The classroom secret to effective behavior interventions

At this point, if you’re in education, you’ve likely run across a student with a behavior intervention plan. You might have even been asked to write a simple Tier 1 BIP yourself for a struggling student. That’s because we’ve all had that student who struggles to follow the rules in class. He might be constantly out of his seat or goofing off. She might be the kid who breaks down and throws a fit every single day. It might even be the kid who taught you a few new curse words this year. Today I want to share how to create an effective behavior plan – including some examples and tips for making it successful.

The secret to planning successful behavior interventions in the classroom

Regardless of the behavior challenge, you need a plan to address this behavior and FAST! Today I wanted to share little bit more about what a Behavior Intervention Plan, or BIP, is and a few of my favorite secrets to planning successful behavior interventions.

What is a Behavior Intervention Plan?

Before diving into the secrets of successful interventions, let’s clarify what we mean by a Behavior Intervention Plan, or BIP. A BIP is a strategic plan developed for a student who exhibits challenging behaviors that interfere with their learning or the learning of others. It’s an essential component of a comprehensive approach to behavior management, especially within an educational setting.

While a full BIP is typically reserved for special education students when their behavior impedes learning, but many of us will fashion some version of a behavior intervention plan for struggling students as they work through the tiers of MTSS so understanding the key components can be helpful. Here’s a quick overview:

Key Components of a BIP

Individualized Assessment: The foundation of an effective BIP is a thorough and individualized assessment of the student. This includes understanding the circumstances under which the challenging behavior occurs, what seems to trigger it, and what the student gains or avoids through their behavior.
Behavioral Goals: Based on the assessment, specific and measurable behavioral goals are set. These goals are tailored to the student’s needs and are designed to replace the problematic behavior with more appropriate actions.
Intervention Strategies: The plan outlines specific strategies and supports that will be put in place to help the student achieve these goals. This could include changes in the classroom environment, teaching new skills, and providing reinforcements for positive behavior.
Consistency and Collaboration: A BIP requires consistent implementation by all involved parties, including teachers, support staff, and family members. Collaboration and communication among these parties are crucial for the plan’s success.
Monitoring and Review: Regular monitoring of the student’s progress is essential. The BIP should be a dynamic document, adjusted as needed based on the student’s response to the interventions.

The Purpose of a BIP

The ultimate goal of a BIP is not just to reduce challenging behaviors but to equip the student with the skills and support they need to succeed in their educational environment. It focuses on understanding the ‘why’ behind a behavior and addressing it in a positive, constructive manner while giving the student new skills to help them have a better learning experience.

By doing so, we improve the learning experience for the student in question and create a more harmonious and productive classroom environment for all.

What are some common examples of challenging behaviors in the classroom?

Most teachers can easily list challenging behaviors they’ve dealt with during their teaching career. Any behavior that interferes with a student’s learning or impairs the teacher’s ability to teach can be considered a challenging behavior.

However, there are some common patterns when it comes to behavior issues we see in today’s classroom. When I reached out to teachers on social media, here’s what they said were the top five behavior issues they were facing in their classrooms.

Disruptive behavior – making noises, wandering the classroom, talking to peers during instruction
Work avoidance & non-participation – not completing tasks or passively refusing to participate in instruction
Frequent absences or tardies – missing key instruction
Disrespectful language – swearing and name-calling
Physical Aggression – fighting, property destruction, or harming teachers and staff

What causes classroom behavior issues?

There are several reasons students may be exhibiting challenging behaviors in your classroom. Some, like lack of social skills or disabilities, come to mind quickly. However, these factors tend to be student-focused and out of our sphere of control.

That being said, many factors are often overlooked when we’re considering WHY a student is behaving inappropriately in the classroom, and the great news is these overlooked factors are things we can control to create change for our students effectively.

Environmental factors such as classroom noise level can contribute to challenging behavior exhibited by some students.

