Behavioral Support Specialists: Description and Outcomes of a Distance Education Capacity Building A

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Behavioral Support Specialists Description and
Outcomes of a Distance Education Capacity
Building Approach

• Jolenea Ferro, John Umbreit, Carl Liaupsin, Gita
  Upreti,
• Donna Janney, Brenna Stahr
• University of Arizona
• Lori Newcomer
• University of Missouri
• Teri Lewis-Palmer
• University of Oregon

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Overview

• Course Development and Purpose
• Delivery
• Content
• Tools
• Participants
• Procedure
• Questions and Contacts

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Development

• Need to develop capacity and competence within AZ
• ADE initiative Positive Behavioral
  Interventions and Supports of Arizona

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Purpose

• Provide training for persons already certified
  (graduate level)
• Develop capacity to provide 2nd and 3rd tier
  supports
• Develop capacity to complete accurate FBAs
• Develop capacity to successfully link FBA results
  to the intervention

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Delivery Model

• Web-based for delivery to broad audience
• Progress at own pace
• Lessons Include
• Explanations of Concepts
• Research Articles
• Interactive modules
• Assignments
• Short answer and long essay
• Require application in community and/or school

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Content

• Three courses
• Require progressively greater expertise
• Complete 4 projects (FBA, Function-Based
  Intervention selection, BIP, implementation/ data
  collection, monitoring).
• Include instruction about a variety of
  antecedents that may elicit problem behavior
• Require demonstrated mastery before moving to
  next lesson or next course

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Content

• 18 Competency areas
• 104 Competencies
• Leads to certificate
• Requires re-approval

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Content(18 Competency Areas)

• Defining Behavior
• Strengthening Behavior
• Weakening Behavior
• Measuring Behavior
• FBA
• BIP
• Monitoring and Making Data-based Decisions
• School-wide PBS
• Assessing Classroom Environments

• Effective Instruction
• Social Skills Instruction
• Legal Issues
• Ethical Issues
• Analyzing System Contingencies
• Teaming and Collaboration
• Crisis Intervention
• Maintenance Generalization
• Setting Events

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Complete Mastery

• Related to Performance Competencies
• Accuracy is important
• Time intensive for instructors
• Leads to high degree of student accuracy

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Tools

• Interviews Observation
• Preliminary Functional Assessment Survey
• Student Assisted Functional Assessment Interview
• Simple ABC observation

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Tools Function Matrix
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Conduct FBA
Select Replacement Behavior

Can the Student Perform the Replacement Behavior?
No
Yes
Do Antecedent Conditions Represent Best Practice?
Do Antecedent Conditions Represent Best Practice?
Yes
Yes
No
No
Method 1 Teach the Replacement Behavior
Method 1 2 Teach the Replacement Behavior
and Improve the Environment
Method 2 Improve the Environment
Method 3 Adjust the Contingencies
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Common Elements

• Reinforce the replacement behavior
• Extinguish target behavior
• Manipulate antecedents

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Antecedent Elements

• Teach the Replacement behavior
• Antecedents adjusted so there is instruction of
  the replacement behavior
• Improve Environment
• Change antecedent conditions so replacement
  behavior is more likely to occur
• Adjust Contingencies
• May need additional reminders

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Participants

• 33 Completed and received Certificate of
  Competency
• Teachers, Behavior Specialists, School
  Psychologists, School Counselors, Principals
• Schools rural, urban, reservation/ public,
  charter/elementary, middle, secondary

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Participants

• 19 Completed between Jan. 2004 and Jan. 2006
• 9 Randomly selected for review and evaluation of
  an FBA, intervention selection, and
  implementation.

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Participants

• 3 Experts
• Actively engaged in FBA research and intervention
  planning
• Published on these topics

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Participants

• Students
• 7 males, 2 females
• Age range 5 18
• Elementary 5, Middle 1, Secondary 2, Alternative
  1
• ED 2, CP Cognitive 1, Autism 1, At risk 3, No
  Dx. 2
• Math, PE, Language Arts, Group activities,
  Resource room, All day

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Functions

• Dual Functions (4)
• Negative Reinforcement Activity Positive
  Reinforcement Attention (3)
• Negative Reinforcement Activity Sensory (1)
• Positive Reinforcement Attention (3)
• Negative Reinforcement Activity (2)

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Conduct FBA
Select Replacement Behavior

