MARIN

SELPA
9/08

Functional Behavior Assessment

Complete an FBA for each behavior that is interfering with the students learning or that of others

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
Student
av
Grade 4th

Date of Birth

School Vallecito Elementary

9/21/04
District

Age

10-5

Dixie

Staff Participating in Assessment Kelsey Olson, Student Teacher

TARGET BEHAVIOR # 1
Describe specifically what the
behavior look like. If there is
more than 1 behaviors
complete an additional form.

IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE

DATA SOURCES USED TO
ANALYZE THESE BEHAVIORS

Date of Assessment 2/27/15,

3/4/15, 3/11/15
Nile makes noises and comments at inappropriate times throughout the school day.
His behavior often occurs during whole class activities when others are talking or
during transition times. He will comment, start clapping, or quietly singing while the
teacher or another student is talking. These comments and noises are loud enough so
that students near him can hear, and usually so can the whole class. Nile's comments
are usually comical and a response to what is being discussed, but at other times
these comments seem to be unrelated peronal thoughts. Although the rest of the
students have begun to mostly ignore his comments, his talking still often momentarily
distracts those around him. Nile will interrupt others, which includes walking into the
classroom and immediately starting to talk without looking to see what is currently
happening, even when the class was engaged in an academic activity when he left the
room. During transitions, he will walk around the room to talk to different students
rather than preparing for the next activity. This distracts the students he is talking to as
well as those in the surrounding area from following teacher directions.
Interview At the Student Study Team Meeting, his classroom teacher
described Nile as a well liked member of the school. He has one of the highest
reading comprehension scores in the class. He sees himself as a good writer
and has a lot of good ideas when writing. She has seen an improvement in his
math skills since he started receiving tutoring, but he still struggles with this
subject. His mother shared that Nile has two siblings at home and the family
moved from Texas this year. They had previously been living in Southern
California so Nile has moved a few times recently and is adjusting to these
transitions. He did have behavior issues at his school in Texas, but nothing
specific was done to address this besides parent teacher meetings. Getting
homework done has been improving, but is still a struggle because Nile does not
concentrate on the task at hand. He would prefer to be playing outside so that is
used as a reward when he is able to accomplish a set amount of work. He is also
currently seeing a therapist once a week.
In addition, to the SST meeting I also talked to Nile's P.E. teacher who said that
Nile will goof off or purposefully fall when others are watching him run, stretch,
or play games. When everyone else is focused on their own activities and not
watching him, then Nile will try seriously. He believes that Nile has low self
esteem in athletics and does not want to fail in front of his classmates.
Observation I have observed Nile informally in the classroom every
Wednesday since 12/10/14. I have filled out an ABC record for Friday 2/27/15,
Wednesday 3/4/15, and Wednesday 3/11/15. Additionally, I recorded a frequency
chart for Tuesday 3/17/15 and compared the number of occurrences to those
recorded on the ABC charts from the previous days.
On Friday 2/27/14 I observed Nile during the morning meeting and activities,
which included a vocabulary test. I also observed him while he was in the gym
for P.E. Nile was very well behaved comparatively that morning in the classroom,
which his teacher commented on. Nile is a stronger student in language arts,
which was the focus on the morning as they were taking a vocabulary test. When

