FBA Steps in Order: A Working Checklist

The steps of an FBA are easy to list and easy to skip. This page puts them in order, says what each one should produce, and names the usual traps. Use it as a working checklist, and copy the tracker at the end if it helps.

Step 1: choose one behavior and define it

Queensland's guide says only one behavior should be selected at first, and offers five questions to choose. Are there safety concerns? Which behavior most affects the student's learning and wellbeing? Which most affects others? How often does it occur? How likely is short-term success?

Then define it in terms anyone could recognize. Queensland's test: could someone who does not know the student immediately recognize the behavior? It gives pairs such as "blurts out answers during whole class questioning" instead of "talkative," and "hits others with a fist or open hand" instead of "aggressive." The next guide, writing an operational definition, covers this step in depth.

Output: one behavior, one definition. Trap: a label such as "defiant" in place of a description.

Step 2: collect baseline data

Before anything is changed, find out how much of the behavior there is. Queensland says to know the frequency, duration, or intensity before interventions begin, to choose a simple method suited to the behavior, and to collect baseline over a week or more, depending on how often it occurs. For behavior that is unsafe or may cause injury, it says to complete a risk assessment. The how-to is in baseline before a behavior plan.

Output: a dated count or timing record. Trap: changing the response before baseline is done, so you never know what the starting point was.

Step 3: review records

Queensland lists the kinds of records to look at: report cards, standardized test results, literacy and numeracy assessments, attendance, lateness, behavior referrals, suspensions, classroom minors, individual plans, and agency referrals. Illinois adds that an FBA should identify prior interventions and document their success rates across settings.

Output: a short history: when the behavior began, what has been tried, and what happened. Trap: reading only the discipline file. Look at strengths and at times the behavior did not occur.

Step 4: interview

Talk to the parents, the teachers, the student, and other staff who see the student. Queensland provides interview templates, including a functional assessment interview tool and a checklist for teachers and staff, and says someone with good rapport with the person should conduct each interview, with training and practice recommended. Illinois's list of contributors includes bus drivers, paraprofessionals, and lunchroom staff as sources for environmental variables.

Output: the same few questions answered by several people. Trap: interviewing only the person who reported the problem.

Step 5: observe directly

Observation is for when records and interviews are not enough or the team is not confident about the function. Queensland says to observe when the behavior is most likely, with a form that matches the behavior: an ABC form for behavior that occurs less often or lasts several minutes, a tally or scatter plot for frequent behavior. Observations usually take 15 to 30 minutes, and continue until at least five occurrences have been seen. Illinois says direct observation should occur across various settings and situations that tend to result in the behavior. See ABC data: how to record.

Output: ABC entries or a scatterplot. Trap: one observation on one day.

Step 6: summarize and state a hypothesis

Queensland's guide says to draw the information together, identifying patterns between setting events, antecedents, the behavior, and maintaining consequences, and to write a summary statement that leads to a hypothesis about function. If a behavior seems to serve two functions, it says to write two statements. See hypothesis statement examples.

Output: a summary statement. Trap: stating a function the data do not support.

The six steps in one invented case

A fourth grader, called Noor here, is the example.

1. Behavior chosen: leaving the assigned area without permission, defined as both feet outside the reading corner or desk area during work time. Calling out was also a concern, but it was set aside for later.
2. Baseline: a tally card for six school days showed 4, 6, 5, 7, 5, and 6 departures, nearly all in the morning.
3. Records: attendance is steady. A schedule change at the start of the month moved reading from afternoon to morning. Earlier plans used a sticker chart with no change in the count.
4. Interviews: her teacher says it happens when work is long. Her mother says mornings at home are rushed. Noor says, "I can't finish it, so I go get a drink."
5. Observation: two 20 minute observations during independent work showed six occurrences, five of them within a few minutes of a long worksheet being handed out, and four followed by the teacher approaching to help.
6. Summary statement: during morning independent work, when a long written task is handed out, Noor leaves the work area, and the teacher approaches to help, so the function may be to avoid a long task or to get adult help. The behavior may be more likely on rushed mornings.

Notice what the team does not claim. It does not say why Noor finds the worksheet hard, only that the pattern points to avoidance and attention. The plan will test both: shorter chunks and a help card, then watch the data.

What comes next

Queensland says completion of the FBA is not an end in itself. The next step is selecting interventions that align with the function, so that the behavior becomes irrelevant, inefficient, or ineffective. That is the subject of what to include in a BIP.

A tracker you can copy

Slips that cost a week

• Skipping the family. Illinois lists parents and the student among contributors, and Colorado says families must be involved throughout.
• Defining after observing. Staff count different things.
• Collecting forms and never reading them. Look at the data at the end of week one.
• Writing the plan first. The function should come from data, not from the first idea.

Terms are in the glossary.

What differs by place

Time limits, consent, who leads, and which forms to use are set by your state and district. The guides cited here are examples. Ask your special education director which procedure applies to you.