Beyond “Obtaining an FBA”: The Logic and Utility of Addressing Function When Attending to Problem Behavior

Abstract

EditorialAs we publish this year's final issue of Beyond Behavior, we are reminded of the journal's stated purpose to address compelling issues related to individuals with behavioral challenges, and its importance to educators, mental health professionals, families, and students alike. The focus of this special issue co-edited by Drs. Terry Scott and Justin Cooper is on how to best address problem behavior in schools through a series of discussion articles related to functional behavior assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIPs). We are confident that anyone dealing with serious or repetitive challenging behaviors will benefit from the collective message of the body of articles, which is to understand and harness the power of behavioral function.There has been no shortage of scholarly attention paid this year to the related topics of FBA and BIPs. A summary of judicial rulings relative to FBA/BIP was the focus of several recent articles (Collins & Zirkel, 2017;Zirkel, 2017). In the two articles, the authors contrasted the specific legal requirements of FBA/BIP in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2016) with the more expansive best-practice implementation recommendations of researchers and scholars in the educational and psychological sciences. In commenting on the Zirkel piece, Horner and Yell (2017) made a clear connection between legal mandate and recommended practice in noting, Most importantly, we need to never let the goal become "obtaining an FBA." The only reason for doing an FBA is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of a BIP. The only reason for implementing the BIP is to result in the academic and social success of a child. The goal is not just to avoid injury, but to achieve educational success and a high quality of life. (p. 59) Effectively completing an FBA to generate a meaningful BIP was the focus of Lewis, Hatton, Jorgenson, and Maynard (2017), who provided a step-by-step approach to complete both processes and examples of how behavioral assessment informs function-based intervention planning in fostering more appropriate student behavior. In our prior issue of Beyond Behavior, Lloyd, Weaver, and Staubitz (2017) described hypothesis-testing strategies that teachers can use singularly or with support teams to identify both potential triggers and consequences of student problem behavior with the aim of teaching prosocial replacement behaviors and rearranging the environment to promote prosocial behavior.We believe classroom teachers will especially benefit from this special issue given nearly half of all students with emotional disturbance receive the majority of their instruction in general education classrooms today (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Given the importance of utilizing evidence-based practices, function-based behavioral interventions have been shown to meaningfully reduce problem behavior and increase prosocial behavior (e.g., Filter & Horner, 2009;Hurl, Wightman, Haynes, & Virues-Ortega, 2016). The series of artic...