Prevention and Intervention to Promote Social-Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health
What the questions test
Know the tiered prevention logic. Tier 1: PBIS, SEL curricula (CASEL's five competencies - self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making), and universal mental health screening. Tier 2: Check-In/Check-Out, small groups, mentoring, targeted skills instruction. Tier 3: FBA/BIP, individual counseling, wraparound, and coordinated community services.
Functional behavior assessment identifies the function of behavior - attention, escape/avoidance, access to tangibles, or sensory/automatic - and the BIP teaches a functionally equivalent replacement behavior with antecedent and consequence changes. Crisis content includes suicide risk assessment (ask directly; know warning signs and referral pathways), threat assessment, crisis response, and the limits of confidentiality (danger to self or others, abuse). Trauma-informed and restorative practices belong here as well.
Traps
- Writing a BIP that punishes behavior without identifying its function.
- Confusing time-out, seclusion, and restraint; the latter two are restrictive and legally regulated.
- Ignoring consent and confidentiality limits in counseling.
- Calling Tier 2 “extra attention” with no data or progress monitoring.
- Deciding a student is “attention-seeking” and therefore withholding all adult attention.
Rule of thumb / worked example
A student calls out during independent work and is sent to the office daily. Interviews and ABC data show the behavior occurs mostly when work is hard and reliably ends the task. Function: escape. Replacement: requesting a break or help with a card. Antecedent: chunk assignments and pre-teach the request. Consequence: honor the break request, withhold escape for calling out. Monitor with a daily behavior rating twice weekly.