavior. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is an intervention that…

Check-in/check-out (CICO) is widely used as a Tier 2 intervention within school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports. Evidence suggests that traditional CICO is primarily effective for students demonstrating problem behavior maintained by adult attention. A growing body of research has investigated function-modified CICO to address…

Students with persistent challenging behavior are present in nearly every classroom. Teachers need the knowledge and skills to understand student behavior and intervene effectively. This article presents a framework to guide teachers in understanding student behavior and feasible tools for collecting data about the function of student behavior.…

Teachers are taught a variety of assessment techniques to help students succeed in school. They learn to assess their students' math and reading skills, their knowledge of social studies and science content and their ability to write. When teachers are faced with a student who is challenged by the subject matter and is struggling, teachers have a…

Although there is substantial functional behavioral assessment (FBA) literature suggesting that function-based interventions are effective for improving problem behavior, only a limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of function-based antecedent versus consequent interventions. Additionally, although there has been a recent…