February 2021 | Issue No. 40 Promoting Positive Behavior: Function-Based Assessment and InterventionThis is a revamped issue of our most popular newsletter from last year. Some of the resources have been updated, including new materials for programs who are providing services remotely. When asked about their greatest need for support, many early childhood educators will refer to addressing behaviors that challenge them. In previous newsletters, we described the Pyramid Model, a multi-tiered framework of practices for promoting children's social and emotional development and teaching social skills, communication skills, and emotional competence. The first two tiers describe essential supports for all children and targeted intentional instruction around social and emotional skills for children that need a little bit more support. These will typically be all the support children need to be successful in their social and emotional skill development. A small percentage of children, however, may continue to use behaviors that interfere with learning and social interactions. To support these children, the intensive individualized interventions in the Pyramid Model's top tier may be helpful. Children who continue to demonstrate behaviors that hinder their relationships and ability to engage positively in their learning and home environments may benefit from individualized, function-based assessment and intervention. "Function-based" means that a behavior serves a function; it is the child's attempt to communicate in order to meet a need. If we can work to understand the meaning behind a challenging behavior, then an individualized intervention plan can be designed to meet the child's needs. The use of this kind of functional assessment is a Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practice. Read About ItDevin is a student in Ms. Jones’ class. Before remote learning, he had been demonstrating some challenging behaviors at school. His team, with the support of their disabilities services coordinator, used a function-based assessment and intervention approach to develop a plan to address his behaviors. The team felt like his behavior had been improving and he was starting to learn some new skills to communicate. Since remote learning began, Devin’s parents have been telling Ms. Jones that he is having some challenging behaviors at home. Because of the behaviors, they say they’re having a hard time getting him to engage in any kind of learning activity. His parents told Ms. Jones that Devin has been demonstrating challenging behaviors for a few months and that, despite trying a variety of positive guidance strategies, they feel like the behavior has gotten worse over the past few weeks. They said that today, his mother tried to get him to sit at the kitchen table to explore paper materials for making a collage, an activity sent home from school. When his mother called him over, Devin glanced toward the table and yelled, "No!" He ran across the room to a bookshelf where he pulled books down, threw them, and continued to scream "No!" His mother attempted to redirect Devin by stating, "It's table time now." Devin continued to scream and flail. After a few minutes of attempting to calm him and gently move him to the table, his mother returned to the table area and Devin remained on the floor kicking his feet against the bookshelf. Ms. Jones knows that she will need to support Devin’s parents to understand and respond to his behavior. She begins thinking about ways to support his family to use a function-based assessment and intervention approach at home. (Adapted from DEC's A Functional Assessment Model for Challenging Behavior) Read more about how Devin's team previously addressed his ongoing behaviors that were interfering with his learning in the classroom in this month's selected reading, A Functional Assessment Model for Challenging Behavior. It is part of the DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 4. The function-based assessment and intervention approach consists of five steps:
Before she starts, Ms. Jones decides to review some resources the disabilities services coordinator sent her to refresh her knowledge of this approach. Find strategies below for using a function-based assessment and intervention approach to challenging behaviors, as well as resources for supporting families to address their child’s challenging behaviors at home. Take a LookDigging Deeper into Challenging Behavior Addressing Challenging Behavior – Guidance and Support Developing and Implementing Intensive Individualized Interventions: Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children Try It OutChallenging Behavior: Support Plans for Children with Disabilities Understanding Meaning In Behaviors That Challenge Us Facilitating Individualized Interventions to Address Challenging Behavior Pyramid Model Practices for Virtual Learning Checklist Improve Your PracticeDual Language Learners with Challenging Behaviors Implementation Checklist All Hands on Deck: Partnering with Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Consultants to Implement the Pyramid Model Rebuilding the Pyramid: Reconnecting After a Break Families, Too!Understanding Children’s Behavior as Communication Understanding Your Child’s Behavior: Reading Your Child’s Cues from Birth to Age 2 What to Expect from the Prevent Teach Reinforce for Young Children (PTR-YC) Process Supporting Our Children with Online Learning Implementation: Family Engagement – Making Life Easier Ongoing FeaturesFree access to a specially selected resource from DEC Head Start Disabilities-Inclusion Network There are three upcoming webinars in the Inclusion Webinar series:
How to SubscribePlease share this message with all staff in your program who may be interested. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Stay up to date by subscribing: We Want to Hear from YouThe Disabilities Services Newsletter is produced monthly by the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning. Submit questions or suggestions for future newsletter topics to ecdtl@ecetta.info. Office of Head Start (OHS) | 330 C Street, SW | 4th Floor Mary E. Switzer Building | Washington, DC 20201 | https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov | 1-866-763-6481 | Contact Us You are receiving this email because you are signed up for Office of Head Start communications. You may modify your ECLKC email subscriptions. Recipients subscribed through the Head Start Enterprise System (HSES) must be removed from HSES by their program or office. Please do not reply to this email. Contact customer service for additional support. |