the bell rang that morning, Nile raised his hands in the air and made a short yell.
This behavior was ignored. The class then gathered on the carpet for their
community circle time. Nile bounced up and down on the ground singing in a
whisper. The student sitting next to him poked his leg, which caused him to then
shift over on the carpet and stop singing. Ten minutes later when the students
are back at their desks, his teacher asks him to move to a table at the front of the
class to take the assessment. This is done proactively every time there is a test
so that he has a minimal number of distractions. As Nile was moving up to the
front of the room, he stopped and tried to talk to other students. The other
students engaged in conversation briefly then continued preparing their desks
for the assessment. Nile slowly continued walking up to the front and his
conversations were otherwise ignored. Once he was in the front of the room, he
started to spin his chair around and quietly sing to himself. A student seated
nearby joined in by humming. Both students stopped when the teacher walked
by and handed each a test. Nile was well behaved for the rest of the testing time.
The class then went to P.E. where Nile was called to the front of the class with
one other student to lead the class in stretches. Nile danced up, while singing
quietly and rolling his eyes. The class responded by laughing and the P.E.
teacher asked him to stop. As the class started to stretch, Nile screamed in
mock agony and fell to the ground. The rest of the class then started making
pain sounds. The teacher asks for quiet and regroups the class to explain the
next stretch. Nile grimaces and starts to make noises of pain again. The teacher
responds by saying his name and asking him to try one more time. Nile rolls on
the ground instead of following the stretch. The rest of the class continue
stretching and Nile is sent away from the front of the class.
On Wednesday 3/4/15, Nile started the day by arriving once community circle
had already started. He walked into the class while saying, "Why is everyone"
He trailed off as he noticed his teacher looking at him. He joined the outside of
the circle. An hour later as the class is listening to students read their writing
aloud, Nile walks to a student in the back of the room and starts talking to him.
His teacher tells the reader to pause and asks Nile what he is doing. Nile replies,
"talking to.." Like his previous behavior instance that day he did not finish his
sentence. His teacher then asked him to return to a desk in the front of the class,
which he did and the other student continued reading their writing. The class
then transitioned to the carpet to go over a Coloma scavenger hunt activity that
the students did the night before. Nile left the room to search for the assignment
in his backpack. When he walked back into the class he immediately started
asking, "What are.." Again he trailed off after a look from his teacher and joined
the group on the carpet. After recess the class began working on math and
started by reviewing the homework. Nile again left the room to check his
backpack. He walked back into the room to the homework turn in cubby and
said, "I forgot it was here all along!" The teacher and class ignore this behavior.
A parent volunteer then arrives to help with math centers. As the teacher is
explaining the grouping for the math activity, Nile walks to the water fountain
and exclaims, "Why is the water so cold!" His teacher ignores this behavior and
continues grouping students. Ten minutes into the math activity another student
is explaining how she solved a problem and Nile starts to clap while she is
talking. His teacher stops the student and reminds Nile that she will be checking
to make sure that he did the math problems correctly. Twenty-five minutes later
the students are now working in pairs on a math review sheet. Nile is in the back
of the rooms. His teacher pauses the activity to describe the activity they are to
do once they are done with the review sheet. Nile begins saying "Cheese is
good." His partner laughs and joins in and they both repeat the phrase. I tell him
to stop and refocus. At the end of the day the teacher gathers the students on
the rug for a student led appreciation time. Another student shared that he
appreciated Nile not distracting them that much that day. Nile says, "Yay, that is
a compliment." in a silly voice and while the student is still talking. The student
finishes his sentence and the interruption is ignored.

On Wednesday 3/11/15, Nile arrives to class just as the community circle time
was finishing. The class then transitioned back to their desks and their teacher
began explaining the math assessment they would be taking. Nile walks up to
his teacher and starts asking a question to her. His teacher reminds him that she
is talking to the whole class. Nile returns back to his desk. Once his teacher
finished talking and asked for questions Nile then raised his hand to ask his
question again which was responded to. Fifty minutes later as most students
were finishing the assessment, Nile was lying on the ground reading. Another
student stepped over him and he responded by staying "Ow" loudly. His teacher
talks to him about the proper way to address colleagues and reminds him that
he is not at home with his siblings, he should tell a fellow student in a respectful
tone if they are too close to him. Fifteen minutes later as the class is discussing
their social studies reading on the gold rush, Nile asks if any movies had been
made on this topic. He did not raise his hand and other students in the class did
have their hands raised. His teacher addressed his question then called on
another student. As the class continues their discussion, Nile waves his hands
and says, "Gold" in a silly voice. This behavior is ignored by the teacher and
students and the discussion continues. In addition to the recorded events,
During math this day, Nile resisted joining in during the group activity which
consisted of a student being wrapped in newspaper, then the paper was cut off
so the group could determine the surface area. Nile volunteered to be the
student who is wrapped, so for most of the lesson he stood in place while the
other students in the group worked around him. Once the paper was cut off of
him, he sat down and complained of being to tired to participate. Since other
groups were busy working his complaining did not distract the rest of the class.
When his teacher talked to Nile about his behavior and explained that he needed
to help his group members especially since he was the one who had stood there
while they did the wrapping aspect of the activity, Nile began to participate
slowly. Subsequent reminders were needed throughout the activity to keep him
interacting to a degree with his group members.
On Tuesday 3/17/15, Nile exhibited the target behavior twice during the fifteen
minute morning community circle activity. Compared to the other data, this is
exactly average for this activity time. Nile had a difficult time this day during
DOL, which is a time for writing and sharing. He exhibited the target behavior
seven times during this forty minute activity block. When taking the other data
into account, Nile's average number of behavior instances during this daily
activity is three times. Overall, Nile exhibited the target behavior thirteen times
before recess. Considering the other days where data was recorded, Nile's
average number of instances where he exhibits the target behavior in this daily
time block between 8:14 am-10:10 am is eight times. After recess the class then
begins Math, which is usually a forty minute time block. On 3/17/15 Nile exhibited
the target behavior twice. Nile's average number of behavior instances during
Math is three times.

