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Positive Behavior Support Plan

Taylor Dorr

Towson University

SPED 498
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1. Definition of Specific Behavior:

Sam’s specific behavior is placing his head down on his desk during instructional periods.

While other students are reading, or the teacher is explaining content/directions, Sam will place

his head down upon his desk. Sam’s behavior of placing his head down varies in occurrence and

time. When Sam places his head on his desk he avoids eye-contact with the front board as well

as his teacher. By avoiding eye-contact with the board, Sam is missing key practice with word

recognition. Word recognition and reading out loud are key skills that a CLS classroom

promotes. Sam also will fidget with his token board while he has his head down. His fixation on

the token board along with having his head down causes him to miss content of the class

readings as well as the questions being asked of other students. When asked to pick his head up,

Sam tends to comply within a few seconds however this varies depending upon the day and

subject of the instruction that is occurring. While the behavior itself is not dangerous to other

students, the redirection from the teacher does interrupt the flow of the lesson which may disrupt

the other student’s participation and acquisition of knowledge.

2. Literature Review:

Article #1

Carr, M. E. (2016). Self-management of challenging behaviors associated with Autism

Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis. Australian Psychologist, 51(4), 316-333.

doi:10.1111/ap.12227

The article was a review of the effectiveness of self-management interventions

used by individuals diagnosed with Autism. By looking at multiple studies, they

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believe that there is sufficient evidence that suggest using self-managing

interventions are an evidence-based strategy to help challenging behaviors of

individuals with Autism. The studies focused mainly on the settings outside of the

classroom however it looked at both high and lower-functioning individuals.

Reinforcement was found to be a significant feature of all the interventions

mentioned in the studies.

Article #2

Schulze, M. A. (2016). Self-management strategies to support students with ASD. TEACHING

Exceptional Children, 48(5), 225-231. doi:10.1177/0040059916640759

This article looked at self-monitoring as a strategy for students with Autism

specifically within the general education setting. The article describes the steps

that need to be taken before designing and implementing a self-monitoring

intervention. It also provides examples of self-monitoring interventions such as

self-recording charts or goal setting. The article provides steps that need to be

taken for the implantation of these interventions; which includes providing a

student with a cue, teaching the student the system, and checking in with the

student.

Article #3

Sabanathan, Narmatha, (2015) The use of self-management procedures to increase on task

behavior

of three children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Culminating Projects in

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Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. Paper 12.

This article discussed a study that looked at three students who have Autism and

the use of a self-management package and a token economy. The self-

management package included having individualized on-task goals for each

participant. The study found that for all students the combination of a self-

management package and a token economy helped to increase the on-task

behaviors. The results translated across the school and home setting.

Article #4

Xu, S., Wang, J., Lee, G. T., & Luke, N. (2016). Using self-monitoring with guided goal

setting to increase academic engagement for a student with Autism in an inclusive

classroom in China. The Journal of Special Education, 51(2), 106-114.

doi:10.1177/0022466916679980

This article looked at a study conducted with a nine-year old child who was

diagnosed with Autism. The study looked at the effectiveness of using a self-

monitoring tool and guided goal setting. The study found that implementation of

the self-monitoring tool and the goal setting helped the student become more

engaged academically. After removal of the self-monitoring tool, the student

continued to show a consistent engagement within his inclusion class.

Article #5

Taylor, J. C., & Hill, D. (2017). Using daily behavior report cards during extended school

year services for young students with intellectual and developmental

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disabilities. Education and Treatment of Children, 40(4), 525-546.

doi:10.1353/etc.2017.0023

This article looked at the use of daily behavior report cards during the extended

school year for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The

study found that implementing the daily behavior report cards helped to decrease

the unwanted behaviors and promoted the desired behaviors for all students

involved. The article focused their discussion on the need for establishing clear

expectations for the students that are conveyed through the daily report cards. As

well as using the daily report cards as a means of providing students with

feedback. The student can best self-reflect if there are clear expectations lined out

and if they receive concise and timely feedback.

