Behavior Data, FBA Timing, and Discipline for a Student With EBD
Devon, a seventh grader with an emotional disturbance, has had four office referrals in six weeks, all for leaving his seat, shouting, and once tipping a desk. No injury occurred. The principal wants a 10-day suspension and says the behavior is "just defiance." Devon's IEP team has never conducted a functional behavioral assessment, and his behavior intervention plan is a single line: "Devon will follow classroom rules." Teachers report the outbursts cluster during independent writing time and just before lunch. Devon's mother says he is hungry in the morning and that writing tasks frustrate him. The team must respond to the discipline recommendation while addressing the pattern.
1. What should the team do regarding the proposed 10-day suspension, and why?
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A 10-day suspension is a change of placement, and because the behavior is closely tied to Devon's disability, the team must conduct a manifestation determination review (MDR) before imposing it. Key considerations:
- The behavior (leaving seat, shouting, desk-tipping) is consistent with his emotional disturbance and appears linked to frustration during writing and to hunger.
- The district has never conducted an FBA, and the existing BIP is not a real plan-so the district cannot claim it provided appropriate behavioral supports before removing him.
- If the MDR finds the behavior was a manifestation of the disability, the suspension cannot proceed as proposed; instead the team must conduct an FBA and develop or revise a BIP.
The team should recommend completing the MDR, convening to review the pattern, and beginning an FBA rather than defaulting to removal.
2. Describe how the FBA should be designed and what the BIP should target, given the reported pattern.
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The FBA should use multiple sources and direct observation rather than relying on referral narratives. Steps:
- Define the behavior operationally (e.g., out-of-seat for more than 2 minutes, shouting above conversational volume, property disruption) so it can be counted.
- Collect data across settings and times, including antecedent-behavior-consequence records and scatterplot data to confirm the reported clustering during independent writing and pre-lunch.
- Test hypotheses: writing tasks may present a fluency/avoidance function, and pre-lunch behavior may reflect physiological needs (hunger) plus fatigue.
- Build the BIP from the hypothesis: antecedent modifications (chunked writing tasks, pre-teaching, a writing scaffold, scheduled snack or breakfast access before lunch), replacement behaviors (asking for a break or help), and consequence strategies that reinforce the replacement rather than the outburst.
The BIP must be written with measurable goals and progress-monitoring so the team can show whether supports are working before any further discipline decisions.