Teaming for Individual Behavioral Interventions

Teaming for Individual Behavioral Interventions

This section describes a teaming and problem-solving process, aligned with best practices, that districts and schools can use or adapt to address student interfering behavior in a positive and teaching-focused way. It is especially compatible with the three tiers of the MTSS framework, including SEBH support, discussed in Section 2. While the process can be used in settings without MTSS established, MTSS markedly enhances the effectiveness and resource efficiency of this process. Without the intentional structure of MTSS and emphasis on high-quality universal supports, teams may find that they have a disproportionately large number of students who appear to need individual behavior plans. Teams that have incorporated the MTSS framework typically have regular team meetings to review student data, discuss progress, and determine next steps for support. This allows teams to proactively address student needs before larger problems develop. These steps are embedded in the problem-solving process described in this section. 

Multidisciplinary Teaming for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health (SEBH)

In this section, the term “multi-disciplinary team” is used as an inclusive term to refer to school teams which meet regularly to discuss student needs across the whole school. Schools may refer to these teams in a variety of ways (e.g., MTSS team, Response to Intervention [RTI] team, Student Success Team [SST], etc.). No matter the name, multi-disciplinary teams should engage in a variety of actions and processes to support student needs, including: 

  • Collectively committing to a student-centered problem-solving process that affirms the student’s belonging and worth as a member of the school community
  • Collecting and reviewing data to determine student and staff needs
  • Implementing tiered supports and/or interventions that are evidence-based for the specific needs of students, including steps like:
    • Planning the support or intervention based on student data
    • Preparing materials
    • Arranging for training for all staff involved in implementation
    • Reflecting on the outcome of the support or intervention using data
  • Coordinating team meetings, managing the team’s agenda, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and outlining next steps 

Multidisciplinary teaming should not be reserved just for specialists – it is best when used in a team approach including the staff who serve the student. The specific individuals who comprise a school’s multi-disciplinary team can vary. Effective teaming depends on whether the individuals on the team are prepared for the different responsibilities of the team, not on whether the school or district has specific individuals with specific job titles available to participate. In other words, even if a district does not employ a certain specialist, such as a school behavior analyst or school social worker, they should still have staff prepared to discuss and address student behavior who can participate in a multi-disciplinary team.

In most situations, a typical multi-disciplinary team focused on SEBH could include the following:

  • The student’s teacher(s), including:
    • General education teacher(s)
    • Special education teacher (only if applicable)
  • Principal or assistant principal
  • Certificated staff who provide services related to social, emotional, and behavioral health (e.g., a school psychologist, behavior analyst, counselor, and/or social worker) 
  • Other support staff or educational staff associates who serve the student

Student-Centered Problem Solving

This section outlines a student-centered problem-solving process for SEBH support that can be used by multi-disciplinary teams to support individual student needs. Guiding questions for the team are included on the page.

Step 1: Define the Behavior and Collect Baseline Data

First, the team collaboratively identifies one specific, measurable, and observable interfering behavior to prioritize. It is important that the team centers the student’s access to educational and social opportunity as they identify a priority behavior. The team should not prioritize a behavior that is of concern primarily due to staff convenience, personal preferences, or expressions of the student's disability that do not interfere with safety or learning. 

Once an interfering behavior is selected to prioritize, the team should define it in clear, measurable, and observable terms. The definition should allow anyone unfamiliar with the student to record the behavior’s occurrence or nonoccurrence as consistently as the student’s teacher. The team should then establish a short period for baseline data collection, gathered daily, and designate roles and responsibilities for recording data. This ensures the baseline captures a representative and reliable picture of the behavior over an adequate time span. Baseline data should be graphed using a line graph showing one data point per school day.

When appropriate, the team may use this time period to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA; Section 4) to gather more systematic information about the root cause, or function, of the student’s behavior. Developing an FBA greatly increases the likelihood that the BIP will be effective. In an MTSS framework, this step typically occurs as the student is considered for, or is already served by, Tier 3 supports. The student does not need to qualify for special education or 504 services to have an FBA completed.