DESCRIBE THE FREQUENCY,

INTENSITY, AND DURATION OF THE
BEHAVIOR

When does the behavior occur?

How often? How long does it
last? Description should be
based upon data collection
and/or record review

WHAT ARE THE

Review of Records (health, discipline, etc.)

The target behavior occurs during whole class activities and during transition times.
The behavior particularly occurs during math activities or when students are asked to
respond or share out in front of the whole group. Since there are a lot of whole class
times in other subjects,the behavior does occur throughout the day and in multiple
education environments such as his general education classroom and P.E. Each
individual comment or noise lasts less than a minute, but he frequently makes two to
three comments in a five to ten minute span. The behavior occurs 9-22 times a day
overall based on observations and discussions with his teacher. Based on ABC
records and a frequency chart, Nile exhibites the target behavior an average of 8 times
between the start of school and the start of recess. In addition, he exhibits the
beahvior an average of 3 times during the daily fourty minute math activity.
The target behavior occures throughout the day, but is most likely to occur during

PREDICTORS/TRIGGERS FOR
EACH BEHAVIOR? Describe the
situations in which the behavior
is likely to occur: people, time,
place, subject, etc.)
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES
THE STUDENT ACHIEVES BY THE
BEHAVIOR? Describe what
happens after the behavior
occurs and/or what the student
gets/avoids or protests.

whole class activities when students are expected to participate in some way. In
particular, math activities and community circle times when the class has personal and
class discussions are difficult times for Nile behaviorally. While he does have students
that he is closer with socially, he will talk during class to anyone who is near him. There
are not specific people who are more likely to cause him to exhibit the target behavior.
Typically the other students in the class ignore Nile's behavior or prompt him to stop.
Occasionally another student will join in if he is singing or doing or saying something
silly. However, overall most students do not show signs of enjoying his comments or
sounds. Student actions and verbal comments throughout the day shows that most
students do not appreciate Nile's distracting comments and sounds. In this way, Nile is
able to avoid appearing like he fails because his classmates do not view him as a
student who is trying to succeed.
His classroom teacher will also often ignore Nile's behavior and continue teaching the
class. While there is not always a response to the behavior, Nile is still displaying
actions that show a lack of concern for what is going on in the classroom that is evident
to others. By doing so he is able to avoid appearing to fail, because if he does answer
a question wrong or work slowly on an assignment he has already established an
attitude of not trying hard. When Nile does become louder or if his behavior interrupts
the whole class, his teacher will address his actions. This has included asking him
questions to prompt him to think about what he is doing or reminding him that he has
interrupted and that is not appropriate in the school environment. Even after multiple
reminders Nile does not adjust his behavior, which shows that he continues to seek
ways to either avoid work or show he does not care so that he can not appear to fail.

WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE

BEHAVIOR?
Is it to obtain, avoid, or protest?
WHAT ALTERATIONS TO THE
ENVIRONMENT, INSTRUCTION, OR

I believe the function of the behavior is to avoid failure in front of others.

INTERACTIONS COULD PREVENT

THE BEHAVIOR FROM
REOCCURRING?

