Functional Behavioral Assessment

The functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is the primary foundation for all behavioral work with students who do not respond to schoolwide PBIS.

The primary purposes of an FBA are to:

  • Articulate exactly what a student does or says that concerns us
  • Which circumstances or situations provoke a student's best and worst behavior
  • What purpose or function the student's behavior might be serving (i.e. why does he/she continue the behavior)

An FBA can be conducted quite quickly. However, if behavior support plans based on these "quick" FBAs are not effective, a more comprehensive FBA with additional tools may be necessary.

Every FBA should have the following features:

  • Demographic information about the student
  • Student profile, both academic and behavioral, including positive characteristics
  • A behavior pathway
  • A summary statement. including a description of the behavior along with the when, where and with whom questions answered

These features are explained more fully in the links to the left.

FBA Resources

General Guidelines

Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Support Plan Worksheet (Word Document (doc) · 75.5 KB)
Checklist FBA-BSP Fidelity (Word Document (doc) · 66.0 KB)

Forms and Examples

Functional Assesssment Checklist for Teachers and Staff (FACTS) Part A (Word Document (doc) · 30.0 KB)
Functional Assesssment Checklist for Teachers and Staff (FACTS) Part B (Word Document (doc) · 31.0 KB)
FBA Faculty Interview and BSP form - SNHS Head Start (Word Document (doc) · 36.5 KB)
FBA Student Interview form - Pittsfield ES (Word Document (doc) · 39.0 KB)
FBA Faculty Interview form - Pittsfield ES (Word Document (doc) · 27.0 KB)
FBA Observation form (Word Document (doc) · 22.5 KB)

Evaluating Your FBA/BSP

FBA/BSP Fidelity Evaluation worksheet (Word Document (doc) · 69.5 KB)
Sample BSP for Evaluation (use with worksheet) (Word Document (doc) · 25.0 KB)
Targeted Team Log of Interventions and Results (Excel Spreadsheet (xls) · 20.0 KB)