Step 2: Identify Underlying Needs and Select Alternative Skills to Teach and Support

After baseline data are collected, the team should reconvene to review the data together and identify the underlying need(s) indicated by the student’s interfering behavior. To do this, the team should consider any patterns in their baseline data as well as other observations and information about the student’s overall needs. If the team has completed an FBA as recommended as part of the previous step, they should review and discuss the results at this time.

Once the team believes they have identified the underlying need(s) based on the information above, they can select at least one alternative skill (sometimes referred to as a replacement behavior) to teach the student. An alternative skill allows the student to meet the same underlying need as the interfering behavior. To be considered a skill, it must pass the potato test – meaning that it is not an action that cannot be performed by an inanimate object, such as a potato.85  

An alternative skill is characterized by the following:

  • Equally or more effective at meeting the underlying need than the interfering behavior was
  • Positive and reflective of student strengths
  • Appropriate for the student’s age/grade level
  • Does not stigmatize the student
  • Passes the potato test

It can also be very helpful for the team to discuss short-term and long-term goals for the student, both in terms of reducing the interfering behavior and learning the alternative skill. Since positive behavioral change is often a slow process, this can support the team in recognizing small indicators of early success.

Case Study Example: Choosing the Right Alternative Skills for Michael

Michael is an outgoing eighth grader with many friends and great taste in music. This year in math class, he has been acting out by swearing, flipping off others, making dismissive comments (“You don’t even know how to teach”), and leaving the room without permission. His team believes the underlying need is that Michael is struggling with math and too embarrassed to ask for help. They created a BIP, but it has been ineffective. The desired behaviors in this BIP were as follows: 

Michael will stay in math for the full duration of class, complete his work, and refrain from making rude comments.

After meeting to review his BIP and reflect on why has not been effective, Michael’s team determined the behaviors they were trying to teach him were not well-designed alternative skills: 

  • None of the desired behaviors were as effective or more effective at helping Michael get support for his learning needs or cope with his stress
  • None of the desired behaviors tapped into Michael’s existing strengths
  • The desired behaviors are age/grade appropriate
  • While the desired behaviors did not directly stigmatize Michael, they did nothing to help him avoid the embarrassment of struggling academically
  • Several of the desired behaviors do not pass the potato test

Michael’s team decided to select more thoughtful alternative skills to teach Michael instead. After a collaborative discussion centered in Michael’s strengths and underlying needs, they identified the following alternative skills to teach:

Michael will get extra math support in WIN time, and will use what he learns in class with subtle reminders from his teacher. When frustrated, Michael will take a 5-minute break either by requesting a hall pass or by accepting when his teacher presents the option. Breaks will be presented as classroom help (e.g., “Can you get the copies from the front office?”) to avoid embarrassment. Michael can listen to music with earbuds during breaks.

These alternative skills:

  • Are as effective or more effective for Michael’s underlying needs
  • Incorporate one of his strengths (taking a break to listen to music)
  • Are all age/grade appropriate
  • Prevent stigma and embarrassment
  • All pass the potato test
Step 3: Prepare Additional Teaching and Support

Once the team has identified an alternative skill to teach, they should prepare a BIP that both teaches the student to use the skill in real-world situations and reinforces the student for doing so. In districts using an MTSS framework, a BIP is typically considered a Tier 3 support. The BIP should be developed collaboratively with the student’s parent/guardian, along with the student whenever possible. When a BIP is developed for a student eligible for special education services, it becomes part of the IEP. However, a BIP can be developed for any student, regardless of whether or not they are eligible for special education or Section 504 services.

When developing the BIP, the team should document the time, resources, and staff responsibilities needed for implementation. This includes discussing when the intervention will start, who will create and/or purchase any materials, and how team members will be trained to implement it. This ensures the intervention is ready for implementation and helps the student benefit from the plan immediately. Without this step, the plan may not be implemented consistently and the student will likely not benefit. A coaching period may also be helpful, offering opportunities for modeling, practice, and feedback while helping address any practical challenges with implementation.

