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Jim Wright

‘RTI Is For BehaviorToo!’: Research-Based InterventionsFor Emotionally Unpredictable & Disruptive StudentsJim Wright, www.interventioncentral.org


Jim Wright

Positive Behavioral Interventions: Definition (OSEP Technical Assistance Center, n.d.)

Positive Behavior Interventions are strategies that teachers and schools can use to:

• define classroom expectations for student behaviors• teach those behaviors to students• give feedback and support to students when they display

appropriate behaviors• provide consistent disciplinary consequences for misbehavior

that are designed to TEACH the student appropriate behaviors rather than PUNISH the student for misbehavior


Jim Wright

Positive Behavioral Interventions Do Not… • Coddle students• Take the place of already-existing

disciplinary guidelines or behavioral expectations

• Tie a teacher’s hands in responding to misbehavior in the classroom


Jim Wright

‘Big Ideas’ in Behavioral Interventions…


Jim Wright

• A student’s classroom behavior is a product of the interaction between that student’s personal qualities, including his or her learning history, and the many factors in that student’s current instructional environment.

For example, a student may behave very differently depending on the peers with whom he or she is sitting, the type of work given, or even the specific adult who happens to be running the classroom.

The good news is that by restructuring aspects of the classroom environment, the teacher can often positively change a student’s behavior.

‘Big Ideas’ About Student Behavior: Behavior as an Interaction Between the Student and the Learning Environment (Lentz & Shapiro, 1986)


Jim Wright

• A student’s behavior is not random but is determined by one or more ‘root causes’ or behavioral ‘drivers’.

• Similar behaviors may stem from different ‘root causes’. Find the cause of the behavior (its function) and you stand a much better chance of designing an intervention that really works…

‘Big Ideas’ About Student Behavior: Behaviors and Their Connection to Root Causes or Drivers (Martens & Meller, 1990)


Jim Wright

• The most common ‘root causes’ or ‘drivers’ for behaviors include:

– Social attention (adult or peer). Example:A student may call out sarcastic comments in class because she gets peer attention for doing so.

– Escape or avoidance of tasks, settings, or situations. Example: A student who is a poor reader may become defiant toward the teacher whenever he is asked to read aloud in front of the class. The student is then sent to the principal’s office. By misbehaving, the student avoids having to engage in reading.

– Access to tangibles or rewards or privileges (‘pay-offs’). Example: A young student may engage in physical tantrums until she is allowed to play with a particular toy. Her misbehavior gains her access to the preferred object.

– [Inattention or impulsivity]

‘Big Ideas’ About Student Behavior: Behaviors and Their Connection to Root Causes or Drivers (Martens & Meller, 1990)


Jim Wright

“Showed disrespect towards me when she yelled inappropriately regarding an instruction sheet. I then asked her to leave the room. She also showed disrespect when I called her twice earlier in the class to see her report card grade.”

Teacher Referral Example…


Jim Wright

“1st ) During the beginning of English class, Z. continued to drink her soda. I gave her a warning and she answered me back. 2nd) She began to talk to other students behind her during quiet reading. When I told her to stop talking, she began to get mouthy and nasty to me. She will do anything to get sent out of the room or to distract from my teaching.”



Jim Wright

‘Big Ideas’ About Student Behavior…• It is much better to head off problem behaviors

than to have to deal with the classroom ‘fallout’ after those behaviors have occurred…


Jim Wright

ABC Timeline

A CB


Jim Wright

“C. and T. were horsing around in the classroom. In the process, they knocked down an overhead projector and crushed it.”



Jim Wright

Common behavioral ‘trouble points’:• Loss of classroom control• Non-compliance or outright defiance• Impulsive behaviors (student fails to

‘think’ before acting)• Highly agitated or

angry students• Managing adult

behaviors

!


Jim Wright

References• Lentz, F.E., & Shapiro, E. S. (1986). Functional assessment of the academic environment.

School Psychology Review, 15, 346-357.

• Martens, B.K., & Meller, P.J. (1990). The application of behavioral principles to educational settings. In T.B. Gutkin & C.R.Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (2nd ed.) (pp. 612-634). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

• McKee, W. T. & Witt, J. C. (1990). Effective teaching: A review of instructional, and environmental variables. In T. B. Gutkin & C. R. Reynolds (Eds.), The handbook of school psychology (2nd ed., pp.821-846). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

• Mayer, G.R. (1995). Preventing antisocial behavior in the schools. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 28, 467-492.

• OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports. (n.d.). What is school-wide PBIS? Retrieved January 30, 2006, from http://www.pbis.org/schoolwide.htm

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