Use data gathered about this student’s behaviour to identify antecendents or contexts in which the problem behaviour is most likely to occur. This will give staff working with the student a better idea of how they might structure situations to prevent problem behaviour and encourage positive behaviour.
Identifying warning signs that the student is beginning to experience difficulty can help staff be aware of what to look for in the classroom in order to defuse potentially problematic situations. Having a plan in place to defuse situations will give staff confidence to act proactively and will help students better understand their role in managing their own behaviour.
Positive supports
Identifying positive supports for a student is the most important part of an individual behaviour support plan. Identifying proactive strategies that staff can use to help the student develop and maintain positive behaviours to replace problem behaviours is key.
This section of the plan also identifies specific skills and concepts that need to be taught, practised and reinforced, and the specific type of reinforcers that are effective for this student. These supports should be in place across school environments and throughout the school year.
Role of peers
The choice of a target problem behaviour in the plan is also determined by the impact the behaviour is having on other students.
Consider whether the behaviour is affecting their:
- ability to learn
- participation in the class
- stress level in class (e.g., feeling of safety)
- tendency to imitate the negative behaviour.
In inclusive settings, staff must find ways to implement plans that do not stigmatize students with behaviour disabilities but also do not disrupt the learning or compromise the safety or well-being of other students.
Peers can support positive behaviour when they understand what they can do to help. Classroom behaviour expectations that support inclusive and supportive behaviour (such as including others or not engaging in teasing or bullying) can also create a supportive structure in which peers model positive behaviour and effective social skills.
Additional support
This part of the plan identifies other opportunities staff can use to model, teach and support positive behaviour throughout the school day. Many of these proactive strategies will benefit all students, not only students with behaviour disabilities.
Crisis management plan
Although the goal is to prevent a crisis from ever occurring, recognize that some students with behaviour disabilities may occasionally become very agitated. In such cases, the behaviour support plan for that individual student becomes a crisis management tool. All staff working with the student, and perhaps other students in the class, need to be aware of and understand this crisis management plan, which ideally has been developed by the whole planning team, including parents.
The main focus of the plan is identifying steps for decreasing the likelihood that the problem behaviour will occur, but there needs to be a plan in place in the event that the interventions are not effective.
If a behaviour escalates and requires this alternate plan, the team needs to revisit the behaviour support plan as soon as possible to adjust the level and type of individualized intervention.
Physical intervention
Physical intervention is a crisis management technique, not a strategy for managing behaviour. Physical interventions are not designed to reduce the frequency or severity of negative behaviours but rather to ensure the students’ safety. Consequently, these interventions are used only in emergencies. Teachers need to consult with administrators to determine which interventions are approved for use in their jurisdiction, what training is available and what documentation, including communication with parents, is required. Only staff who have received specific training should attempt physical interventions. The goal should always be to increase and improve proactive behaviour interventions so physical intervention is never necessary.
Jurisdiction-wide crisis management protocols
A number of Alberta school jurisdictions have developed a risk threat assessment protocol that assists school personnel in identifying students who may have suicidal or homicidal intentions. One of the goals of threat assessment protocol is that adults react appropriately—neither overreact or underreact—to problem behaviours.
Protocols generally involve a multidisciplinary team using a set of guiding questions to assess the risk a student poses.
Ideally, the crisis management plan section in a student’s individual behaviour support plan would align with the jurisdiction protocol developed for all students. However, depending on the specific terms of the jurisdiction protocol, and the developmental needs of the individual student with behaviour disabilities, the intervention most appropriate and effective with that student might be slightly different.
Individualized program plans
An individualized program plan (IPP) for a student with behaviour disabilities should include three to five goals related to behaviours that interfere with or present a barrier to the student’s learning or the learning of other students. The individual behaviour support plan outlines ways to act on and support the behaviour goals identified in the IPP.
Alberta Education’s Standards for Special Education, Amended June 2004, require that IPPs contain the following essential information:
- assessment data (diagnostic assessment data used to determine special education programming and services)
- current level of performance and achievement
- strengths and areas of need
- measurable goals and objectives
- procedures for evaluating student progress
- identification of coordinated support services
- relevant medical information
- required classroom accommodations
- transition plans
- information about formal review of progress at regularly scheduled reporting periods
- year-end summary
- parents’ signatures to indicate agreement with the plan.
