Assisting Districts in Assessing & Planning for

Tier 3 SupportsRose Iovannone, Ph.D., BCBA-D

University of South Floridaiovannone@usf.edu

Objectives• Participants will:• Identify enhancers and inhibitors to Tier 3

systemic implementation• List essential components for Tier 3 process• Describe sample district action planning process

Advanced Organizer• Overview/rationale• Development of evaluation tool• Preliminary outcomes• Case study• Practice time• Questions

Current Status of FBA/BIP Implementation in Schools• No federal guidelines despite federal mandate

o No guidance on key components• In response, schools have “implemented a

variety of inexact practices and procedures that have been loosely labeled as FBA, the majority of which are not tied to any solid evidence base.” (Scott, Anderson, & Spaulding, 2006)

• Van Acker, Boreson, MS. Gable, & Potterton (2005); Cook et al., 2007

Tier 3 Implementation in Multi-tiered Supports

• Districts not readily embracing Tier 3• Possible reasons:

o Philosophyo Degree of change requiredo Skillsets necessary for effectivenesso Resources o FBA/BIP procedures already present

Tier 3: Individual

·Infrastructure in place: (a) Tiers 1 and 2 implemented with fidelity, & (b) system for conducting quality reviews of Tier 3 processes and procedures·Collaborative consultation facilitation: (a) multidisciplinary school-based team; (b) 3 levels of knowledge represented including knowledge of behavioral science, the child & the behavior, & campus/classroom context.·FBA process based on behavioral science principles that includes: (a) Operational definitions of behaviors; (b) direct observation of student and student perceptions of his/her behavior; (c) hypothesis based on FBA data that identifies antecedents, setting events, behavior, and function; (d) multi-component support plan linked to hypothesis with strategies to prevent problem behavior, teach replacement behaviors, and consequences to reinforce new skills and discontinue reinforcement of problem behaviors·Data-based decision-making approach used throughout process that includes: (a) training of teacher to implement interventions and follow-up support; (b) measures of implementation fidelity; (c) meaningful data

Providing Technical Assistance to Districts

to Improve Tier 3 Behavior

Process Steps• District forms Tier 3 Level Team• District team completes Tier 3 Process Interview• District team provides 10 randomly selected

FBAs/BIPs completed in last school year• Baseline score calculated• Strengths and weaknesses used to develop

o Long-term and short-term goalso Action planning steps

Interview

Interview• Questions asked about processes not easily

captured in a products• Looks at both district and campus levels• Scoring summary provided• Areas include:

o Fidelity—process and interventionso Data trackingo Screening/identifying studentso Timeliness of providing behavioral supporto Team compositiono Team processeso Consistency of conducting Tier 3 evaluations and supportso Wrap-around

FBA/BIP Technical Adequacy

Technical adequacy of FBA/BIP

• Evaluation of current processes and products. • Provides district with baseline and targets for

action planning

Iovannone et al., 2009

The Evaluation Tool• Originally developed for grant proposal to train

school personnel to do PTR• Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (PTR)

o Randomized Controlled Trialo Tier 3 behavior interventions compared to services as usualo Outcomes of RCT showed significant improvement for PTR groupo Cross-over treatment group replicated outcomes of RCTo Teachers rank social validity higho Most teachers implemented with .80 fidelity

Purpose of Evaluation• Determine the technical adequacy of FBA/BIPs

o District o Campus/Schoolo Individual

• First step in requesting Tier 3 technical assistance from Florida PBS/RTI:B Project

• First step in working with other states/districts

Evaluation Tool• Review of literature to identify essential

components for adequate FBA/BIPs• Original measure included 24 items (FBA/BIP)• Edited to 20 items• Sent out to three national experts (Terry Scott,

Cindy Anderson, Glen Dunlap) to reviewo Is the item essential?o Is the item worded clearly?

• Final tool contains 18 items (9 FBA/9 BIP)• Scores range from 0-2 for each item.

Report• Complete report includes data from other tools

o Interview about Tier 3 process• Report provides description of strengths and

areas of improvement• Graphs developed• Goal lines can be set• Action plan developed

Sample Reports

Overall Outcomes of Technical Adequacy

• Consistent with other similar studies:• FBA

o Behaviors not operationalizedo Strange functions (e.g., revenge/payback; anxiety; control)o Antecedents, consequences not identifiedo Hypothesis not linked with FBA information

Overall Outcomes• BIP

o Interventions/strategies not linked with FBAo Most often include menu list of many strategies/recommendationso Many do not identify a replacement skillo Functional equivalence missingo Limited descriptions of follow-up

• Supporting teacher• Data plan• Fidelity measures

Action Planning Process

• Structured process to ensure input from all team members

Action Plan Step 1: Long Term Goal

Long-Term Goal: (3-5 years from today) • It is 20__ and (insert name of District) has a high quality,

effective process for all students requiring Tier 3 supports. • What would you observe throughout the schools in the district in

this ‘ideal’ world?• Think about areas of strength and growth (FBA/BIP data)

• Pink Index Card • Write a sentence or phrase to describe what you would see• Examples:

• Evidence-based supports provided to all students• Staff trained in developing high quality FBAs/BIPs• Efficient method of tracking student progress

• Pass in your card to the facilitator

Action Plan Step 2: Short-Term Goals

• Short-Term/One-Year Goals:• To achieve your district’s long-term goal, short-term goals must

be developed.

