This article sought to discover how schools were doing with regard to completing an accurate FBA, and then implementing an accurate BIP based off of data from the FBA.
This study was done in Wisconsin and the data that came back from the schools participating showed that there are many concerning points when it comes to how IEP teams and/or educators carry out the requirements of FBAs and BIPs.
First of all, schools in Wisconsin were given a 1 day inservice on how to implement an FBA, and then create a BIP. The criterion were listed, and were exactly mirroring the requirements we just read about in our screencast. The main purpose of the FBA is to identify the function of the behavior. The BIP should seek then to teach an appropriate replacement behavior, or just in general, use positive behavior supports.
One factor that was very concerning was the fact that the majority of the FBAs submitted for their review failed to include any strategies to verify the hypothesized function prior to the development of the BIP (Van Acker et. al, 2005). This is so fundamental to even the creation of a legal BIP that I felt it should be mentioned.
Another important detail to note is how important it is to be able to identify the variables that support the target behavior. If these variables are able to be identified within the context of the situation, then it's only yields a clearer perspective to the educator who is choosing the replacement behavior to teach. When the antecedents to the behavior are unknown, it can be a challenge to develop a truly ideal BIP. 82% of the FBAs submitted to the study did include these details and gave information about antecedent behaviors across educational contexts and settings (Van Acker 2005).
What was interesting to note in this study was that only 15% of teams that submitted FBAs for review noted any kind of antecedents related to the teacher's behavior. Very few noted that behavior of peers served as a function for the behavior. It was also noted that direct observation was a way that all these observations were made in just under half (49%) of the cases submitted.
I found this study to be helpful because it lists how several schools in a neighboring state are doing at keeping legal provisions for students with disabilities up to date. In the beginning of the article, the study creators noted that several districts found it extremely difficult to keep up with all the documentation for FBAs that would lead to BIPs. IDEA's provisions for this right of students with disabilities has been something that has been poorly funded. Teachers have been given some training in the way of professional development, but a limitation of the study noted that many teachers would really have to receive training in applied behavior analysis for them even to be able to complete a truly successful and correct FBA/BIP.
This article serves as another way to show teachers that there is more work to do. The goal of the FBA should be to document everything it requires fully, and to make sure that the target behavior is listed with positive behavior supports. The BIP should address a replacement behavior, and include any required provisions necessary to help the student be successful.
Van Acker, R., Boreson, L., Gable, R. A., & Potterton, T. (2005). Are we on the right
course? Lessons learned about current FBA/BIP practices in schools. Journal of
behavioral education, 14(1), 35-56.
This study was mind blowing and heart wrenching for me, honestly. The researchers chose to focus on two groups of youth: students with disabilities who were in foster care, and students with disabilities who were receiving special education services only (outside of foster care.
The purpose of the study was to explore whether the quality of transition planning differs for youth in foster care. Geenen and Powers noted that, "it's important for all youth in special education. It's critical for foster youth with disabilities who, when they reach the age of majority are suddenly expected to function independently as adults with little to no family, financial, or community support (Geenen, Powers 2006)."
Their study sought to explain (1) the extent to which transition planning for foster youth in special education incorporates the amendments of IDEA and accounts for effective transition practices (basically, that the transition plans are legally protecting these students and providing them the rights they deserve under the law). (2)Also, the extent that the quality of transition planning differs for foster youth in special education from youth who are in special education only.
I have to speed up to the results portion of this article because it's really telling of where our society is. Truthfully, it's really sad. So, the results indicated that foster care youth are much less likely than students who are SpEd only to have an advocate present at their IEP meetings (family member, foster parent, etc.). The study also stated that students receiving special education services while in foster care were likely to have significantly fewer goals described on transition plans than the other group of SpEd only students. Another significant detail to note was that only 31% of the transition plans had a goal around college/trade school. 16% contained goals around developing skills for living on ones own (meal prep, laundry, shopping, managing a budget.) 20% of youth in foster care and receiving special education services HAD NO GOALS LISTED AT ALL.
I mean, I have no words. This study was done in Oregon by the way. The inter-rater reliability among the details they were discovering was 85.8%. That's pretty high agreement about topics, goals, and details that were missing in students ITPs.
I think the functional purpose of this article is to remember that not every student with disabilities has only the challenge of whatever their disability is. There are students who do not have advocates. That's it. There is no one fighting for, and building relationships with these students. Neither is there someone investing in who they are in the future. It just seems like they're out the door at 18 and must figure out a way to survive in society. A statistic at the beginning of this article said, that for this reason, this group of students is high in the rates of experiencing homelessness at an early age.
I would recommend anyone reading this article. It caused me to think about how ill prepared so many thousands of youth are. What are the implications for our society, when we allow so many young to just be tossed out? This article definitely has my wheels turning.
Geenen, S. J., & Powers, L. E. (2006). Transition planning for foster youth. Journal for vocational special needs education, 28(2), 4-15.
This article deals with the higher rate of probability that an adolescent will be overweight if they have a high incidence disability and are living in residential care. First of all, one of the factors listed for causing the weight gain is medication. Adolescents could be living in a residential facility because of possible needs that can not be met in the home in terms of health care. Other factors could include, "educational deficiencies, maladaptive behaviors, high rates of mobility and placement instability, elevated externalizing and internalizing behavior, and higher rates of psychometric medication usage (Trout et. al, 2014)."
One of the limitations listed in the study is that, "while the study provides a valuable overview of the health status of youth in residential care, they didn't specifically examine youth with high incidence disabilities in these settings (Trout 2014)." It seemed to me the factor of how their health was affected in the facility was more the focus. For instance, the study noted that adolescents in residential care were more likely to have common medical ailments such as asthma.
The study continued to compare adults with disabilities and adults without. There was still a higher percentage of adults with high incidence disabilities who were obese than those adults in residential care who did not have a disability.
I honestly found the information shared in this article to be a little all over the place. It seemed like the title was not completely true to the information that was presented. The article first says it's talking about one thing (adolescents with high incidence in residential facilities), and then it goes on to cite that it doesn't handle the high incidence disabilities piece. Then it goes on to talk about adults with and without disabilities..)
Upon honest reflection, there are many interesting statistics shared, and important comparisons made, the data within this article is a little all over the place. This is my opinion though. While it shared a relevant piece of information (that students with high incidence disabilities may face the challenge of obesity in residential care), the scope and sequence of information shared didn't follow a well thought out pattern. But, as I said ,this is just my opinion.
Trout, A. L., Lambert, M. C., Nelson, T. D., & Thompson, R. W. (2014). Prevalence of weight problems among youth with
high-incidence disabilities in residential care. Behavioral Disorders, 39(3), 165-174.