IDENTIFY FUNCTIONALLY
EQUIVALENT REPLACEMENT
BEHAVIORS. Describe what

the
student should do INSTEAD of

I belive it would be positive to continue to discuss Nile's behavior with him and remind
him how this type of behavior is causing others in the class to percieve him. Teaching
Nile how to self-monitor his behavior so that he is invovled and more aware of his
actions should help increase his ability and desire to reduce the number of instance
where he exhibites the target behavior. Nile should be taught how to make a tally mark
on a post-it note or paper form everytime he blurts out in the morning before the recess
bell rings. These tally marks should be compared to a teacher's recordings in the
beginning, but ideally this will be phased out and Nile will be in charge of monitoring his
own behavior. If Nile is able to successfully monitor himself and decrease the number
of behavior instances that occur in the morning.
I think that it would also be helpful to give Nile more time to process information and
tasks that he finds difficult or intimidating. If he is able to preview the day's math lesson
with the teacher in the morning with he might feel more confident and thus more
engaged during math activities. By preparing him privately in advance for what he will
be expected to do later that day, he will have a moment to ask questions and process
what he will need to do later. There is already an agenda on the board and for long
projects the directions are posted in a visible location, but it would likely be beneficial to
Nile to also have steps for each activity posted. For example, for math the directions
might look like: 1) Take out your math journal, 2) Open to page 80, 3) Read the
directions, 4) Start working, 5) Check your work, 6) Read if you finish early. These
directions could act as a visual reminder for all students and could also be used to
prompt Nile to get back on task when he exhibits the target behavior. In addition,
starting off the activity with a few easier problems could help Nile feel more confident to
participate in the activity in a positive way and display his learning and success to the
other students. I think it is important to give Nile opportunities to participate in a
successful manner, but it is also important to not put him on the spot unexpectedly
when he does not feel prepared, this includes extra classes like P.E. Placing attention
on Nile when he thinks he will fail negatively affects his behavior.
Instead of making distracting comments and noises during class activities, Nile should
raise his hand or wait to approach the teacher until after she has finished giving the
directions.
Instead of singing or blurting out during group discussions, Nile should practice

the problem behavior.

DESCRIBE CURRENT METHODS OF

REINFORCEMENT AND
RECOMMEND ANY CHANGES IN
REINFORCEMENT

WHAT GOALS, SERVICES, ETC.

ARE YOU RECOMMENDING?

Completed by

Kelsey Olson

keeping his thoughts to himself so that he does not draw attention to his inability to
perform a task. This connection should be explained to Nile often so that he is
reminded how his behavior looks to the students around him and thus how it impacts
their opinion of him. In order to help increase Nile's understanding of his behavior and
accountability towards improving, he should be taught to self monitor and keep track of
the number of times he "blurts" each morning before the recess bell rings by writing a
tally mark on a piece of paper. This action should help remind Nile to keep his
comments to himself or raise his hand to share.
Currently Nile's behavior is either ignored or he is reminded that he is interrupting and
needs to respect others and/or get back to work. I think that increasing the
opportunities for Nile to be praised for successful work would help reinforce good
behavior because he would be avoiding failing publicly. I also think that giving Nile
short, clear, directions for what he should be doing would help reinforce good behavior.
Goals numbered
1) By June 11, 2015, instead of making distracting comments and noises to avoid failure in
front of others, Nile will increase his positive participation by raising his hand before
speaking 3 out of 5 times during the morning class time before recess as measured by the
student teacher through recording how many times Nile waits to be called on before
speaking and how many times he talks out of turn.
2) By June 11, 2015, instead of making distracting comments and noises to avoid failure in
front of others, Nile will ask for help when he is confused or does not know what he is
supposed to be doing 4 out of 5 times as measured by the student teacher through
recording how many times Nile asks for help and how many times he exhibits the target
behavior each morning.
3) By June 11, 2015, instead of making distracting comments and noises to avoid failure,
Nile will practice differentiating private silent thoughts from important thoughts that
need to be shared and reduce the number of off topic and personal thoughts shared to
three each morning as measured by the student teacher through recording how many
times Nile blurts out each day.
Other recommendations It will likely be beneficial to involve Nile in the process to
improve his behavior as much as possible through frequently check-ins and discussing
how he thinks he is doing behavior wise so that he can see more clearly how his behavior
impacts those around him. In order to help support him as he works towards
distinguishing private thoughts from public thoughts, Nile should be encouraged to write
in a journal that is separate from his writing journal when he needs to express what he is
thinking. He could be prompted by the teacher to do this when he is having a difficult time
staying engaged during the morning meeting or when he has finished a task and is having
a hard time transitioning to the next activity.

Date

3/15/15