Using Functional Behavior Assessment to Improve Classroom Management

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Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is a systematic process for gathering information that helps determine the relationship between a student’s problem behavior and his or her environment. It is possible identify events in the environment that maintain problem behavior and, subsequently, to design a support plan for student or students. Functional Behavioral Assessment methods include reviewing student records, interviewing students and teachers, and conducting direct observations of student behaviors. Functional Behavior Assessment methods range from highly precise techniques to relatively informal one. Precise techniques can be conducted by support personnel; informal ones can be conducted by teachers.

Many frustrated pre-service and novice teachers comment that they cannot present the high-quality lessons they prepared because students are “out of control.” Research supports the preceding comments of pre-service and novice teachers. Doyle (1986) developed a basic premise in his review of classroom management. His premise was that the teacher’s management task is more one of maintaining work systems than remediating misbehavior. He suggested that teacher preparation programs need to prepare student teachers with directive techniques that will protect the work system, that is, presentation of high-quality lessons.

McNeely and Mertz (1990) found that secondary student teachers had a high sense of efficacy and spent a great deal of time planning lessons that had more than one activity at the beginning of their student-teaching experiences. By the end of student teaching, they spent their on classroom control and planned lessons with single activities in order to reduce disruption. These student teachers obviously were not pre...

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...ppropriate. Teachers can give gentle oral reprimands alone or follow them with instructions that provide positive practice of an alternative behavior. The teacher must also seek opportunities to interact positively with the student. So, by telling them that you will pay a lot of attention when he or she is following class rules or you will not be able to see to him or she who engages in irresponsible behavior.

Works Cited
Doyle, W. (1986). Classroom organization and management. In M.C. Wittrock (Ed.)

Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 392-431). New York: Macmillan.

McNeely, S. R., & Mertz, N. T. (1990, April). Cognitive constructs of pre-service

teachers: Research on how student teachers think about teaching.

Sprick, R. S., Sprick, M., & Garrison, M. (1993). Interventions: Collaborative planning for students at risk. Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

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