Similarly, classroom organization and management can be factors to consider when a student demonstrates behavioral difficulties.

Realistically, the most challenging behaviors you see in the classroom don’t have a single cause. They are the result of several factors working together. To change these behaviors, we need to focus on the functions they serve.

What are the functions of behavior?

The function of behavior means the goal or need the student is trying to achieve. In other words, why is the student engaging in this behavior? Behaviors that occur repeatedly typically have a function.

While all behavior can be classified as seeking or avoiding, there are four common functions of behavior.

Escape – a behavior can be an attempt to escape or avoid an activity or situation
Attention – a way to gain attention from adults or peers
Control or Access Tangibles – a way to get something desired
Sensory – a way to meet a sensory need the student has

Why is it important to know the functions of a behavior?

It is important to know the function of behavior because this allows you to plan interventions that accurately address the need the student is trying to meet, rather than just focusing on the behavior itself. This seemingly insignificant detail can often be the difference between an effective vs. an ineffective intervention.

Let’s take a look at an example. Tom, a second-grade student, had been referred to the campus’ MTSS team because he constantly disrupted the class by singing, humming, and talking to others. Tom struggled a bit with focus and often didn’t complete tasks. The teacher had tried a behavior chart with limited success.

However, once the team began to discuss Tom, some other behaviors were noted. Tom regularly chewed on his shirt, his pencil, or anything he could get into his mouth. The art teacher reported that Tom had destroyed several paintbrushes over the last few years because he would chew them until the wood broke. According to the cafeteria staff, he also tended to be a messy eater at lunch.

With this additional information, the team hypothesized that Tom’s behavior was actually an indicator that he sought oral sensory input. They contacted the campus occupational therapist, who provided a chewy tube necklace and taught Tom how to use it properly.

When the team reconvened six weeks later, several teachers noted that Tom was doing much better at quietly listening and participating appropriately. His teacher reported that he was disrupting the classroom significantly less now that he had an appropriate outlet for his sensory needs. However, she did indicate that she needed to remind him to use his necklace.

Why you need to get to the root of behavior issues

The team used this information to add a procedure for gradual release to Tom’s plan, including non-verbal cueing and a reward system for remembering to use the chewy necklace without prompting. Learn more about fidgets and sensory tools here.

Can behavior have more than one function?

Yes! Behavior can serve more than one function. Research has shown that behavior can serve different functions in different environments (Miltenberger, 2008). For example, during class, a child may exhibit aggressive or tantrum-like behavior to avoid work. However, they might exhibit this same behavior at home to get attention from adults.

This is why it is important to consider the functional, environmental, and interpersonal factors that come into play when creating an intervention plan for challenging behavior.

How can I identify possible functions of a behavior?

As you can see from the example above, identifying the function of the behavior led to a much quicker turn-around for Tom. The replacement behavior of chewing on his necklace fulfilled his oral sensory needs, making his classroom a more focused, positive place to be for all students.

How to identify the functions of behavior

But how do we figure out the function of a student’s behavior?

The best way to identify the function of a behavior is to collect and analyze data as was done in the example above.

Start by bringing together the staff who interact with the child, and gather anecdotal data to examine for patterns. You’ll want to focus on the ABCs of behavior – antecedents, behavior, and consequences.

Some questions you might ask are:

Does the behavior happen during specific academic subjects? If so, are there any notable academic gaps or inconsistencies that should be examined?
Are there any specific tasks (i.e., seatwork, group work, whole group instruction) or times of day that are more challenging?
Are there certain times of day when the student seems to be more successful? What is going on during these times?
Are there specific staff members who experience fewer issues? What are the rules, expectations, or accommodations may contribute to this?

Once you’ve looked at this data together, if the patterns don’t seem to be present, it can be beneficial to go back and have everyone collect data on the student’s behavior over the next week or two. Sometimes, you may even want to complete a more formal assessment process called a Functional Behavior Assessment, or FBA.