Step 4: Teach and Support the Student and Gather Outcome Data

The plan should begin after any necessary materials are prepared and implementing staff are trained. Behavior change involves student learning, and all learning takes patience, time, and practice. The success of any behavior plan also depends on consistency and a good fit in the contexts in which it is implemented. Teams should schedule periodic fidelity checks for team members to observe each other implementing the plan. Staff should proactively discuss any challenges or barriers with the team as small adjustments to the intervention may resolve them. These practices can help the team ensure the plan is both feasible and successful, and avoid delays in student growth due to flaws in the intervention's design or implementation. 

Staff should be aware that a student’s interfering behavior may briefly increase at the start of implementation, a temporary pattern known as an “extinction burst,” before decreasing. Ongoing data can help identify this pattern. During this phase, it's crucial that all staff stay consistent with the plan and avoid making changes until the extinction burst subsides.

To measure the outcome of the plan, team members should continue to collect behavior data daily, using the same method used in the baseline phase. Outcome data should be graphed and compared regularly to the graphed baseline data. This will support the team in determining if and when the plan shows signs of success. It will also support any data-based discussions of modifications to the plan the team might consider.

Step 5: Review Outcome Data, Reflect on Student Needs, and Adjust Teaching and Support as Needed

After the plan has been implemented consistently for about four to six weeks, the team should reconvene to review progress data, evaluate whether the plan for teaching and reinforcing the student to learn the alternative skill is effective, and determine whether the student’s interfering behavior is decreasing as a result. As part of this discussion, it is also helpful for the team to revisit the student’s short-term goal(s) established in Step 2. 

For this step to be effective, the team must have data that reflects consistent implementation of the plan. This allows the team to review outcome data and engage in data-driven problem-solving. As discussed in Step 4, if significant barriers to implementation arise early in the process (e.g., major concerns about feasibility, lack of training, or other obstacles to implementation), team members should identify and address these immediately. This allows the team, when they meet for Step 5, to have implementation-based outcome data to review together. 

Guiding Questions for Each Step

Step 1: Define the Behavior and Collect Baseline Data    

  • What is the interfering behavior we are prioritizing, and what does it look like when it happens?
  • How will we measure this behavior, and who will collect data? 

Step 2: Identify Underlying Needs and Select Alternative Skills to Teach and Support

  • Where, when, and how often does the behavior occur? What is the student usually doing (or is expected to be doing) when the behavior occurs? Is the behavior more likely in particular situations, with particular people, or at certain times?
  • What purpose (i.e., function) is the behavior serving for the student? What alternative skill (behavior) will we teach the student to meet that underlying need in a healthier way? What does that skill look like and how will it be measured?
  • What are our short-term and long-term goals for growth for the student, recognizing that positive behavior change takes time?

Step 3: Prepare Additional Teaching and Support

  • How can the team address the interfering behavior’s antecedents to prevent the behavior from occurring?
  • How and when will the alternative skill be taught? How can we ensure that, when the student uses the alternative skill, that it is immediately effective at meeting the underlying need?
  • How will we respond if the interfering behavior occurs?
  • How will staff implement the plan and collect outcome data? Are roles and responsibilities clear? Is any training needed?

Step 4: Teach and Support the Student and Gather Outcome Data

  • Is the plan fully implemented, including outcome data collection?
  • Are there any factors which may be hindering the effectiveness of the plan?  If so, how can those be addressed?

Step 5: Review Outcome Data, Reflect on Student Needs, and Adjust Teaching and Support as Needed

  • How do the outcome data compare to the baseline data?  Has the level and/or trend of the interfering behavior declined?
  • Is the student on track to meet a short-term goal set in Step 2?
  • Considering the data, does the plan need to be adjusted? If so, how? Were there issues with the plan or its implementation?

85 “Peter will sit quietly in his chair” is a description that does not pass the potato test.