The Importance Of Behavior Assessments

Today, many students with a variety of disabilities, including students with emotional and behavior disorders, are being educated in the general education classroom. All children communicate their wants, needs, interests, and knowledge through their behavior. The following strategies can help students with emotional and behavior issues be successful: creating positive and supportive environment, clear and simple rules, being proactive instead of reactive, reward positive behavior, allowing for mini breaks, and the use of motivational strategies. Teachers should be aware of how students perceive the classroom and be willing to remove or alter the environment to eliminate or reduce problem behaviors. According to Austin and Sciarra, there are two types of

Externalized behaviors are “acting out” behaviors, such as hitting, kicking, biting, and fighting. Often students that display externalize behaviors are more likely to be referred for further evaluation and receive more support and treatment than students that display internalizing behaviors. Internalized behaviors are harder to observe and may include anxiety disorders, shyness, depression, or mental illnesses. Students that display internalizing behaviors are often seen as the shy, quiet students that does not cause any problems. However, these students require just as much support and treatment to be successful in school. Teaching students with emotional and behavior issues can be challenging, but extremely rewarding. An important factor to remember is that a student’s behavior or outburst is not a personal act. Teachers should avoid getting into power struggles with their students.

The number of students being diagnosed with emotional and behavior disorders has increased over the last several years. The two important roles of a teacher are to conduct Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA) and design a Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP). Functional