Kevin Murdock Hillsborough County Public Schools
User-Friendly Approaches Can Increase
Behavioral Applications in Schools
Goals
• Identify reasons why ABA approaches are avoided by some educators• Share methods to simplify various
tasks and save precious time• Stimulate research into much-
needed areas
Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS)
8th largest district in nationTotal schools: 279
• Elementary schools : 159 • Middle schools : 50 • High schools : 40 • Other : 30
Full-time teachers: 13,269Total Students: 190,814
(first day count, projected 20 day count: 205,000)
HCPS Behavior Analyst Supports• Functional Assessment Consultant Team (FACT) -
8 BCBAs + 2 BCaBAs - part-to-full time consulting with school teams to support Tier 3 processes
• Behavior Coaches - 9 10 BCBAs and BCaBAs providing part-to-full time specialized support to schools and classrooms primarily to reduce restraint-seclusion events– ESE General Director created this team!
• 20 pending BCBA exam – school-based assignments• 3 BCBAs, 6 BCaBAs, and 11 inactive BCaBAs –
school-based assignments
HCPS Demand > Supply
• Approximately 1 to 10,000 ratio of active certified behavior analysts to students– In comparison, the national recommended ratio for
School Psychologists is 1 : 1,500 students. • If only 2% of HCPS students required a new or updated
FBA-PBIP each year, this would require:– 195 FBA-PBIPs per year, or – More than 1 per workday.
• FACT and Behavior Coaches serve less than 1% of students, primarily ESE
Impact of Behavior Coaches
• More than 99% of students not directly served by behavior analysts
• Ideally, these involve less intensive behaviors such as:– common minor disruptive behavior– “off task” – “non-compliance”
Competing Demands and Stressors for Educators
• Student academic progress expectations– Complex teacher evaluations (e.g., rubrics, “value added”)– Salaries, school grades and other issues impacted
• Teaching to the “middle of the class” • Wave after wave of new requirements and initiatives –
not sure which are priorities or what will continue/fade• If Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars,
Educators are from Earth, and Behavior Analysts are from the 6th Dimension (in Andrew Houvouras’ words): They don't think like us, talk like us, or act like us.
Educators Want “Fast & Easy”
• Less focus on behavioral problem solving/RtI• Rushed FBAs, skimpy BIPs (technically
inadequate) – Paper compliance– No or poor linkage of function to intervention– Reliance on:• Topography-based intervention “cookbooks” • Popular or peer-recommended interventions (e.g., Love &
Logic, Conscious Discipline)• Customary or personally favored interventions (e.g., time
out, red-yellow-green sticks)
Educators Want “Fast & Easy”
• Avoid consultation• Rely on indirect measures (likert-style rating
scales)• No or limited use of intervention fidelity checks,
or use of weak measures (e.g., adherence checks – The student was in the intervention setting for the designated time period)
• Rely on old methods, such as mentalistic explanations & the refer test place model
Educators Want “Fast & Easy”
• But… “fast and easy” can sacrifice precision and produce undesirable outcomes.
• However, behavior analysts sometimes contribute to complicating the assessment and intervention process:– 20-50 page FBA-BIPs– Technical jargon– Complex data recording forms and continuous data
recording (every minute of the school day)
How Behavior Analysts Can Make Applications of ABA
More User-Friendly for Educators
Include what is essential – trim the rest
• Avoid excessive use of descriptive FBAs, with:– Multiple interviews– Use of screening tools– Lengthy naturalistic observations
• Resulting interventions are more likely to fail– Weak function-to-intervention linkage
• Educators become frustrated with slow process or lack of positive outcomes
• Avoidance of ABA approaches increases
• Promote increased use of hypothesis testing (functional analysis):– Limited interview using open-ended tools (e.g., Greg
Hanley)– Limited observation– Quickly develop hypothesis and test it• When feasible, conduct classroom trial-based functional
analyses (refer to Sarah Bloom’s research)• When a skill deficit is identified, teach the skill and test the
outcomes
developed by Patrick McGreevy and Troy Fry,
with assistance from Colleen Cornwall and Janine Shapiro
• Communication, behavior, and functional skillsassessment, curriculum, and skill-tracking instrument
• for both children and adults with moderate-to-severe disabilities, including autism. – Especially useful for learners with limited communication
repertoires, limited daily living skills, or severe problem behavior.
