Classroom behavioral interventions: Do teachers consider the function of the behavior?

✍ Scribed by Carl L. Myers; Karin L. Holland

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 35 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-3085
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6807(200005)37:3<271::aid-pits7>3.0.co;2-8

✦ Synopsis

Teachers and school psychologists are often involved in designing classroom behavioral interventions. Functional behavioral assessment, mandated under certain circumstances by IDEA (1997), is considered a best practices approach in designing behavioral interventions. A functional assessment can result in an intervention tailored to a specific student's needs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether teachers considered the function of a behavior when determining a classroom intervention. A sample of 209 Kentucky teachers were given scenarios of students exhibiting problematic behaviors. Information was provided so that the function of the behavior was apparent. The results found that few teachers considered the behavioral function when deciding upon an intervention. Few differences were found between regular and special education teachers. Implications for school psychologists are discussed.