How to Develop Behaviour SupportPlans

Our Goals

Create plans that will workPlans with high technical adequacyPlans with high contextual fit

Acceptable Doable

Ensure plans are implemented

Fidelity of Implementation

The extent to which the intervention/plan is implemented as designed/intended (Elliott et al., 2002; Gresham, 1991)

Katherine Wickstrom et al. (1996) Masters-level students provided

behavioural consultation to 29 elementary general education teachers

Fidelity of Implementation (Wickstrom et al., 1996)

Each teacher referred a student with behaviour difficulties

Interviews to determine behaviour Simple interventions recommended:

Punch-out card, conduct countdown, smiley face chart, response cost lottery, daily behaviour chart

Teacher self-report sheet Direct observations

Fidelity of Implementation(cont.)

RESULTS IN PERCENTAGES:

Intervention materials present

Teacher report of fidelity

Direct observation results

62%

54%

4%

What is the timeline in improving fidelity of implementation? Before selection

During the support plan design processAddress contextual fit

After selectionDuring the implementation processAddress treatment integrity

Contextual Fit The extent to which the intervention plan (or

components) is consistent with the: Values Goals Environment Skills Resources

…of the implementers and stakeholders.

Contextual Fit

Two parts:Acceptability

Values Goals

Feasibility Teacher/implementer skills Resources available Environmental variables

Contextual Fit Activity

For the following strategies: Rate on a scale of 1 to 5:

1. How acceptable you feel it is2. How feasible you feel it is

Strategies

1. Allowing a student to take a break from difficult academic work

2. Withholding recess3. Using an individual point system to earn small

tangible rewards (stickers, supplies)4. Using an individual point system to earn small

tangible rewards (candy)5. Physically escorting a student to a timeout

room6. Providing lunch with you (as an incentive)

Strategies7. Public apology

Activity

Share your answers with your table and discuss similarities and differences in answers

What were some points of learning?

How to design acceptable plans (Benazzi et al., 2006)

Teams and behaviour specialists were provided FBA summaries and were asked to design BSPs

Three methods of creating plans:Behaviour specialist onlySchool behaviour team onlyBehaviour specialist leading school teams

How to design acceptable plans (Benazzi et al., 2006)

Three ratings of plans:Technical adequacy by school teamTechnical adequacy by experts in the fieldContextual fit by school team

How to design acceptable plans (Benazzi et al., 2006)

Behaviour specialist onlyTechnical adequacy (school team)

HighTechnical adequacy (expert)

HighContextual fit (school team)

Low

How to design acceptable plans (Benazzi et al., 2006)

School team onlyTechnical adequacy (school team)

HighTechnical adequacy (expert)

LowContextual fit (school)

High

How to design acceptable plans (Benazzi et al., 2006)

Behaviour specialist leading school teamTechnical adequacy (school team)

Moderate to HighTechnical adequacy (expert)

Moderate to HighContextual fit (school)

Moderate to High

So who do you need on a behaviour support team? Someone with:

Knowledge about the studentKnowledge about the contextKnowledge about behaviour theory

Albin, Lucyshyn, Horner, & Flannery (1996, p. 85)

“If a plan is not technically sound, the concept of good contextual fit becomes meaningless.”

A Process for Developing Effective, Acceptable BSPs1. Design a preliminary plan (“rough draft”) with multiple

options for strategies2. Gather a team that includes at least one person:

Knowledgeable about FBA-BSP Knowledgeable about the student Knowledgeable about the context and resources

3. Draw in the Competing Pathways4. Brainstorm BSP strategies for the four columns5. Select strategies based on technical adequacy and

contextual fit6. Assess and provide necessary training/support7. Make a plan for evaluation and followup

What motivates people to implement plans?

Functional Behaviour Assessment of Adults – what motivates us?

Improved student performance? Chocolate? Specialist help? Escape from uncomfortable situations?

Disrespect, aberrant behaviourInattentionStudent academic failureThe stress of too much work!

Suggested FBA adult interventions Attention

Reduce attention for complaintsMeetings over dataPerformance feedback

EscapeProvide some immediate helpFocus on efficient supportEmphasize payoff: reduced work

The Typical Progression of Consultation – “Consult and Hope”1. Teacher refers student with problem

(academic or behaviour)2. Consultant performs assessment3. Consultant recommends intervention (or

a choice of interventions)4. Consultant crosses fingers and moves on

Alternatives to the “Consult and Hope” Strategy1. DIRECT CONSULTATION (Noell et al.,

2002, 2005; Watson & Robinson, 1997) You (the consultant):

Model, lead, test Set up the systems Start it off Hand it off Coach

Alternatives to the “Consult and Hope” Strategy2. DETAILED PROCEDURES and scripts

for implementation Simply telling people what to do is not

sufficient If procedural components are not applied

fully and correctly, student outcomes may be compromised

Alternatives to the “Consult and Hope” Strategy3. PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK (Martin,

2001; Millen, 2004; Reinke, 2005; Their, 2003)

Periodically review the plan Review prompts the treatment agent to

implement with greater integrity Review serves to correct implementation of

treatment plan

Using data to guide decision making

Using CICO data for decision making

A

DC

B

Decisions to make:

1. Is the student experiencing more success?

2. CONTINUE – REVISE – FADE ?

Creating IEP Goals and Objectives using Daily Point Cards Collect present level of performance by

rating student without training student to use card

Set initial objective as 10% of points above baseline

Revise based on data

Tracking Sheet

Used as a quick monitoring tool at monthly/biweekly individual student support meetings

Sample in Appendix

TroubleshootingBehaviour Support

Problem: “The BSP didn’t work!”

A Solution: Abandon! Abandon! Abandon!

A Better Solution: Assess the situation and adjust the plan

Four possible reasons why the BSP isn’t currently working…1. Fidelity of implementation

We didn’t implement the plan as we said we would

IMPLEMENT AND SEE CHECK CONTEXTUAL FIT DO WE HAVE THE SKILLS?

Four possible reasons why the BSP isn’t currently working…2. The alternative behaviour doesn’t work

Too hard to do in real contexts It doesn’t get the student the maintaining consequence

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE IS IT SOCIALLY APPROPRIATE? ENSURE IT GETS THE CONSEQUENCE

EVERY TIME ADD OR UP THE REWARD (value or frequency)

Four possible reasons why the BSP isn’t currently working…3. The problem behaviour is still being

rewarded Are we inadvertently reinforcing problem

behaviour (attention, escape)?

DON’T DO IT!!! CONSIDER ADDING A PUNISHMENT

COMPONENT (only if all other parts are in place)

Four possible reasons why the BSP isn’t currently working…4. BSP is based on the wrong summary

statement We got it wrong The statement changed

REASSESS AND CHANGE THE PLAN

Team Meeting Time

Team Meeting Time

Choose a focus student and develop a behaviour support planComplete the competing pathways analysisBrainstorm strategies to address behaviourChoose the final elementsEvaluate and revise the plan using the Critical

Features Checklist Create an action plan to implement and

collect data