Using a Functional Assessment-Based Intervention to Increase Academic Engaged Time in an Inclusive Middle School Setting.

A ll of the students came into the math class and began following the teacher’s instruction, while Harry went straight to his desk and put his head down. When Ms. Hart approached Harry in an effort to engage him, he ignored her attempt. He came into his math class each afternoon with a consistent attitude. Unfortunately, the attitude was characterized by apathetic words and body language. Harry was described by the math and special education teachers as monotone, not caring about school or friends, and generally off task. Ms. Hart, the special education teacher, considered Harry’s lack of attention, doodling, playing with his calculator, and putting his head on the desk to be of large concern and wanted immediate help for him. She had tried numerous low-intensity interventions in the past year and was hoping that with only 6 weeks left in the school year, Harry could end on a strong note and have the intervention carry over to help him with a positive beginning in the seventh grade next fall. To address Harry’s behavior, a functional assessment-based intervention (FABI) was designed, implemented, and evaluated using the systematic approached developed by Umbreit, Ferro, Liaupsin, and Lane (2007). The goal was to increase his academic engaged time (AET). After receiving parent consent and student assent, we collected functional assessment data and hypothesized the function of his behavior using the Function Matrix (Umbreit et al., 2007). Next, we developed an intervention package using the Function-Based Intervention Decision model to determine the appropriate focus of the intervention. Finally, we implemented the intervention during his inclusive math class. Overall, the full process occurred within a relatively brief, 6-week period, concluding in the final week of the academic year. Harry’s teacher worked collaboratively with the liaisons (graduate students, some of who were pursuing certification as a board certified behavior analyst) conducting the FABI, which accounted for successful and rapid implementation. This article describes the steps taken in designing and implementing the FABI for Harry: (a) conducting a functional assessment, (b) analyzing data collected via the Function Matrix to determine the maintaining function of the target behavior, and (c) using the Function-Based Intervention Decision Model (Umbreit et al., 2007) to determine an appropriate intervention method. With this information, we developed an intervention that included antecedent adjustments, adjustments to reinforcement contingencies, and extinction components as detailed in the sections that follow.