3. Baseline Data Collection:

Sam was observed in one reading class, one social studies class, and two afternoon

lessons. For Sam’s reading and social studies classes, he is with the same group of six

students, which is a mix of students from all three CLS classes. For the afternoon lesson,

Sam is with the same eight students from his homeroom class. For the data collection, I

decided to use a ABC chart. I included the day, time, and subject of the class he was being

observed in. I had my mentor teacher observe Sam as I taught. For the ABC chart, I had her

write down any antecedents of the behavior. For the behavior, I had her tally how many times

it occurred after each type of antecedent. Finally, I had her write down any consequences that

occurred after Sam placed his head down. This was repeated for all four classes observed.
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After looking at the baseline data, I found on average Sam places his head down mainly

when other students are reading or answering questions. On average Sam places his head down

around 4 times while other classmates are reading/answering questions. Overall on average Sam

places his head down about 5 times during the instructional period. For every time Sam placed

his head upon his desk, I asked him to pick his head up. For one of them I asked him to

participate with the class quiz. Sam almost immediately picked his head up after each verbal

prompt. Sam’s instructional periods are only 30 minutes long. All of our class readings tend to be

around 10-14 pages long. Therefore, every time Sam places his head down and disengages he is

missing a chunk of the instruction. He is also missing a portion of practicing his communication

skills through word recognition. I spoke with my mentor teacher as well as Sam’s other main
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academic teachers and they have also noticed an increase in Sam’s disengagement with work and

his behavior of placing his head on the desk. During afternoon lesson, my mentor teacher and I

have found that when Sam is not called on or is asked to give other students turns he tends to

place his head down as well. Sam is a student who likes to lead but who also likes to have things

his way. When myself or my colleagues redirect him back to instruction he will disengage

/disrupt the instruction as well as occasionally becoming aggressive. Sam only has a Behavior

Intervention Plan regarding his violent outbursts towards others and himself. For this plan, Sam

has a token board that requires him to have a calm body, quiet voice, and first time listening in

order to earn his tokens. Every six minutes Sam is given up to three chances to follow directions

in order to earn one token. After five tokens, Sam is allowed to play with a toy for 3 minutes.

4. Hypothesis of Functional Intention:

Based off of the data collected and my observations, Sam’s behavior is to avoid work. Sam is

a student who likes to do what he wants based on his terms. With ongoing observations, my

colleagues and I have found that Sam disengages when he is not an active part of a lesson and

when he wants to do something else but is told to redirect his attention. When Sam places his

head down on the desk he no longer is engaging with the work. Also, when Sam places his head

down occasionally he will do so with a loud sigh to indicate his frustration with what he is asked

to do. After analyzing the data, I found that the majority of the time the behavior is occurring

while Sam is not being an “active” participant of a lesson such as answering a question or

reading aloud. Therefore, instead of being an active listener and reading along to himself, he

disengages and avoids working all together by placing his head down.
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5. Replacement behavior:

An appropriate replacement behavior for Sam is to keep his head up during the entire

instructional period. By keeping his head up off his desk, Sam will remain engaged and active

with each lesson. This behavior also allows him to practice word recognition skills even if his

peers are reading aloud to the class. My mentor teacher and I decided that we would sit down

with Sam in the morning to explain to Sam how he should be keeping his head up during

instruction. We explained to him that he is missing content as well as being disrespectful to his

classmates while his head is down. We then explained that we would now being including

keeping his head up as a means of earning tokens. Just like for his other required behaviors, we

explained that if within six minutes he was asked to pick his head up three or more times he

would not earn that token. We reminded him that he must earn all five tokens in order to earn a

toy during the instructional period. Sam along with my mentor teacher, explained the new token

board system to all of his teachers. Sam was excited to prove he could have good behavior in

order to earn a 100% day. For the first few days, Sam was verbally reminded of the new token

board system. We also showed Sam, how we were going to collect data on if he earned a token.

This reinforced to him visually what behaviors he needed to display in order to keep earning

tokens.

6. Positive Behavior Supports:

1. The main positive support I will implement is the use of a token board. For

every six minutes, Sam has three chances to keep his head off his desk. If he is

able to keep his head up or at least only places his down less than three times

he earns a token. After five tokens, Sam will earn three minutes with a toy of

his choice. A token board, helps Sam to self-monitor his behavior as well.
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While earning, Sam can see how close he is to earning his toy and how well

he is behaving. Sam enjoys telling his mom how well he did in his classes.

