What does the "F" stand for in "FBA." I was recently posed this question by Ross Greene at the Social Thinking conference last week. For those of you who are in the world of special education know that an FBA is a Functional Behavior Assessment. An assessment when we are seeing a reoccurring behavior in a student. It is our job to sort out what is the function of this unexpected behavior.
Ross made a point that resonated with me, "Kids do well if they can."
All of our "trouble" kids with these problematic behaviors WANT to do well. They are lacking the skills to do well. Using the example of a student with a reading challenge; when does that child struggle? When you require them to read. This is the same concept for our students with challenging behaviors. These students aren't always challenging. They are only challenging when “The demands being placed upon a person exceed the person’s capacity to respond adaptively.”
Reinforcement systems can be motivating, and for those kids who don't have behavior challenges come easy for them. We need to adjust in teaching the students skills over creating motivation. The motivation is already there, “kids do well if they can.” The student would much rather be doing well in class, but is lacking the necessary skills in order to do so, therefore, Student has found a maladaptive behavior in order to cope with his lack of skills.
If you are interested in more topics by Ross Greene here is a link to his website;
Thanks for sharing this other point of view, Jessica. I have been really struggling lately because I have a challenging class that is full of behaviors. I get so frustrated with my students, and then I remember that they would be doing what they were expected to do, if they could. I have struggled because it has been hard for me to let go and change the way that I have run my classroom in the past. Just last week I realized that my second graders will probably not get through every single thing that the other second grade class will go through, in terms of academics. In order for my group to function and make it through the day, we take a lot of brain breaks. I have changed my usual "gradual release" style of teaching to moving back and forth so that the students aren't sitting for longer than 10 minutes at a time. This group is active and I can't expect them to sit through a full lesson, when they literally can't do it. It was the perfect day to be reminded that these sometimes challenging children WANT to do well. It is something that I will have to remind myself more often. They are great kids with good hearts. As their teacher, it is my job to find ways to bring that greatness out in each one of them. Thanks Jessica!
ReplyDeleteGreat point to address functions of behavior and really focusing on the idea of skills deficits (they CAN'T do it because they don't have the skills) versus performance deficits (they CAN do it because they have the skills, but only in certain settings).
ReplyDeleteWe know that we need to teach skills to those kiddos who maintain a skills deficit. How do we teach students who have a "performance deficit"? I have experienced relationships with students who are happy/content to not "do well" even though they maintain the skills needed to be successful (i.e., work refusal, aggressive towards peers, or non-compliant) - maybe because their behaviors meet their functional need for control.
Where does "motivation" fit into this paradigm?
I think its important to note that behavior FUNCTION refers to what is the behavior DOING for the student; is it getting them control? attention? avoidance of a task...? I feel that it is part of our job to teach them behaviors that meet the same function, in a more adaptive/socially acceptable way.
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ReplyDelete1. I definitely see your point with having a student seem content to no "do well." Ross Greene points out that when we teach replacement behaviors, we are not solving the problem that is at the root of the behavior. Therefore, we need to teach how to solve problems which could include a variety of lagging skills in the areas of executive skills, language processing, emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility skills and/or social skills. He suggests making a plan with the student, get their perspective. And as far as what the behavior is doing for the student, we need to remember that we all get, escape, and avoid, but we go about meeting our needs in a more adaptive fashion. I don't have all the answers, but I really had my eyes opened to a new way of looking at functions of behaviors after hearing Ross Greene speak. I am visiting his site and learning slowly different ideas for teaching the needed skills to students.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great point of view. I find I'm always reminding myself with some of these students with challenging behaviors that if I can find a different way for them to understand, their behavior isn't an issue. Although this isn't the case for every student, I find it with the majority that I have had so far. So often, we need to go back to the basics with so many kids. It only becomes harder for them as the pressure to succeed and excel in school become greater the older they are. Teaching these skills as soon as possible will help them in every aspect of their life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful website recommendation! I try and view behavior as an alternate way of communication. Embracing the idea that ALL behavior is communication. It's our job to try and figure out what the child is trying to tell us. With of course the big picture goal in mind to shift that behavior "communication" to a more socially acceptable way to communicate.
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