Developing Behavior Intervention Plans in Arkansas

Sharon Adams, M.S., NCSP and part of the Arkansas Department of Special Education, gave an excellent presentation on how to develop Behavior Intervention Plans during Special Show 2010.

Behavior Intervention Plans are developed help modify student behavior.  First, school staff (can be anyone) gather data on what the student's behavior.  What does the student do and say? Can you measure it? What does it look like? The staff must look at all aspects of the behavior, including the frequency, intensity, and duration.

In Ms. Adam's experience, behavior plans usually suffer from two weaknesses:

1. Incomplete gathering of data in the functional behavior assessment: The district does not gather enough information about the behavior. Information also includes what happens before and after the incident.
2. Too many behavior plans, when the IEP goals or implementation is the problem. If a student cannot do the schoolwork, such as cursive handwriting, he or she may throw tantrums. He or she is merely communicating that the work is overwhelming. The school needs to provide more handwriting assistance or modifications to help the students. Or, the current occupational help is ineffective.

Parents whose children have behavior plans should be on the alert for these two difficulties.

She also recommended several resources:

Diana Brown Wright's BSP Desk Reference

Teacher's Encyclopedia of Behavior Management 100 Problems/500 Plans