Identifying Barriers to Tier 3 Behavioral Support in Schools

1. Identifying Barriers to Tier 3 Behavioral Support in Schools Chris Borgmeier, PhD CBORGMEI@PDX.EDU & Tiffany Jones, MS jonest@pdx.edu Portland State University www.tier3pbis.pbworks.com

2. Thanks to the Graduate Research Team Dana Christie Pauline Clegg Kathryn Debros Lindsey Dombras Ethan Tiffany Ellen Werner

3. Tier 3 Behavior Support in Schools • Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) • When understanding problem behavior, research suggests that it is important to understand the purpose, or function of the behavior in order to best identify interventions. • FBA is a set of procedures used to identify variables that are directly related to the student’s challenging behavior. • FBA and the Law • The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) federally mandated schools under certain circumstances to use FBA’s to develop supports for students with problem behavior. • Despite requirement of FBA’s and BSP’s into SpEdlaw in 1997, schools are still struggling to implement effective FBA/BSP and effective Tier 3 Behavioral Support (Scott, 2007).

4. Barriers Identified in the Research • Too often the FBA/BSP is not a team process: In 2005, a study was conducted in Wisconsin that found less than half of the FBA/BSPs were completed without the appropriate team members as dictated by federal and state legislation (Van Acher, Boreson, Gable and Potterton, 2005). • FBAs are not being completed: A study selecting 43 student’s files found that only 15 had a formal FBA included (Blood, 2007). • Interventions are not linked to the Function of behavior: Van Acher et al. (2005) found that most teams “did not appear to take the function of the behavior identified in the FBA into consideration when developing the BIP”.

5. Barriers Identified in the Research • What team members consider severe enough behavior to warrant the process: Couvillion (2009) observed there is a “get-tough mindset” in schools. Students who would benefit from a BSP, often do not qualify for the process until their behaviors have become so severe that they have been removed from their “natural classroom setting” due to suspensions, expulsions, or removal to a more restricted settings. • Team members disagree on what behaviors are problematic (Murdock,2005)

6. Themes for Tier 3 PBIS Participants • Interviewed • PBIS Facilitator (external & internal), Admin, Teacher, Parent • school culture (most pervasive theme), • administrative leadership and support, • structure and use of time, • ongoing professional development, and • family and student involvement • Bambara, Nonnemacher & Kern, 2009

7. Research Questions When considering a specific individual student case, what do FBA/BSP team members report were: • supports that facilitated implementation of the FBA/BSP process in schools? • barriers to the implementation of the FBA/BSP process in schools? • additional supports that would have helped to implement the FBA/BSP process effectively?

8. Methods

9. Recruiting Schools Purposeful Sampling • Asked two school districts with coordinated Tier 3 District Plans and resourced dedicated to support implementation • District Tier 3 coaches was asked to identify individual student cases that went pretty well in progressing through FBA to BSP implementation • Also identified one district/school that did not have an organized Tier 3 District Plan • Recruited by research team member who worked in the school district

10. Participating DistrictsCases 1-3 • PBIS School/District • >5 years of implementation of SW-PBIS at 80%+ on SET • District Professional Dev’t & Coach for Tier 2/3 Intervention • Identified by District Behavior Team Coordinator • 2 Elementary Schools & 1 Middle School

11. Participating DistrictsCase 4 Middle School not implementing SW-PBIS Limited district plan and infrastructure for Tier 3 Behavior Systems

12. Procedures • Goal: Interview all primary FBA/BSP team members • Administrator • Behavior Specialist (building) • Behavior Specialist (district, if applicable) • Implementing teacher(s)

13. Procedures • Primary Investigator communicated with District representative to recruit participating school teams & get individual contact information • Graduate Students contacted individual team members to set up individual interviews • Team members were each interviewed individually • Graduate Students conducted semi-structured interviewers with team members • Asked question & followed up with questions to clarify or probe for additional information

14. Measure SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW Primary Interview Questions: • Describe the supports provided and teaming process to support <Name of Target Student>. • Throughout the process, what did you feel was successful and helped to provide supports to <Name of Target Student>? • What was not successful and what hindered the team’s ability to support <Name of Target Student>? • What supports or resources would have helped in this process with <Name of Target Student>? SAMPLE Follow-Up Questions (only as needed) • -Describe challenges that got in the way of successfully developing a behavior plan. • -Were there aspects of your behavioral intervention which were not implemented • consistently? • -Describe reasons for limited implementation. • -Describe things that the behavioral specialist did or did not do that may have limited • this process or implementation of the intervention plan

