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RTI Is For BehaviorToo! Research-Based
InterventionsFor Emotionally Unpredictable
Disruptive StudentsJim Wright,
www.interventioncentral.org
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Workshop Goals

• In this workshop, we will
• Examine the RTI framework as a way to identify
  behavior disorders
• Review ideas for working effectively with
  disruptive and emotionally unpredictable
  students
• Review selected behavioral assessment tools
• Discuss ways to support teachers and schools to
  implement the RTI process

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Positive Behavioral Interventions Definition
(OSEP Technical Assistance Center, n.d.)

• Positive Behavior Interventions are strategies
  that teachers and schools can use to
• define classroom expectations for student
  behaviors
• teach those behaviors to students
• give feedback and support to students when they
  display appropriate behaviors
• provide consistent disciplinary consequences for
  misbehavior that are designed to TEACH the
  student appropriate behaviors rather than PUNISH
  the student for misbehavior

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Positive Behavioral Interventions Do Not

• Coddle students
• Take the place of already-existing disciplinary
  guidelines or behavioral expectations
• Tie a teachers hands in responding to
  misbehavior in the classroom

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Big Ideas in Behavioral Interventions
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Big Ideas About Student Behavior Behavior as
an Interaction Between the Student and the
Learning Environment (Lentz Shapiro, 1986)

• A students classroom behavior is a product of
  the interaction between that students personal
  qualities, including his or her learning history,
  and the many factors in that students current
  instructional environment. For example, a
  student may behave very differently depending on
  the peers with whom he or she is sitting, the
  type of work given, or even the specific adult
  who happens to be running the classroom.The
  good news is that by restructuring aspects of the
  classroom environment, the teacher can often
  positively change a students behavior.

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Big Ideas About Student Behavior Behaviors and
Their Connection to Root Causes or Drivers
(Martens Meller, 1990)

• A students behavior is not random but is
  determined by one or more root causes or
  behavioral drivers.
• Similar behaviors may stem from different root
  causes. Find the cause of the behavior (its
  function) and you stand a much better chance of
  designing an intervention that really works

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Big Ideas About Student Behavior Behaviors and
Their Connection to Root Causes or Drivers
(Martens Meller, 1990)

• The most common root causes or drivers for
  behaviors include
• Social attention (adult or peer). ExampleA
  student may call out sarcastic comments in class
  because she gets peer attention for doing so.
• Escape or avoidance of tasks, settings, or
  situations. Example A student who is a poor
  reader may become defiant toward the teacher
  whenever he is asked to read aloud in front of
  the class. The student is then sent to the
  principals office. By misbehaving, the student
  avoids having to engage in reading.
• Access to tangibles or rewards or privileges
  (pay-offs). Example A young student may engage
  in physical tantrums until she is allowed to play
  with a particular toy. Her misbehavior gains her
  access to the preferred object.
• Inattention or impulsivity

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Showed disrespect towards me when she yelled
inappropriately regarding an instruction sheet.
I then asked her to leave the room. She also
showed disrespect when I called her twice earlier
in the class to see her report card grade.
Teacher Referral Example
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1st ) During the beginning of English class, Z.
continued to drink her soda. I gave her a
warning and she answered me back. 2nd) She began
to talk to other students behind her during quiet
reading. When I told her to stop talking, she
began to get mouthy and nasty to me. She will do
anything to get sent out of the room or to
distract from my teaching.
Teacher Referral Example
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Big Ideas About Student Behavior

• It is much better to head off problem behaviors
  than to have to deal with the classroom fallout
  after those behaviors have occurred

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ABC Timeline
A
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C. and T. were horsing around in the classroom.
In the process, they knocked down an overhead
projector and crushed it.
Teacher Referral Example
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Common behavioral trouble points

• Loss of classroom control
• Non-compliance or outright defiance
• Impulsive behaviors (student fails to think
  before acting)
• Highly agitated or angry students
• Managing adult behaviors

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References

• Lentz, F.E., Shapiro, E. S. (1986). Functional
  assessment of the academic environment. School
  Psychology Review, 15, 346-357.
• Martens, B.K., Meller, P.J. (1990). The
  application of behavioral principles to
  educational settings. In T.B. Gutkin
  C.R.Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school
  psychology (2nd ed.) (pp. 612-634). New York
  John Wiley Sons.
• McKee, W. T. Witt, J. C. (1990). Effective
  teaching A review of instructional, and
  environmental variables. In T. B. Gutkin C. R.
  Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school
  psychology (2nd ed., pp.821-846). New York John
  Wiley Sons.
• Mayer, G.R. (1995). Preventing antisocial
  behavior in the schools. Journal of Applied
  Behavior Analysis, 28, 467-492.
• OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive
  Behavioral Interventions Supports. (n.d.). What
  is school-wide PBIS? Retrieved January 30, 2006,
  from http//www.pbis.org/schoolwide.htm