However, if you notice patterns, you can formulate a hypothesis about why the behavior may be happening.

How can you ensure your behavior intervention plan will be effective?

The short answer is, there are no guarantees. However, here is the best way to reduce the amount of time it takes to find the right plan for your student.

By the time you’ve reached the point of creating an intervention plan for challenging behavior, you may be feeling overwhelmed and exhausted just trying to get through class each day. You’ve also likely emptied your bag of tricks, and you’re hoping for the answer.

Knowing the function of a student’s behavior is a major step toward a successful intervention plan, so hang in there!

How to create an effective behavior intervention plan

A behavior intervention plan is designed to teach and reward appropriate behaviors. The idea is to focus on prevention instead of punishment. There are three main components of a behavior intervention plan.

Identify the problem behavior.
Describe its function
Select and implement appropriate strategies.

Sounds easy, right? The great news is that by this stage, you’ve already identified the problem behavior and its function. Now, you just need to begin selecting strategies that align with that need. I’ve created a free, easy-to-use cheat sheet to help you identify which strategies you may want to try. The matrix clearly outlines the general intervention goal and some strategies to consider.

Use behavior data to set a SMART goal.

Of course, you’ll want to set a more specific, data-based goal to help you monitor progress. For example, if a student is frequently out of their seat and talking to their peers and you’ve determined the function is attention, you might set a goal of reducing their out-of-seat behavior from an average of five times per class down to two or fewer. That would give you a specific, measurable goal to track data on easily.

Identify target strategies.

In the example above, you might offer the student the chance to work on the second half of their assignment with a partner if they can complete the first half independently at their spot. You might look at the matrix below and use a First-Then chart as a visual reinforcer to remind the students what they need to do.

How to create a behavior intervention plan

If you decide to do this, you’ll want to ensure all teachers who interact with the student have a copy of the First-Then chart and know how to use it. You’ll also want to ensure they are confident in their ability to follow through with the plan because consistency is the key to intervention success.

Implement the intervention & collect data for 4-6 weeks.

Once you’ve got a plan in place and you’ve made sure you have the tools you need, you can begin to implement the intervention.

You’ll want to collect data about the target behavior as you go to help you make decisions about whether the intervention is working. There are many different ways to collect this data, and you can find some simple ways to collect behavior data in this article.

Monitor the effectiveness of your plan & make changes.

As with any intervention, you often don’t get it right the first time. You may have incorrectly identified the behavior’s function, lack consistency in your implementation, or not have the tools or skills to intervene effectively.

This is why monitoring the effectiveness of any plan you create and making changes if it isn’t working is important. In fact, it’s recommended that you set a date to reconvene before you end your planning meeting.

This helps ensure you don’t forget to sit down and analyze the intervention’s effectiveness.

As you look at the data, an easy rule of thumb is to look for a decrease of 20% or more in the challenging behavior over a 4-6 week period to determine intervention success.

Obviously, if the behavior is a danger to self or others, you’ll ideally want to see a greater reduction, but most behavior challenges do not fall into this category.

Here’s how it might look: If a student was consistently out of his seat and talking to others an average of 10 times during a given lesson before you implemented your intervention plan, you’d expect to see that the student was averaging eight or fewer out of seat/talking episodes at the end of the 4-6 week period.

Planning behavior interventions does not have to be overwhelming.

Dealing with difficult classroom behaviors can be challenging, and more often than not a student has more than a single area of struggle. Remember that you can’t change everything at once. Just like academic interventions, there’s no such thing as a quick fix.

Select the most important behaviors to target first. As you see improvements, you can change your intervention targets to address other behaviors that may be causing smaller issues.

If you stick with the process and focus your interventions around the function of behavior, progress will begin to snowball. The secret to effective behavior interventions is consistency.

Ready to grab your FREE Function-Based intervention Cheat Sheet? Enter your information to get it now.

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