Your FBA Is Only as Good as Your Data
Written by Katie Graves, PhD
Staff involvement in the FBA process is critical - they know their students best. However, how do we move from “they are disrespectful” to an observable, measurable behavior?
In my experience as an Assistant Professor training future teachers to collect behavioral data, I've learned to practice, practice, practice! First, we have to teach school staff how to operationalize a behavior. How can we describe a behavior in a clear, concise, observable, and measurable way? We want to operationally define behaviors so well that anyone can come in and identify them. Then, we practice. Try operationalizing objective behaviors first (e.g., physical aggression, eloping). Next move to the more difficult behaviors - the subjective ones (e.g., disrespectful, disruptive).
Making Behavior Measurable
Knowing how to define behaviors operationally will improve the quality of observational data. The second step in training school staff is to spell out and define the ABCs: Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence.
Antecedent is what occurs immediately before the behavior. Behavior is… well, we already covered this—the observable and measurable behavior. Consequence is what occurs immediately after the behavior. Consequence is NOT to be confused with punishment, office referral code, or what the student receives because they engaged in that behavior.
“Knowing how to define behaviors operationally will improve the quality of observational data. ”
Supporting Accurate Data Collection
Once everything has been taught and documented for the school staff, it is time to practice! My recommendation when first learning to collect observational data is to provide school staff with a word bank or options for antecedents and consequences. For example:
Common antecedents
Peer attention
Presented with a task
Transition between activities
Teacher reprimand
Common consequences
Peer attention
Task demand removed
Teacher reprimand
Instruction/expectation repeated
Notice how some of the antecedents are the same as the consequences. This is because the consequence of one behavior can also serve as the antecedent for another, potentially more escalated behavior. The lists above are not comprehensive but are a good place to start. While most of those antecedents and consequences are self-explanatory, it is important to review each one with the school staff to ensure they understand what each looks like in the observational context.
Practicing Before Real Implementation
Now…practice practice practice! There are online videos you can use with teachers to practice recording behaviors. Do the first video together as a group, saying aloud what the antecedent, behavior, and consequence should be. Then have school staff practice independently. Discuss results and make suggestions where necessary.
Matching the Measurement to the Behavior
Other data collection methods include frequency, duration, latency, or interval. It is important to match the data collection method with the correct behavior.
Frequency: The number of times the behavior occurs.
This method is good for behaviors that are clearly countable, occur at a relatively low-to-moderate rate, and for which you care about how often they occur (e.g., shouting out, hitting or kicking peers, raising a hand, or swearing). Duration measures the length of time a behavior occurs. This measurement is useful when behaviors span time, and the behavior's duration indicates intensity (e.g., crying, tantrums, or screen time).
Latency: The time between a cue and the onset of a behavior.
This measurement is good for assessing responsiveness. It is useful for compliance, transitions, and executive functioning goals (e.g., time from teacher direction → student beginning work, time from “line up” → student moves to line, or time from correction → student stops behavior).
Interval recording: This has three methods- momentary time sampling, partial-interval recording, and whole-interval recording.
Interval recording is useful for high-rate or continuous behaviors that are hard to count. Example behaviors measured via interval recording include on- or off-task behavior, disruptive behavior, engagement during instruction, self-stimulatory behavior, and talking during independent work.
“It is important to match the data collection method with the correct behavior.”
Remember - your FBA is only as good as your data! Training school staff can be completed in less than an hour and is a great way to enhance common behaviors, language, and understanding, while also collecting valuable data.
