Creating Legally Defensible Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans
(Room 106 first floor)
06 Nov 25
2:45 PM
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3:45 PM
Tracks:
Legal Issues: Navigating Special Education
This session is designed for educational professionals, administrators and behavior analysts who supervise or conduct and implement functional behavior assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) in schools. The federal government special education law (IDEA) includes little information or guidance regarding who, when, what and how FBAs or BIPs are needed or what needs to be included in the reports. This means that each state and/or local education agency is left to decide the format, content and means of implementing effective FBAs and BIPs. Not surprisingly, there have been many states, schools and families that have found themselves in court to decide whether a student(s) has been provided with an appropriate and effective FBA and/or BIP that is helping the student to make progress in his/her goals and objectives. This session will provide a brief overview of the IDEA laws, federal special education guidance, AND the special education case law that is included in a guidance document created by this presenter and three other colleagues. This includes information from the new Dear Colleague letter provided by OSERS and OESE in November 2024. This guidance document can be used at the state, regional or local level to outline for administrators, educational professionals and behavior analysts the who, how, what, when and where is needed in order to develop FBAs and BIPs that can be reliably defensible in a court of law. It is also a user-friendly for school staff and effective for implementation with students. Information from this session is based on a research article that is currently In Press with the peer reviewed journal Remedial and Special Education.