Descriptive Analysis of Functional Behavioral Assessments for Students Who Display Challenging Behaviors

Abstract

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) has become an integral component in schools for addressing students’ challenging behaviors within a school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) approach and under the individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA). There have been literally hundreds of studies conducted on various aspects of FBA including methodologies and participants; and many literature reviews have been undertaken.  However, an unanswered question is how necessary and sufficient are complicated, multi-faceted FBA experimental procedures to determine function and an intervention for students who display challenging behaviors? Two previous reviews (Common et al., 2017; Maag, 2018) that focused on students with high incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, ADHD) or those at-risk had more included studies with students at-risk than with any disability or mental health condition at all.  Therefore, the purpose of this review is to describe and analyze the need for educators to perform FBAs prior to developing an individual intensive intervention for students who display challenging behaviors but without a high incidence disability based on information from those two reviews.

Keywords: functional behavioral assessment, at-risk, challenging behaviors

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-14-01

Publication date:May 31^st 2021