teacher

As a teacher, are you responsible for conducting the FBA, Functional Behavioral Assessment, in your grade level or school? As a parent, have you been asked to provide your consent for an FBA? An FBA is required under IDEA federal law to help identify and support behavioral needs of students. And while there is a required manner in which to conduct an FBA, many schools use narrow versions of behavioral observation, looking at the specific behavior and what happened right before and immediately after the behavior occurred. This is certainly one important aspect of examining the target behavior. However, a more comprehensive assessment is essential to try and determine not only root causes of why students exhibit behavior but also how to provide supports and replacement responses. This approach encompasses looking closely at the learning environment, task demands, other classroom variables, as well as other needs of the student. Putting together this comprehensive picture helps provide the student, parent and teacher with various components to address the whole child. It also takes the stress from one main observer to gather information/assessment to provide to the team. Behavior is complex. The assessment for the FBA should be complex as well, examining all aspects related to the need.