Functional Behavior Assessment

1044 Words3 Pages

Classroom management is one of the most essential skills to becoming an effective classroom teacher. Teachers who possess the ability to manage their classroom are able to create an environment where learning is the focus (Burden & Cooper, 2004). Although teachers may be well prepared and skilled with classroom management, at some point in time they will encounter a student or students whose behavior hovers authority and the functioning of the class. There is no simple way to deal with these difficult situations, but there are strategies to help. The first step is to identify the purpose of the behavior. A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA), is a systematic set of strategies that are used to determine the underlying function or purpose of a behavior so that an effective intervention plan can be developed (NPDC, 2014).

A Functional Behavior Assessment is beneficial for the student, parents and teachers. As stated within the definition of FBA, it helps determine the purpose of the undesirable behavior. By knowing this, the parents and teachers can create strategies to use with the student or teach the student to help decrease and possibly fade away that undesirable behavior. The FBA also help determine the best educational placement for the student and other services that can be provided for him/her to help the behavioral issues that is displaying. Using a FBA can also help the student identify appropriate behavior to use within different situations as a substitute for the ones that caused him/her to get in trouble with.

There are different ways that a teacher can deal with a student’s undesirable behavior. Some of these strategies are: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment or extinction. The type of r...

... middle of paper ...

.... Retrieved from http://cengagesites.com/academic/assets/sites/4004/Education Modules/gd to classroom mgmt CRC.pdf

Cherry, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/operantconditioning/f/positive-reinforcement.htm

Cosgrave, G. (2014). Negative reinforcement. Retrieved from http://www.educateautism.com/behavioural-principles/negative-reinforcement.html

McIntyre, T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.behavioradvisor.com/FBA.html

NPDC. (2014). Evidence-based practice: functional behavior assessment (fba). In NPDC (Ed.), Retrieved from http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/functional-behavior-assessment

Webster, J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://specialed.about.com/od/glossary/g/Extinction-Eliminating-Problem-Behaviors.htm

Zareen. (), Mpohj, (), Flickety, (), & , () (n.d.). []. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Positive-Reinforcement

Open Document