A School-Based Examination of the Efficacy of Function- Based Intervention Linda Donica Payne East Tennessee State University Terrance M. Scott University of Louisville Maureen Conroy Virginia Commonwealth University ABSTRACT: Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was developed and researched in clinical settings as an effective strategy to identify interventions that both manage inappropriate behavior and teach appropriate replacement behavior; but is it equally effective in school settings, which typically involve much less structure and much greater social complexity? This study investigated the efficiency and efficacy of function-based interventions as compared to traditionalinterventions that were not function-based. Interventions were compared across 4 students in a multitreatment single- subject design; results demonstrated clear and immediate decreases in problem behavior with the introduction of function-based interventions and similarlystrong increases with each introduction of non-function-based intervention. These results add a more stringently controlled example in support of the efficacy of function-based intervention. • Although most students maintain suc- cessful conduct in public school settings, some develop problem behaviors that are deemed inappropriate and which jeopardize the quality of their education. Since its 1997 reauthorization, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) hasmaintained provisions addressing the issue of inappropriate behavior in two ways. First,the individualized education programs (IEPs) of students whose behavior impedes their own learning or others' must include "positive behavioral intervention strategies and supports" (P. L. 108-446, Section 614). Second, schools are required to conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and develop a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) before suspending a student from school. If a student with such a plan is suspended from school and a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) resulting in the implementation of a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) has not been conducted, an IEP meeting must be held to develop such a plan (P. L. 108-446, Section 615). Thus, FBA is mandated for schools in these narrowly defined circumstances and as a result school personnel have broadened its use to include students considered at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), 158 / May 2007 such as students who chronically demonstrate difficult and challenging behavior at school. FBA is a systematic method of gathering information about behavior and its relationship with the environment in which it occurs; its goal is to identify the function or purpose that behavior serves for the student under specific environmental conditions. A basic tenet of FBA is that when the function of a behavior is identified, an appropriate replacement behavior can be taught and interventions effectively tailored to address the distinct needs of the individual within the environmental context (Iwata et aI., 2000). In the school setting, teachers can use FBA to identify the function of problem behavior (e.g., yelling in class to gain teacher attention) and design a BIP based on that function (Scott & Nelson, 1999). The BIP teaches the student prosocial replacement behaviors that serve the same function as the undesirable behavior (e.g., raising a hand to get the teacher's attention). In addition, BIPsgenerate strategies that create environments where desirable behaviors are more likely to occur-which could be as simple as verbally reinforcing the behavior of hand raising to gain teacher attention, simultaneously making yelling out Behavioral Disorders, 32 (3), 158-174