15. Procedures • Interviewers transcribed the interviews • Two research assistants and lead researcher were assigned to read through each interview and to identify main points and quotes from each of the interview questions • Each interview was presented by the assigned reviewers with the entire research team • Main points and quotes from each interview were organized into tables for easier review • Team met to reviewed cases to identify themes and notable quotes representing each themes • Themes were identified: • within cases • across cases • x position

16. Results

17. Case 1 • Elementary school – 2nd grade male • 7th year teacher • Counselor = building Behavior Specialist • Behavior Support Team began meeting to plan for student from beginning of school year • Student received 1:1 support from district specialist/assistant all day long from beginning of school year • Parents wanted student in SPED, but student was doing fine academically so district wanted to maintain in GenEd • Student maintaining, doing well

18. General PerspectivesGeneral Ed Teacher • Support from First Day of school • 1 to 1 full day support from Behavior Team IA • Constantly on laptops, taking notes, making plans, showing me strategies, helping w/ meltdowns, chased him if he ran • Felt abandoned when IA & support were faded; wanted more support in transition • Counselor was missing • Barrier – home – parents say 1 thing & do another

19. General PerspectivesCounselor (Bldg Beh Spec) • Had personal conflict w/ teacher based on work with previous students with challenging behavior • Impression of teacher: “Here is my job. This is the level that I’m willing to go to and meet kids. If kids aren’t meeting that, she kind of says, “Who’s going to come in and fill this gap?” • Teacher unwilling to alter expectations for the student • Doesn’t believe teacher behavior has changed much; but students behavior has elevated to a level that makes it work due to support from Beh spec IA

20. General PerspectivesAdministrator • Student on plan since kindergarten • Called in DxBeh Team to work around personal dynamics; conflict between teacher & counselor • “need someone to come in and say same thing as counselor so they will be accepted better” • Teacher reaches a point where she just washes her hands of kids, she reached that point pretty quickly with this student

21. General PerspectivesBehavior Team IA • Communication was great with team • Teacher doesn’t really have patience for student with behavioral challenges • Wants children to what she wants right now • Seemed annoyed & inconvenienced by individualized aspects of plan which required treatment different from other students • There were times that he wanted to use the skills that we gave him, but if it wasn’t convenient, it would be like “oh not now.” Which led him to, “okay I guess the only way I can get what I want is to act out.”

22. Case 1Themes • Teacher received substantial support through 1:1 support with student • Problems at Home & limited parent participation • Interpersonal conflict between teacher & building behavior specialist was a barrier • Averted by bringing in District Behavior Specialist • GenEd teacher resistance to implement individualized plan for student with challenging behavior

23. Case 2 • Middle School – 7th grade male • Work refusal, verbally aggressive, swearing, yelling • Team members • Vice Principal, Special Education Teacher, Bldg Beh Specialist (SPSY), DxBeh. Specialist & parent • Did not get to interview District Beh. Specialist • Student spent entire day in Resource Room • Refused to go to GenEd classes • Student reading level = 1st or 2nd grade level • Outcome – home tutoring & student moving to more restrictive settings

24. General PerspectivesLearning Specialist (Implementer) • Felt like I was implementing plan by myself • Started as a classroom problem but became a school-wide problem • Over time lost support of classroom teachers & admin • Need more flexibility from adminstrators • More technology & curriculum options for low reader • Start FBA before kid is in crisis mode… we waited too long, which makes it hard to be successful. • Gen Ed teachers don’t really understand the purpose of FBA

25. General PerspectivesAdministrator • Student needed 1 to 1 support & we did not have resources • District Behavior Team observed & advised… but not in the building to implement • “they wanted 4 wks of data, we could see in first few days that it wasn’t working. It is frustrating when those implementing the plan know it isn’t working. The process can and does pit the troops on the ground against the Behavior Team.” • Training • I feel I need more training around FBA and the process, so I can take more ownership • We need building-wide training, not just sped training in this process. Classroom teachers need training so they will have more buy-in • Impossible to schedule meetings everyone can attend. We really need more time in order for the FBA process to work well.

