For teachers, paras, and school teams

Observe it. Define it. Plan it. Check it.

Behavior Plan Playbook explains functional behavior assessments, behavior intervention plans, and the data, supports, and meetings around them. Plain language, the rule behind each step, and sample wording you can adapt.

Start with FBA basics All 30 plays

Six chapters

Read them in order, or jump to the one that matches your week.

Chapter 1

FBA basics

What a functional behavior assessment is, when one is needed, the steps in order, and how to define a behavior and state a hypothesis.

6 plays inside Chapter 2

Data collection

ABC records, scatterplots, baselines, incident notes, and the data sheets that track a plan.

5 plays inside Chapter 3

BIP writing

What a behavior intervention plan holds, how it differs from behavior goals, replacement skills, crisis plan basics, and reviewing a plan.

6 plays inside Chapter 4

Positive supports

Antecedent strategies, reinforcement, transitions, sensory needs, and teaching students to monitor themselves.

5 plays inside Chapter 5

Meetings and documentation

Meeting agendas, sharing a plan with staff, manifestation determination, talking with families, and what to do when a plan is not working.

5 plays inside Chapter 6

Team roles

Who is on the FBA team, and what paraprofessionals and general education teachers do in a plan.

3 plays inside

Start with the problem on your desk

Pick the line that sounds like your week.

A student's behavior keeps getting in the wayWhat an FBA is, and what it asks of you.FBA, BIP: which one do I need?A side-by-side of the two documents.I have to write the planA checklist of what goes in, section by section.The plan is not workingWhat to check before you rewrite it.I am a paraprofessional. What is my part?What the role covers, and what it does not.I have to write up an incidentFacts, times, and words that hold up later.Discipline is on the tableWhat a manifestation determination review is.Transitions are the hard partSupports for the moments between activities.

Newest plays

Each play is re-read against its sources on a schedule. The date on a play is the last time we did.

Data collection

ABC Data: How to Record Good Entries, Step by Step

How to write ABC entries that a team can use: what goes in each column, good and poor entries side by side, how to summarize a set, and how many you need.

10 min read, updated October 23, 2026 Positive supports

Antecedent Strategies in the Classroom: Prevent It First

Prevention moves a teacher can make before a behavior starts: expectations, schedule, choices, task fit, and seating, with examples matched to function.

10 min read, updated October 23, 2026 Data collection

Baseline Before a Behavior Plan: What to Count First

Take a baseline for a behavior before a plan starts: what to count, how many days, what to do if safety cannot wait, and how to graph the starting point.

9 min read, updated October 23, 2026 BIP writing

Behavior IEP Goals: Examples You Can Adapt

Twelve invented behavior IEP goals by skill area, each with condition, skill, and criterion, plus a fill-in template and checks that keep goals measurable.

10 min read, updated October 23, 2026 BIP writing

BIP Review and Revision: When and How to Update a Plan

When to review a behavior plan, what to check in order, how data rules turn numbers into decisions, and how to fade or revise a plan with notice.

10 min read, updated October 23, 2026 Meetings and documentation

BIP Team Meeting Agenda: A Sample You Can Adapt

A 60 minute agenda for a behavior plan meeting, who should attend under IDEA, what to send ahead, how to run the table, and how to close with actions.

9 min read, updated October 23, 2026

House rules

What we promise, and what we do not do

The federal rules ask the IEP team to consider positive behavioral supports for a student whose behavior gets in the way of learning, and they describe a few specific steps for discipline. Most of the practice is left to states and districts. We keep what a rule requires apart from what guides and research suggest, and we name the source of each.

How we review Our sources

Examples use invented students and details, and say so.
No medication, therapy, restraint, or seclusion advice. Educational supports only.
No student names, ever. Please do not send us records.
Nothing here is legal, psychological, or clinical advice.

Words you will hear

A few of the terms that come up most. The full glossary has the rest.

Antecedent: What happens right before a behavior, such as a task, a direction, a change in routine, or a peer comment.
Function of behavior: The purpose a behavior serves for the student, such as getting or avoiding something.
Manifestation determination: A review by the school, the parent, and relevant IEP team members of whether certain conduct was a manifestation of the student's disability.
Operational definition: A description of a behavior in observable, measurable terms that two people would read the same way.
Reinforcement: Something that follows a behavior and makes that behavior more likely in the future.
Replacement behavior: The behavior the educator wants the student to use instead of the behavior of concern.