2. I will also be implementing the use of verbal prompts. Every time Sam places

his head on his desk, I will verbally remind him to keep his head up. When

Sam complies, I will give him verbal praising. This may include “Thank you

Sam” or “Good job paying attention”. Through verbal prompts, I am helping

Sam understand the desired behavior I would like to see. By pairing the verbal

prompts with following praise, I am reinforcing to Sam that he is conducting a

desired behavior. This reminds him that he is going to earn a token.

3. Another support I will use is proximity control. Proximity control is a great

tool to help Sam self-monitor his behavior. When an adult is near Sam, he

tends to pay more attention. By remaining engaged with a lesson, he is less

likely to place his head on his desk. This engagement in return helps Sam to

understand the content as well as practicing respect for his teacher and peers.

7. Data Collection and Visual Representation:

Day and Time Number of times Sam Notes

(Setting) placed his head down on

his desk.

Day 1 8:40-9:10 am 3 Sam was verbally reminded

Subject: Social Studies to pick his up. He did

receive all five tokens for

the class period.

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Day 2 1:15-1:45 pm 4 Sam was verbally reminded

Subject: Afternoon Lesson by multiple adults to pick

up his head a total of four

times during the class

period. An adult also

moved next to Sam to help

him keep his head up. He

earned all his tokens for the

class.

Day 3 8:10-8:40 am 2 Sam was verbally reminded

Subject: Social Studies to keep his head up. He

earned all five tokens.

Day 4 8:10-8:40 am 3 Sam was verbally reminded

Subject: Reading to keep his head up. One of

the times he placed his head

down was after he

completed his

comprehension questions.

He earned all 5 tokens.

Day 5 8:40-9:10 am 4 Sam was reminded by

Subject: Social Studies multiple adults in the room

to keep his head up. He

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only earned four of the five

tokens.

Day 6 1:15-1:45 pm 6 Sam only earned three of

Subject: Afternoon Lesson his five tokens. He was

verbally reminded multiple

times to keep his head up. I

also reminded him that he

would not earn his tokens if

he kept laying his head

down. Sam had difficulty

staying on task after break

time this day.

Day 7 8:10-8:40 am 3 Sam was reminded verbally

Subject: Reading to keep his head up. He

only earned 4 of the 5

tokens. However, after not

earning his first token he

kept his head up for the rest

of the lesson.

Day 8 8:40-9:10 am 2 Sam placed his head down

Subject: Speech twice while another student

was reading. He was

verbally reminded to keep

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his head up. He earned all

five tokens.

Day 9 1:15-1:45 pm 1 Sam only placed his head

Subject: Afternoon Lesson down after he completed

his comprehension

questions. He earned all 5

tokens.

Day 10 8:10-8:40 am 2 Sam placed his head down

Subject: Social Studies at the beginning and end of

the lesson. He was verbally

reminded to keep up his

head. He earned all 5

tokens.

Day 11 8:10-9:10 am 0 Sam kept his head up all

Subject: Social Studies class. He did become

disengaged with the lesson

and was calling out. He

earned all five tokens.

Day 12 1:15-1:45 pm 1 Sam only placed his head

Subject: Afternoon Lesson down once while another

student was reading. He

was verbally reminded to

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keep his head up. He earned

all 5 tokens.

Day 13 8:10-8:40 am 0 Sam kept his head up the

Subject: Social Studies entire class period. He was

actively engaged in the

lesson. He earned all 5

tokens.

Sam's Data
7
6
Number of times he placed head down

5
4 4
4
3 3 3
3
2 2 2
2
1 1
1
0 0
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Day of Observation
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Days Sam Earned All Five Tokens

Orange:
Number of
days he
3, 23%
earned less
than 5 tokens

Blue: Number
of days he
10, 77% earned 5
tokenss.

Below is the original data collection

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8. Data Summary and Interpretation:

Based on the data collected, the occurrence of Sam’s behavior (placing his head down) has

decreased. During the thirteen days, Sam had on average placed his head down 2 times per

instructional period. During the last seven days of data collection his average of placing his head

down was one time. Before implementing the positive behavior supports, Sam’s average was

five times. Sam was able to earn all five tokens on ten of the thirteen days. Though the
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occurrence of the behavior fluctuated slightly, overall there was a decrease in Sam’s behavior

over the thirteen days.

