North Carolina Public Schools

FUNCTIONAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT (FBA)

Student Name: Jayden (name has been changed)
Date(s): October 12, 2010
Age: 8
Grade: Second
School: Jones Elementary School
Participants in Functional Analysis: Guidance Counselor
Teacher(s) Name(s): Angela Buscemi (Kramer) (classroom teacher)
STEP 1:

Identify and define target behavior. How often it occurs, location,

intensity, duration: How discrepant is this behavior from peers?

Jayden does not raise his hand and wait to be called on before blurting out. He
interrupts the teacher or fellow classmates with his own answers and comments.
Jayden also makes loud remarks, such as, I have to go to the bathroom or
Youre stupid (to a classmate) at inappropriate times. This behavior is
disruptive and irritating for the students and the teacher.
STEP 2:

What has been tried previously and for how long?

Jaydens teacher begins each class with a review of the general classroom rules.
At the beginning of each subject, she reviews the rules and procedures (carpet
time, independent study, centers, etc.) Jaydens teacher has given verbal
warnings to him. She has tried to ignore him, but Jayden will then throw a
tantrum and complains no one listens to him.
The teacher has also used her classroom management chart. The children
begin on green at the start of the day. After an incidence, such as, blurting out
of turn, she asks the individual child to move their clip. There are five stages
with leveled consequences. This did not work because he was on red (the
office referral consequence) by 9:00.
STEP 3:

Collect information across respondents and settings. This is

obtained from a variety of settings including student records, input
from previous teachers, other staff, parent and student interview, as
well as direct observation.

Jayden was observed throughout a school day. During the morning meeting, he
interrupted almost every student that was called on to share about his or her

weekend. Jayden blurted out several times during the daily read aloud.
Throughout guided math, Jayden yelled several answers without raising his
hand. Some of the answers were incorrect, but most of them were correct. For
the duration of silent reading, Jayden was very restless and loudly complained
about the people at his table with comments like, Yo, that books lame! and
Leave me alone Miss Buscemi, hes bothering me! During literacy centers,
he dominated the conversation when at Miss Buscemis reading group, but
worked quietly during listening center. (Each child had their own headphones
and I-Pad, so Jayden was able to work at his own speed and write his answers in
a notebook.) During music, one of the Special Area classes, Jayden exhibited
similar behavior. Although only observed in music, the art teacher, computer
teacher, and librarian agreed that Jayden displays similar behavior in their
classes.
STEP 4:

Identify antecedent events and consequences. Identify what

triggers the behavior, i.e., transition, lack of attention, difficult tasks,
environmental conditions such as medical, diet, etc., concurrent
events, i.e., group instruction, seat work, unstructured activity and
consequences, i.e., behavior ignored, warning, loss of privilege,
etc.

Jayden speaks out of turn multiple times throughout the day. Jaydens triggers
are:
teacher asking questions to the class or small group
share time
class discussions
when he needs/wants something
when someone is bothering him
Jaydens consequences are:
verbal reminder
moving his clip which result in loss of privilege (silent lunch, walking at
recess, note home to parent)
STEP 5:

Identify the purpose and function of the inappropriate

behavior, i.e., obtain or get something, escape or avoid something
or someone, or to control.

Jayden has strong emotions and wants to share how he feels with the class and
teacher. He says he does not like to wait to be called on because he will forget
his idea. Jayden also admitted that he enjoys the attention and participating. He
says it makes him feel like part of the group.

STEP 6:

Develop hypothesis about behavior, i.e., summarize the current

problem, e.g., when given a task the student swears at the teacher
to avoid complying with direction.

Numerous times a day, Jayden interjects the teacher and other classmates to
share his own ideas. Jayden never raises his hand, for fear he will forget his
thought. Jayden also loudly blurts out irreverent comments that disturb the rest
of the class.
STEP 7:

(a)

Develop an intervention based on the hypothesis.

Remember to consider student strengths: What does the
student do well? Consider intervention strategies that will be a
positive functional alternative behavior to the inappropriate
behavior, e.g., positive behaviors to receive attention. The
goals should be measurable and observable.

The goal of this intervention is for Jayden to following directions (by raising his
hand and waiting to be called on to speak) while still feeling part of the group.
This intervention will also help Jayden participate in a discussion without
dominating it. Also, Jayden will learn appropriate ways to communicate his
needs, such as, getting water, using the bathroom, etc. Jayden has shown to
have lots of ideas, comments, and thoughts, so it is important to create an
intervention that still allows him to share. The intervention will be considered
successful when Jaydens interruptions are down 90%.
(b) Identify steps of the intervention, individuals responsible
and where and when it will occur.
To address all of Jaydens needs, there will be several components to his
intervention.
1. The teacher will facilitate a conversation where students will discuss the dos
and donts for participating in class.
2. During small groups, Jayden will practice listening to his classmate before
making comments. The teacher will model how this should look. Jayden will
listen to the classmates story, comment on the story, wait for the other to
respond, and then share his story. The teacher has stressed the importance of
listening first, so hell know how to respond. For example, a child has shared
about her weekend at the beach. Jayden will listen and then ask a related
question, such as, Did you see any dolphins? Then Jayden will wait for her
response before sharing his weekend plans.
3. When the class is engaged in a discussion (share time, read aloud, math
time, etc.), Jayden will use post-it notes to help him remember his thoughts until
its his turn to speak.
4. Jayden, along with his classmates, will be introduced to a hand signal system:

Holding up one finger means, I have to use the bathroom.

Holding up two fingers mean, I need a tissue and/or water.
Hold up three fingers mean, I have a question or need something from the
teacher.
This method requires no words, but can still convey to the teacher what the child
needs.
5. Lastly, Jayden will have a chart that keeps a record of how many times he
blurts out and how many times he raises his hand and waits to be called upon or
uses hand signals. At the end of the day, the teacher will confer with him and
send home the results to his parents. He will get a reward at the end of the day
for having more good tallies than bad tallies. His mother has also agreed to
reward Jayden at home.
(c)

Monitoring - Who will monitor the plan, and how often will it
be evaluated?
The classroom teacher, Miss Buscemi
Special Area teachers (art, music, library, computer)
Parents

(d) Date to further discuss how the plan is working.

The team will reconvene in one month to examine Jaydens results.

Number of Times
Blurting Out

Jayden's Total Times Blurting Out

40
30
20
10
0 7/13/2015

7/17/2015

7/21/2015

7/25/2015

7/29/2015

8/2/2015

8/6/2015

8/10/2015

Date

Pre-Intervention

Intervention

8/14/2015