What is a Functional Behavior Assessment?

A functional behavioral assessment is a process for gathering information about behaviors of concern, whether the behaviors are academic, social or emotional. An FBA starts by defining the student's behavior in a specific and objective way. This behavior-focused evaluation uses a structured process to gather data for a special education IEP.
This helps identify the reasons behind a student's behavior and develop interventions to change it. If a student's behavior is caused by or had a direct relationship to their disability, then an FBA is required. Academic-related behaviors could be not completing homework assignments or class work. Behaviors that are social or emotional in nature may be hitting others, getting up from the desk frequently, calling others’ names, or refusing to follow classroom or school norms and expectations. 

A functional behavioral assessment is a way of collecting data around student behaviors that help us gather the why, behind the behavior. Typically data is collected in the form of ABC data to see what happened before the behavior, what behavior happened, and what happened as a result. This helps staff analyze the information and decide why a student is having these behaviors, usually the results land in one of four areas, attention, escape, tangible, or sensory. FBA information is generally used to form a BIP to help shape the student behavior. 

A Functional Behavioral Assessment is a process for identifying problem behaviors and developing interventions to improve or eliminate those behaviors. 

A team works together to gather information and uses the data collected to figure out  what is causing the behavior. Then the team devises a plan to help in remediating the behavior. 

An FBA is used when the team feels the student's behaviors are impacting their learning. It is often part of a school evaluation for special education, although this plan can also happen if the student already has an IEP or 504 plan- but the school has new behavior concerns. An FBA can also be instituted in some cases if a student is disciplined or removed from school due to their behavior.  

A functional behavior assessment is a plan that helps schools and families understand a behavior/behaviors a student is exhibiting and what they are gaining from it.  If adults can understand the why they can help determine how best to help the student change the problem behavior.  An FBA team will consist of the student, parents, counselors/psychologists/social workers, teachers and administrators.  FBAs are used to try and help a student be able to stay in the classroom and learn without risk of having to leave due to behaviors.  These plans are created to gather evidence and data to determine the antecedents and consequences to a behavior.  If a plan can be implemented that will reward student for positive behavior instead of punishing poor behavior the student has a better chance of performing better academically.  FBAs are generally used for students with 504s and IEPs exhibiting poor behaviors and students who are at risk of being sent out of school thus hindering their possibility of being successful in their studies.  The idea is to prevent poor behavior before it threatens the student's academic career.

All behaviors are a form of communication and have a function behind them. To find out the driver of the behavior, and the reason why it is happening, a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is implemented. It is the act of collecting data and information about a behavior. The behaviors could be emotional, social or academic. There is a specific way to collect the data, and the hopes is to determine antecedents (what is happening before the behavior occurs) and consequences (what occurs immediately after the behavior) that are influencing and maintaining the behavior.

A Functional Behavior Assessment is an assessment to determine why a student is engaging in a behavior and to understand the function of it.

 It is used to find out what is causing the behavior in order to determine ways to change the behavior such as implementing a BIP to help the student. 

FBAs are generally used as part of an evaluation for special education services, when students with 504s or IEPs have new challenging behaviors, or when a student has been disciplined/removed from school. 

A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a process used to understand a student's behavior and what to do. Some of the goal is to figure out the purpose behind a student's behavior. An FBA is used to understand the behavior and find ways to change it. FBA is used for situations like a special education evaluation or a student with an IEP who has new behavior concerns. FBA may also be required when a student has been disciplined and removed from a school/suspended.

FBA is a process of understanding a students problematic behavior. Data about the behavior is recorded, discussing how long it lasts, the intensity, and what triggers it. People around the child could also be interviewed to receive a better understanding of the problem behavior. 
This FBA process is generally used when a students behavior has gotten out of hand. Typically this coincides with special needs students or those with trauma. A behavior intervention plan could be implemented that would address the students needs.  

An FBA is a process to understand student behavior by collecting information and deciding what to do. 
It is used to understand what is causing the behavior so that the behavior might be changed. 
An FBA would generally be used in situations where behavior is getting in the way of a student's learning or when a student is disciplined and/or removed from school due to a behavior.

An FBA, is a way for schools to look more intensely at disruptive behaviors in order to look at the function or "why" behaviors occur. This is done as a collaboration with the school and home team to define the behavior, gather information, and figure out the "why" of the behavior. The FBA may warrant a behavior intervention plan that would work towards positively reinforcing  and teaching positive behaviors.

An FBA would be used typically with students with special needs, if a student is removed from school, and/or if the student has serious behavioral needs. 

An FBA is used to figure out what is causing the behaviors, define the behaviors, and determine if a behavior intervention plan is warranted. 

A Functional Behavioral Assessment is a very thorough look at a student's problem behavior. The FBA specifically defines the behavior. There is a period of data collection during which the behavior is recorded in regards to its duration, frequency, and intensity. The antecedents and consequences of the behavior are also recorded. Adults who work with the student may be interviewed and the student may be able to provide information about what he/she is feeling when the problem behavior occurs. After the data is collected, the team analyzes the data to look for patterns and trends. The team makes their best guess as to what the function of the behavior is and then creates a behavior intervention plan to attempt to replace the behavior. 

An FBA may be used as part of a school evaluation for a Special Education classification. It may also be used with a classified student whose behavior is interfering with his/her learning. An FBA also may be legally required for a student with significant behaviors who is being suspended from school. It seems like an FBA is primarily used when a behavior is consistently and significantly impacting a student's learning. 

When students have trouble in school, it’s not alwaysbecause of academics. Often, behavior is the reason kidsstruggle. Kids may disrupt class, become withdrawn, oreven not go to school. To help, schools use a specialprocess to understand student behavior and decide whatto do. It’s called a functional behavioral assessment or FBA.Learn about FBAs, what they can do for kids, and who hasthe right to get one.