• Yellow Index Card• Refer to the long-term goal just developed by your team• Write the first or most important action step (short phrase) you

think your district will need to do to reach the long-term goal.• Write your second, third and/or fourth action steps on additional

index cards • Pass in each card to the facilitator

Prioritize Categories• Green Index Card:

• Review each category• Make sure all the items ‘fit together’ • Determine an appropriate title for each category based

on its contents• Rank order the top (3) categories you think your district

should address this year.• Pass your completed card to the facilitator

Step 3: Develop Action Plan Steps

(link to action plan template to complete the following steps)

• Top-Ranked Categories:• Develop a short-term goal statement for each category• How you will know you’ve reached the goal?• Determine outcomes• Outline the tasks your team will need to accomplish in the

next 3 months to reach each short-term goal• Task analyze all the activities

• Who will take the lead in each activity• Who will be involved in completing each activity• Tentative timelines for completion

Next Steps• Schedule next district tier 3 meeting

• Team only• Team and PBS Contact

• Technical assistance• Determine needs

Sample Areas of Focus

PBS Team Structure• Goals:

o Teams to support all students (general ed. and ESE) throughout tiered (levels) continuum of support

o System for monitoring outcomes at all levelso Access to technical assistanceo Link between all three tiers of behavior supporto Link between school, home, community

PBS Team Structure in a School

• SWPBS team—for all students (gen. ed. & ESE)o Monitor implementation of universal interventiono Monitor school-wide datao Guide implementation of new initiatives, braid with SWPBS

• Tier 3 PBS team—“Standing team”—for all students (gen. ed. & ESE)o Progress monitor students in targeted and intensive interventionso Guide intervention selection for students selected for IPBS

• Student-focused teams—“Ad hoc” for all students (gen. ed. & ESE)o Conduct FBAs and build support plans

Tier 3 Behavior Support in a School: Team Option

• “Ad-hoc” team—student focused (both gen. ed. & ESE) Responsibilities of team (problem solving process)

• Conduct FBA• Build function-based support plan• Provide coaching/support to teacher to implement interventions• Collect and review fidelity and student outcome data• Make decisions based on data

Membership—Three levels of knowledge represented• Someone with expertise in FBA and function-based intervention

plans (school psychologists, CABAs, BCBAs, behavior specialists, counselors, social workers……)

• Someone with knowledge of the student and his or her behaviors (Teacher(s), aides, parents, students)

• Someone with knowledge of the context in which the support plan will be implemented (administrators or designees)

RtI Leadership Team

Academic & Behavior Issues

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 1 Academic Tasks

Tier 2 Academic Tasks

Tier 3 Academic Tasks

Tier 1 Behavior Tasks

Tier 2 Behavior Tasks

Tier 3 Behavior Tasks

Multiple Teams: Academic and Behavior

Tier 1 Academic

Tier 1 Behavior

Tiers 2 & 3 Behavior and Academics

Advanced Tiers

Advanced Tier Option

Tier 1 Leadership Team B & A

Tiers 2 and 3

B & A

Coordinates Intervention

sB & A

Monitors DataB & A

Identifying and prioritizing students

• Universal screenero Teacher nomination (Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorder :

SBD Gate 1)o SSBD Gate 2o Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS)

Multiple Levels of Tier 3 (FBA)

• Brief FBAo FBA/BIP developed in one meeting (60 minutes or

less)o Best used for high frequency/low intensity behaviors

(e.g., noncompliance, minor disruptions, etc.)• Example: Brief PTR, ERASE

• Comprehensive FBAo More complex FBA/BIP procedureo May take 2 or more meetings or one lengthy

meeting (>1 hour)o Best used for chronic, durable, intense behaviors

• Example: PTR

Multiple Levels of Tier 3

• Wraparoundo Involves multiple agencieso Support plan includes practices that may go beyond scope of schoolo Best used for students with mental health issues and/or complex life

events

• PTR Efficient Version• Modified processes/forms

o Suggested stepso Goal settingo Fidelity (plan assessment)

Data Tracking—Tier 3• Systemic Data Tracking Examples

o Florida School Districts• Monroe• Martin• University of Oregon

Collaborative consultation

• Shifting from expert to facilitator (coach)o Consultant behaviorso Alliance scaleo Social Validity

Sample Action Plans and Products

Case Study

District• County school district located in Central Florida• In PBIS network• Requested support to address Tier 3• Leadership team includes representatives from

general ed. RtI and special ed.• Positions of team—central office administrators,

school psychologists, behavior specialists, social workers, guidance counseling

Baseline• Report• Graphs

Action Plan• Random District Action Plan

Current Status of Random County

• Process• Sample Level 1 (Brief/efficient) FBA• Developing training plan for this summer

Questions?