For each occurrence of the behavior (placing his head down), Sam was verbally reminded to

keep his head up. He also was shown when a tally mark was placed in a token’s box to indicate

that he was given a direction to keep his head up. When he received three verbal prompts within

three minutes he was not given a token and was reminded that he needed to keep his head up if

he wanted to earn. During certain lessons, the teachers in the room also used proximity control to

help Sam stay engaged with the lesson to ensure he kept his head up. Sam’s mom was also

informed of the change to his token board. He uses the same token board at home, and she

modified hers to promote engaging behaviors as well. This helped Sam to have the positive

behavior support plan reinforced both at school and home.

By adapting Sam’s token board requirements, we were able to see a decrease in Sam’s

disengaging behavior of placing his head down. Sam now spends more time engaged with

lessons. Sam is able to have the positive behavior of keeping his head up which helps him to earn

more time spent with the toy of his choice as well as to earn 100% days. For every five 100%

days Sam is able to earn an app at home on his IPad as well as an app on my phone. He also

works towards having great behavior so that he can attend drumline after school on Tuesdays. I

believe that this positive behavior support plan has been successful for Sam.

9. Reflection:

Prior to this project, I had researched token economies however I had never implemented one

myself. I found through implementation that using token boards is not as easy as they seem.
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They are very time consuming and need to be implemented consistently in order to have an

effect. I found that teamwork with all of the professionals within my classroom was key to the

successful implementation of the positive behavior supports. My mentor teacher, my

paraeducator, and I all took turns collecting the data, giving verbal prompts, as well as proximity

control. Being in a class with students who need very individualized education can be

challenging within itself and adding data collection created an extra stressor. However, making

sure Sam understood the changes to his token system helped to create a smooth transition

process. He showed excitement and a willingness to change. The process also allowed me to be

creative with behavior management. I have found that using the student’s preferences/interests

can be especially motivating for good behavior. I have also perfected my “look” that helps keep

my students from conducting unwanted behaviors.

Through this project I also built up my confidence as a teacher. I was able to create a

relationship with Sam, where he understood I was the teacher and that he couldn’t just do

anything he wanted. I now feel confident in my classroom management skills not only with him

but my other students as well. I now use more verbal prompts with a sterner tone of voice to

portray my authority within the classroom. Before I felt that I wasn’t strong enough with my

classroom management. However now, I have taken more control over the discipline and

consequences with all of my classes. From talking with my mentor teacher along with my entire

internship experience I have gained many new classroom management skills as well as practice

with those I already knew about.

My mentor teacher and I have already begun to change our requirements for Sam’s token

board. Instead of keeping track only of him having his head down, we now tally any time we

have to talk to him whether for redirection or if given a prompt more than once. Sam still only
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has three chances to correct his behavior within six minutes. By including a new focus on

behaviors like calling out, not following directions when given, and bullying peers, Sam has

started to earn less tokens. He however is understanding that his behavior needs to change in

order to earn time with his toy as well as 100% days. Sam is a very driven student, he wants to

make his mom proud by having good days. If any new unwanted behaviors occur, it would be

very easy to change the requirements to earn tokens. These changes can easily be explained to

Sam and practiced throughout the day.

If I could repeat this project, the first thing I would change is to make sure all of Sam’s

teachers implemented it. Some of his teachers said it was a lot to do while teaching so we had

decided it was optional for them to keep track of him putting his head down. They did all

continue to follow his BIP however. I feel that Sam would have had a quicker transition to the

replacement behavior had all of his teachers implemented the plan. A second thing I would

change would be to have Sam keep the tallies himself. This would have given him a concrete

visual at his desk; which would help him self-monitor his own behavior. I could have also

utilized this with my use of proximity control by pointing to the data visual. This would allow

me to keep the lesson moving without interruption of a verbal prompt. Overall, I think the

positive behavior support plan was successful but can be adapted to promote more positive

behaviors for Sam.