• for developing long-term goals and short-term objectives for IEPs or support plans
• for tracking skill acquisition and problem behavior
behaviorchange.com
Essential 8 Skills
Improve Assessment and Intervention Plan Readability
• Behavior analysts often write in a technical style for an audience of other behavior analysts– Much jargon– Lengthy documents– APA style– Pages filled with text, limited illustrations
Improve Assessment and Intervention Plan Readability
• Write for educators and parents (lay-persons)• General public prefers: Conversation style with
intended benefits added(Rolider, Axelrod, and Van Houten, 1998; Rolider
and Axelrod – in Heward et al. “Focus on Behavior in Education”)
• Reduce technical jargon• Ask for feedback on readability • Measure readability:
www.readabilityformulas.com
Improve Assessment and Intervention Plan Readability
• Construct “Job Aids”– APBA Newsletter – December 2008 - Practitioner's
notebook - Acknowledging the Multiple Functions of Written Behavior Plans - James E. Carr
• Use diagrams and flow charts• Use checklists
• Supports training and integrity monitoring• Standard practice in other professions (surgeons, pilots,
military)• Atul Gawande – “Checklist Manifesto”
Improve Training Methods
Avoid:• Basic awareness level PowerPoint presentations• One-shot in-services or multi-day training institutes
– Not sufficient in generalizing knowledge to using new practices
Promote skill-based training strategies including:• role play and modeling• job-embedded activities in a wide variety of settings• coaching and performance feedback• linking of practices to student outcomes• ongoing support
(Fixsen et al. 2005; Joyce & Showers, 2002; Shellady & Stichter, 1999; Van Acker et al., 2005 – in Tier 3 Blueprint)
Dispel Myths – Correct Misinformation About ABA
• Mechanistic… kids just need unconditional love• M & M therapy• Bribes kids into behaving• Destroys intrinsic motivation• Turns kids into robots• Only effective with developmentally disabled
Dispel Myths – Correct Misinformation About ABA
• Myths may be contacted in college experiences and textbooks
• Myths may be shared by peers • Educators need greater access to user-friendly
sources of : – Factual ABA knowledge– Stories of successful FBAs and BIPs with students
Rolider and Axelrod – in Heward et al. “Focus on Behavior in Education”
BehaviorCanChange.comTwo printable tri-foldbrochures:* What You Need to Know About Effective Autism Treatment * What You Need to Know About Improving Your Child's School Performance
Needs updating and more content
Other recommendations
• Brochures• Newsletter articles• Pro bono presentations• Revitalize and expand on the BALANCE
initiative (Joe Wyatt et al.)
HCPS Training Approaches
• FBA/PBIP 101 Primer - Online 3 hour course• FBA/PBIP 101 Course – Lecture-style 6 hour course• FBA/PBIP 201 Hybrid Course – Self-study online
materials and team meetings – Practice selecting function-based interventions for common behaviors
• BCBA coursework - Cooperative professional development project with USF ABA Masters program– Reduced tuition costs due to HCPS providing instruction on
school property – minimized actual expenses for USF• Basic Skill Coaching in Classrooms
Share Tools That Support Linkage of Function to Intervention
• interventioncentral.mysdhc.org/FBA-BIP
Share Tools That Support Linkage of Function to Intervention
• interventioncentral.mysdhc.org/FBA-BIP• Chandler and Dahlquist textbook – several
chapters that link behavior function to practical evidence-based ABA interventions
Functional Assessment: Strategies to Prevent and
Remediate Challenging Behavior in School Settings
3rd Edition
Chandler and Dahlquist
Pearson paperback $63Amazon paperback $50
CourseSmart e-book $25
Now in 4th Edition
Share Tools That Support Linkage of Function to Intervention
• interventioncentral.mysdhc.org/FBA-BIP• Chandler and Dahlquist textbook – several
chapters that link behavior function to practical evidence-based ABA interventions
• Cipani and Schock – excellent text that links behavior function to practical evidence-based ABA interventions – somewhat technical for educators with limited ABA training
Functional Behavioral Assessment, Diagnosis, and
Treatment A Complete System for
Education and Mental Health Settings
2nd Edition
Cipani & SchockSpringer paperback $75Amazon paperback $58
e-book $55
Promote Assessments and Evidence-Based Interventions for Academic Concerns
• Connect Academics and Behaviors !!!
• Performance deficit (won’t do)? or Skill deficit (can’t do)?
• Functional assessment approach to problem-solving
• A Model for Conducting a Functional Analysis of
Academic Performance Problems • By Daly, Edward J., III; Witt, Joseph C.; Martens,
Brian K.; Dool, Eric J. School Psychology Review, v26 n4 p554-74 1997
• Functional Assessment of Academic Behavior (FAAB)By Sandra Christenson and James E. Ysseldyke
• Academic Skills Problems,
Fourth Edition: Direct Assessment and InterventionBy Edward S. Shapiro
• Curriculum-Based Evaluation: Teaching and Decision Making By Kenneth W. Howell and Victor Nolet
Promote Efficient, Precise Direct Observation Behavior Measures
• “Observation windows” to get representative samples (e.g., rate recording 10am-11am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays)
• Use of external observers• Time sampling• Interval recording• Low-tech methods (record on masking tape on back of teacher’s
hand, slide beads on a lanyard; move rubber bands from one arm to another)
http://interventioncentral.mysdhc.org/measure
• Apps for smartphones and mobile deviceshttp://interventioncentral.mysdhc.org/documents/DataRecordingTools.pptx
Communicate When and How to Get Support from a Behavior Analyst
• Set conditions on use of streamlined methods (triage-based decisions):– Not severe or high risk (e.g., pica, elopement)– Single, not multiple behaviors of concern or
intervention settings – Not multiple or unidentified hypotheses– Not persistent (short history of reinforcement)– Not resistant to consultation– Not multiple failed interventions (poor RtI)
Communicate When and How to Get Support from a Behavior Analyst
• Set limits on short-cuts (“Isn’t there a 1 page FBA form?”)
• Frequently promote when and how to get help with FBA-BIPs
• Promote easy access to behavior analysts via brochures, newsletters, and emails
• Maintain close connections with ESE and ASD staff, School Psychologists, and others to identify urgent referrals – regular meetings and presentations
Finally…
• Offer pro bono training and services to build rapport
• Promote Awards of Excellence for teachers or teams using ABA
• Be patient• Share resources and training across districts• Network !!!– Join the FABA Education SIG, now on Facebook!
• Contact me: [email protected]
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