Can the Student Perform the Replacement Behavior?
No
Yes
Do Antecedent Conditions Represent Best Practice?
Do Antecedent Conditions Represent Best Practice?
Yes
Yes
No
No
Method 1 Teach the Replacement Behavior
Method 1 2 Teach the Replacement Behavior
and Improve the Environment
Method 2 Improve the Environment
Method 3 Adjust the Contingencies
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Interventions

• Teach Behavior Improve Environment (2)
• Improve Environment (4)
• Adjust Contingencies (3)

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Interventions

• Teach Replacement Behavior
• Physical Activity (e.g., Weight lifting, volley
  ball)
• Rules/Expectations
• Self-monitoring
• Request break
• Gain attention
• Social skills

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Interventions

• Improve Environment
• Shortened activity
• Modify activities
• Proximity
• Written or more specific instructions
• Greet at door
• After school tutor
• Move away from friends
• Modify required responses

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Interventions

• Improve Environment
• Decrease sensory stimulation
• Post rules
• Teach rules
• Review rules/expectations
• Teacher taught alternative response to language
• Provide transition activity (e.g.,
  enrichment/more challenging)
• Provide choice of activity/schedule

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Interventions

• Improve Environment
• Incorporate peer interactions
• Build opportunities to participate

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Interventions

• Reinforcement for Replacement Behavior
• Selected because of Function and Student
  Interview
• Break
• Contingency Contract
• Verbal Praise
• Earned Free Time
• Tokens/points (food, computer)
• Certificate of progress

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Interventions

• Positive Reinforcement
• Note home to parents
• Social interaction with other, well-liked staff
• Social interaction with peers
• Class reward

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Interventions

• Consequence for target behavior
• Ignore or give minimal attention
• Must return to task/activity (sometimes required
  wait until calm)

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Outcomes
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Outcomes
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Procedure

• Content of project independently checked by 2
  instructors to ensure student work accurately
  displayed
• Experts provided with written project (FBA,
  intervention selection, BIP, 2 weeks of data,
  monitoring summary, and decisions, ethics
  checklist, generalization and maintenance
  discussion).
• Checklist

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Procedure

• Included Was this item there
• Appropriate
• Complete, provided pertinent information, and, in
  your judgment, met professional standards for
  completing an FBA, designing an intervention,
  implementing an intervention, and making
  data-based decisions
• Comments

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Procedure

• 28 Items on Checklist
• 7 FBA items
• 9 Intervention selection items
• 12 BIP and implementation items
• 4 General Questions

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Samples

• FBA
• Background
• Target behavior defined
• Replacement behavior
• Informant Interview
• Student Interview
• ABC data
• Function of the behavior

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Samples

• Function Based Intervention
• To identify the appropriate intervention, the
  following questions were asked
• Can Tom perform the replacement behavior? Yes, he
  was observed to be on task during some of the
  assignment.
• Do the antecedent conditions represent best
  educational practice? No Therefore, Method 2 was
  chosen.
• Method 2 is appropriate when the student can
  perform the replacement behavior, the antecedent
  conditions do not conform to best educational
  practice, and the target behavior has more
  effectively and reliably resulted in the
  preferred reinforcement.
• In Toms case, he is able to perform the
  replacement behavior (on task) as was observed
  both in class at certain times and in the time
  away room. Adjustments to the antecedent
  conditions in the classroom setting could be made
  by changing instructional methods. Tom needs to
  receive instructions in a manner which will
  diminish his fear of failure and create a comfort
  zone in which he perceives success as a likely
  outcome. Positive reinforcement by way of reward
  and attention for

• Intervention Selection
• Key Questions
• Method Identified
• Antecedent Manipulation
• Reinforcement for Replacement
• Extinction of Target
• Measurement Selected
• Intervention Tested
• IOA Reported
• Results

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Samples

• BIP Monitoring
• Behavioral Definitions
• Baseline Data
• Function of the Behavior
• Behavioral Objectives
• Intervention Procedure
• Data to be Collected
• Program Review Date
• Personnel and Roles
• Emergency Procedures
• Intervention Data Summarized
• Treatment Integrity
• Ethics Checklist

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Procedure

• 4 summary Questions
• Has this person demonstrated the ability to
• Accurately identify the functions of the target
  behavior
• Develop a function-based intervention
• Implement the intervention with integrity
• Make data-based decisions that resulted in
  positive outcomes

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Questions and Contacts

• Jolenea Ferro jbferro_at_email.arizona.edu
• John Umbreit jumbreit_at_u.arizona.edu
• Carl Liaupsin liaupsin_at_email.arizona.edu
• www.ed.arizona.edu/bss
• www.pbisaz.org