This may mean creating a scatterplot (chart or grid) recording single events and their context to determine what situations are most likely to trigger the problematic behaviors (Direct and indirect measures, 2001, CECP). Another direct method to observe student behavior is with an Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) chart. The behavior can be further monitored indirectly through teacher and peer interviews. A combination of direct and indirect methods should be used.
The data is then analyzed through techniques called data triangulation and problem pathway analysis, to correlate behaviors with specific situations in a statistically verifiable fashion. A hypothesis is constructed about the problem behavior, such as "Charles disrupts reading class by swearing at the teacher when he is asked to read aloud. He is most likely to disrupt the class if he has not had breakfast or if there was a problem at the bus stop. Charles stops swearing when he is told to leave the group" (Direct and indirect measures, 2001, CECP). Then, to test the hypothesis, "IEP team members should 'experimentally manipulate' certain variables to see if the team's assumptions regarding the likely function of the behavior are accurate" (Direct and indirect measures, 2001, CECP).
Conclusion: My views
Provided it is done by individuals literate in the culture of the child, a behavioral assessment may be valuable, and may even 'clear' the child of potential allegations of misconduct, if the behavior is found to be provoked by peers (such as a child being bullied), or a result of...
There are concerns about teachers 'ganging up' on an unpopular child, however, and turning him or her into a kind of science experiment through this highly scientific, clinical process. The child becomes a kind of de facto experiment, on whom data is gathered, and about whom a hypothesis is constructed so as to find a 'solution' to his or her problem. The latter parts of the assessment model seem to be unhelpfully narrow. In the above-cited example, it is unlikely that Charles only 'acts out' in a single context all day. Rather than merely problematizing and finding a solution to the boy's swearing through an experiment followed by behavioral modification, the IEP team must try to understand why reading makes Charles uncomfortable, what might be happening when his parents are too busy to give him breakfast, and why he is having problems with his peers on the bus.
References
Direct and indirect measures. (2001). Center for effective collaboration and practice. (CECP).
Retrieved January 26, 2010 at http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior2/direct2.htm
Functional behavioral assessment. (2001). Center for effective collaboration and practice.
(CECP). Retrieved January 26, 2010 at http://cecp.air.org/fba/default.asp
A method for conduction a functional behavior assessment. (2001). Center for effective collaboration and practice. (CECP). Retrieved January 26, 2010 at http://cecp.air.org/fba/problembehavior2/method2.htm
