Using A Behavioral Skills Training Model for Instructing Educators in Functional Assessment and Intervention Procedures in The Classroom Setting

Educators often manage behavior through suppression rather than working to address the root cause of problematic behavior in the classroom. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates the use of functional assessment for students with varying exceptionalities to ensure students are educated in the least restrictive environment. However, functional assessment is an evidence-based strategy that could be employed by all teachers to enhance classroom management practices universally. Behavioral skills training is a research-validated approach that is often used to train professionals on a number of skills. The present study investigated the use of a behavioral skills training model to train teacher participants on the basic principles of functional assessment as well as how to functionally redirect behavior in training and natural environment. A multiple baseline across participants research design was employed to train four teachers how to use functional assessment procedures to functionally respond to maladaptive student behavior. Participants were tasked with understanding the basic tenants of functional assessment, identifying the function maintaining student behavior, and utilizing functional redirections. All participants demonstrated an increased knowledge as related to functional assessment and generalized trained principles to the classroom setting. Thus, using functional assessment and intervention as a theoretical framework for classroom management systems should be utilized to enhance current classroom management practices