De-Implementing Inappropriate Accommodations Practices

Educational accommodations, which alter the manner in which instruction or assessments are administered, are often an appropriate part of a student’s academic program. However, accommodations are frequently overused and have significant limitations. De-implementing inappropriate accommodations is a complex task, but one made easier through a clear understanding of the factors that cause and maintain those accommodations practices. In the present paper, we use the logic of functional behavioral assessment to better understand why evaluators and school staff recommend and provide inappropriate accommodations. We identify problematic background beliefs, specific antecedents, and reinforcing consequences for inappropriate accommodations, before describing several effective strategies for de-implementing those accommodations.

Perspectives on Functional (Behavioral) Assessment

In the 25 years since the publication of the article reprinted in this issue of Behavioral Disorders, a tremendous amount of research and opinion has been published on the topics of functional analysis, functional assessment, and assessment-based interventions. In this commentary, we reflect on the context in which our original work was conducted and briefly consider changes that have occurred and challenges that remain.

Social Dynamics Management and Functional Behavioral Assessment

Managing social dynamics is a critical aspect of creating a positive learning environment in classrooms. In this paper three key interrelated ideas, reinforcement, function, and motivating operations, are discussed with relation to managing social behavior.

Functional Behavioral Assessment

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a set of procedures that are used to assess and identify environmental conditions that predict and maintain behavior FBA is a means to determine the purpose of a person’s behavior and the ways in which the behavior is reinforced in the person’s environment. Underlying the functional assessment of behavior is the assumption that the way one behaves is functionally related to aspects of the environment. This relation is reliable, predictable, and observable, and can thus be assessed by an outside observer. The FBA entails the use of a series of methods to determine the variables that contextualize a behavior of interest. Contextual variables can include any aspect of the individual’s environment and are usually separated temporally between those factors that occur before a behavior and those which occur after. The latter are termed consequences and the former are typically referred to as antecedents. Usually, the behaviors under study, especially in applied settings, are called target behaviors. Temporally, these factors are conceptualized in an ABC framework: antecedent, behavior, and consequence. The behavior of interest is the target of a subsequent intervention; the intervention is informed by the FBA and utilizes the understanding of the behavior’s purpose. Antecedents are altered such that target behaviors are no longer prompted or motivated by environmental conditions, new socially acceptable behaviors are taught that can access the desired reinforcer and replace the target behavior, and reinforcers are altered to decrease access when the target behavior occurs and increase access when the replacement behavior occurs. FBAs are frequently used in schools to address problem behaviors. Problem behaviors occur with students in the school setting for many different reasons. Research has determined that the use of FBAs is useful in identifying environmental factors that predict and maintain problem behaviors. The use of FBAs in the school setting has proven to increase positive student outcomes. This article demonstrates how FBAs can be used effectively in different settings.