26. General PerspectivesSchool Psych (Bldg Beh Spec) • Not really involved in FBA/BSP • District Beh Team more involved • SPED Teacher – very involved, gave everything… needed 10 of her to go around • Needs: • more “manpower” for 1:1 support • More technology/curriculum for low reader/writer • Gen Ed teachers need training in FBA • To get more buy-in & get over “attitudinal barrier” • It really doesn’t take a lot of time to make some of these changes, but it does take attention & some thought… some teachers are not wanting or willing to do that

27. Case 2Themes • Need more resources to support student • Add’l staff for 1:1 support • Add’l curriculum to match student reading level • No time to meet as a team • SPED Teacher = Lone Ranger • Felt like implementing plan by self • Administrators and GenEd teachers had given up on student • Started FBA too late -- didn’t start until student was in crisis mode • District Support involved in more observation/advisory role; not providing direct support • Process can pit troops on ground against the behavior team • Admin & GenEd teachers need more training in FBA/BSP

28. Case 3 • Elementary school– 1st grade girl • Disrupting class, burst into tears, crawls under table and won’t come out • Started support early (first month) CICO, incentive plan… • FBA started in January • Team members • Principal, Gen Ed Teacher, SpEd Teacher, Counselor, DxBeh. Specialist & grandparents • District Behavior Specialist spends 1-2 days/week on site at school

29. General PerspectivesGeneral Education Teacher Teacher 1 • Lot of intervention expected from teacher, not a lot of outside support • Wants counselor more involved, but hasn’t seen follow-through with counseling sessions • Loves help of Behavior Specialist (checking in & providing strategies) • Not sure what FBA is and doesn’t believe she was given any info. from FBA (“need a better understanding of FBA”) Teacher 2 • Intervention & supports started first month of school, FBA didn’t come along until much later, & I wasn’t involved • “I wonder if placement is gen ed is appropriate for her…. There are not enough placement options available to kids with really difficult behavior”

30. General Perspectives School Counselor • Not much to say about FBA/BSP • Wants more time to do 1:1 Art Therapy with student; believes schools need more 1:1 therapy Principal • Not directly involved in FBA • she needs some outside counseling. She needs some more intensive counseling than what we provide as a school; I’ve had multiple conversations with the parents, and they’ve indicated that they are interested and are willing to pursue outside counseling, and that just hasn’t happened. • Well I think the biggest thing is actually educating our teachers on what is an FBA… the biggest barrier is definitely the teachers not grasping the whole process…

31. General PerspectivesDistrict Behavior Specialist • Barriers • Principal could have been more involved • counselor couldn’t spend more time with her • difficulty getting whole group together to dev. BSP • Limited implementation of aspects of plan – I didn’t follow through w/ prompting teachers • I think the biggest barriers are • time to meet with the whole team together • willingness of the teacher to implement the plan. • “Sometimes the teacher isn’t excited about the plan and those are the kids we don’t have success with because the teacher isn’t willing to make the adjustment and accommodations with what the kids need… You can’t force them to change their personality. Sometimes they need to change their personality to be a little more accommodating.”

32. Case 3Themes • Belief that alternative placement is needed for student outside of GenEd classroom • Counseling & 1:1 Therapy are the answer • Parents not following through • Teacher unsure what FBA is, and doesn’t believe she was given any info. about FBA • Classroom teachers need more training about FBA • Teacher resistant to implement plan • No time to meet as entire team

33. Case 4 • Middle School – 8th grade male • Late to class, blurting, out of seat, disruptive, not working • Several interventions (3 strikes, contract, earn pizza party) in place before moving to FBA • Team • Administrator • General Education Teacher • Learning Specialist (Building Behavior Specialist) • Exteral (ESD) Behavior Specialist • Outcome: Students caught w/ controlled substance & Expelled • Moved to more restrictive placement

34. General PerspectivesGeneral Education Teacher • Process to slow • “…the whole first quarter seemed like a wasted quarter in that class. It seemed like we gave him too many chances and dragged the process out. ..We kept the data but the process was just too slow. The other kids have a right to learn and I have a right to teach. We have to protect that. Just speed up the process. Finally, he offended the principal and got sent to ***** and he’s happy there.” • Ultimately, I suppose the FBA was helpful but to me it felt like it was a lot of paperwork and there is enough paperwork in teaching. It felt like jumping through hoops and it drug the process out. • “I think with a kid like that, “hey your messing up here’s your warning, you mess up again and you’re out.” Then put him out. Don’t give him a stage for his peers like that.” • Suggestions from external Beh. Specialist not helpful/practical

35. General Perspectives • Administrator • Seemed confused about FBA/BSP & who was involved • Identified context as problem… need SW-PBIS • External (ESD) Behavior Specialist • Limited recall of case • Talked loosely about informal use of FBA

36. General PerspectivesLearning Specialist/Bldg Beh Specialist • Facilitated meeting & supported implementation • Could clearly describe: • Interventions put in place before FBA • FBA/BSP process in school • Believed interventions was being successful, but ran out of time with student being expelled due to controlled substance • FBA started too late, not started until 8th day of suspension • Teachers had already “written him off” by the time FBA started • All school staff need more education /training on FBA/BSP and process

37. Case 4Themes • FBA Process too slow, frustrating for teacher • Teacher preference for punitive strategies, less accommodating of individual student concerns • Administrator seemed confused about FBA • Suggested need for SW-PBIS to set context • FBA started too late, not until after 8th day of suspension • All staff and administrator need more training on FBA/BSP

38. Common Themes across Cases

39. Reported Facilitators & Supports“Throughout the process, what did you feel was successful and helped to provide supports to <Name of Target Student>?” “I had that help on day one. I had help, a plan, all this stuff lined up for me. So that was really nice.” Teacher “Having the Behavior Specialist come in was incredibly helpful; to have intensive support especially in the beginning to give him a lot of positives. Counselor “To actually have thing written down, and to see okay what behavior leads to, his acting out, and to talk about not just what he is doing wrong, but to also what he is doing well, what are the positive parts of his personality and to go at it in a positive way, instead of looking at his behaviors…what works? Why is he doing that? What is the outcome he is trying to get? … in a more structured way. Behavior Specialist “The willingness of the teacher. You know, she really wants the best for the child and she was willing to say that, “I will just let her have the computer.” Other teachers will say, “I’m not going to give her the computer just cause she wants it.” Behavior Specialist

40. Reported Barriers to ImplementationWhat was not successful and what hindered the team’s ability to support <Name of Target Student>? Top 5 barriers reported: • FBA too long: process takes too long, too time consuming, too late • Participants Don’t Understand FBA process & purpose • Limited Resources: to implement plan & carry out FBA/BSP • Attitude: inflexible and unwilling to implement individual plan, desire student removal • Teaming: limited participation of team members in FBA & BSP meetings

41. FBA Too Long • FBA process was reported as too time-consuming in all 4 cases: • FBA referral occurred too late • Process took too long from referral to implementation… student did not receive support quickly enough • Too much paperwork “I suppose the fba was helpful, but to me it felt like it was a lot of paperwork and there is enough paperwork in teaching…. It felt like jumping through hoops and it drug the process out.” -Teacher “I don’t think we initiate the FBA process soon enough… His behaviors started out manageable, but they really grew quickly. It grew quicker than 3 months, but it was 3 or 4 months before I got any help.” -Teacher “By the time we got a plan in place and were moving forward, most of the teachers had written him off.” -Behavior Specialist

42. Don’t Understand FBA • At least two people in each school reported that lack of understanding of FBA as a barrier to implementation: • Administrators and Gen Ed staff need training; SPED staff normally are only one’s receiving training • Need understanding the purpose, process and expectations Well I’m not sure what FBA is… what does it stand for? -Teacher “I feel I need better training around the process of FBA so that I can take more ownership” -Administrator “It’s almost like you’re speaking a foreign language and they feel like, ‘Why are you wasting my time, it’s just a bunch more paperwork.’” -Behavior Specialist “Developing the behavior plan was the hardest part because I think that once we got done with the FBA people just wanted to say, “well, the problem’s with the kid” and not move on to the next step.” -Behavior Specialist

43. Limited Resources Limited Resources: • Lack of time, resources and difficulty coordinating schedules was consistently reported • A lack of support from home or ‘out of school’ supports were reported in cases 1, 3 and 4. “I’m sure all schools are like that at some point, but maybe ours more than others. You’re on a desert island, you and yourself.” -Teacher “The student needed one-on-one support and we do not have the resources. -Behavior Specialist • “I mean, it’s hard when you’re trying to talk about a kid and their struggles and their behavior and they’re just like, ‘oh, that’s too bad’, it’s like, ‘oh my gosh, have you...’ So, it’s just really frustrating when there’s not support.” -Teacher

44. Attitude/Approach • 3 most common teacher attitudes identified as barriers: • Inflexible, unwilling to provide individual supports to child; focus on punishment • Student needs to be moved to alternative placement • Focus of problems needs to be on home; defer blame/responsibility “She sort of says, ‘Here is my job. This is the level that I’m willing to go to and meet kids.’ If kids aren’t meeting that, she kind of says, ‘Who’s going to come in and fill this gap?’”-Behavior Specialist I think with a kid like that, “hey your messing up here’s your warning, you mess up again and you’re out.” Then put him out. Don’t give him a stage for his peers like that. -Teacher More needs to be done with settings. There are not enough placement options available for kids with really difficult behavior. -Teacher

45. Attitude/Approach “Well, I would say one of the things she needs is some more intensive counseling than what we provide at school. So that she can, in the mind of a six or seven year old, begin to process some of the things that are going on in her mind. And until she has the ability to do some of that, I don’t think… there’s not much more we can be doing with her here, I mean academically and within the school setting…Because I think at the core of it, she has some deeper issues that she’s going to need some help sorting through.” -Principal “I have been concerned in the past because of her approach or attitude maybe towards kids that have behavior problems… has not been as supportive or as kind or as positive as she is with the ones who ‘fit the mold’.” -Counselor “The reaction has been ‘why can’t we get this kid off his plan? Why isn’t he fixed?’ kind of thing. That’s hard for me.” -Behavior Specialist “At one point, <admin> said “I am a trigger for <student> and he is a trigger for me. I can’t have him in my office anymore.” He was just done. And he really wanted <student> moved to a different school…” -SPED Teacher

46. Teaming • Factors related: • Difficult to get entire team together for planning • Administrator not involved • Unclear communication between team members • Inter-personal conflict between team members “I think the biggest barrier is time to meet with the whole team together.” -Behavior Specialist “It’s very difficult getting the primary people involved all together… meeting around their schedules and being consistent. We are often missing people.” -Teacher “It came back to me from the teacher that, “I didn’t know we were doing this.” At some point something wasn’t communicated clearly. I don’t think that’s atypical that someone might not know what’s going on, even after they sat through the meeting.” -Principal “It is hard to take ownership in a behavior plan that is created mainly by others.” -Principal “Principal should have been more involved.” -Behavior Specialist “The inter-personal dynamics were weird, but we figured out how to work around that.” - Principal

47. Additional Resources & Supports“What supports or resources would have helped in this process with <Name of Target Student>? Top 5 Add’l Supports Needed: • FBA Training for Staff and Administrators • Add’l Resources and Support • Start FBA Earlier • SW-PBIS: need to implement SW-PBIS

48. What Would Have Helped? FBA/BSP Training • Need for more FBA training for all staff • Identified across all Schools & all positions • More comprehensive/more effective training model for Behavior Specialists “Classroom teachers need more training in the process so there will be more buy-in. We need building-wide training, not just SPED training.” -Principal “People don’t know what an FBA/BSP is. They’re afraid of it.” -SPED Teacher “You can take training, but you know what the problem is with training; there is not enough follow-up and support to start using it. To really change the way we do something, I think that would take mentoring and supervision.” -Building Behavior Specialist

49. What Would Have Helped? Additional Resources • Additional support (time and resources) with conducting FBA, plan development & implementation from district specialists • 1:1 supports • Additional curriculum and flexibility to meet individual student needs • Additional Support from Home & Out of School

50. What Would Have Helped? Started FBA Process Earlier START EARLIER • Many schools were identifying student early and providing Tier 2 supports, but maintained too long before moving to FBA & Tier 3 Support “I think it would be more crucial for them to start the FBA process before the kid’s in a mode of crisis.” -Teacher “It’s important that an FBA is done sooner, rather than later, so that a good behavior support plan is put in place before everyone loses their patience and the kid still has a chance.” -SPED Teacher “his behaviors started out manageable, but they really grew quickly. I mean, 3 months to me is quickly… but it was 3 or 4 months before I got any help. And his IEP, he’s an October kid. So I was saying in that meeting I wrote a behavior goal for him. We should have done an FBA when I wrote that behavior goal for him.” -SPED Teacher