Cracking the Behavior Code

To help teachers remember the steps involved in deciphering behavior and developing an effective plan, we've created the acronym FAIR: F is for understanding the function of the behavior, A is for accommodations, I is for interaction strategies, and R is for responses.

By adopting the FAIR plan, teachers can discover that inappropriate behavior is malleable and temporary—and that they can help their students thrive. In this article, we present strategies for helping kids who are oppositional, withdrawn, or anxious (see sidebars on strategies that work with the oppositional, withdrawn, or anxious child) because these students often experience failure and are the most misunderstood in school.

The FAIR plan has changed the behavior of students, many of whom were on the verge of being sent to a self-contained classroom or out of their district. It has also changed the perspective of teachers, who've come to realize that these students need to be taught the skills to behave and that they require even more compassion and flexibility from their teachers, even though they may seem to be pushing away.

Consider 3rd grader Ken, who currently lives in a foster home. He struggles with reading, and when he gets frustrated, he'll either hide behind a bookshelf in Ms. Silva's classroom or charge for the door and then lurk in the hallway. He often growls when reprimanded and throws books off his desk, screaming things like, "You hate me and school sucks!" Ken pushes other students so he can be first in line, and he has trouble sharing; he'll grab all the materials when working on a project with other students. One time when the principal reprimanded him, Ken exploded and slapped the principal's glasses off.

What's the Function of the Behavior?

When working with students like Ken, it's important to avoid power struggles that may escalate the consequences and inadvertently reinforce the negative behavior. Behavior happens for a reason and is a form of communication; determining the intent or function of the behavior—the F in our FAIR plan—enables us to better understand the behavior and decide how to intervene.

Behavior analyst Mark Durand¹  outlines four possible functions of behavior: to escape, to obtain a tangible thing, to engage in sensory activities, and to get attention. These functions describe the benefit students get from the behavior—a benefit they may not even be aware of—and help us understand how to intervene to help students change the behavior.

Escape-motivated behavior occurs when a student attempts to avoid a task, demand, situation, or person. This can be easy to recognize—for example, when Ken runs out of the classroom during reading. Sometimes it's less obvious—for instance, when kids argue to get out of doing an activity that makes them anxious. Common school procedures, such as time-outs or sending the student to the principal's office, can reinforce escape-motivated behavior because they remove the student from the undesirable activity—just what the student wanted.

We can understand tangible behavior in two ways: when the function of the behavior is to obtain a tangible object like money or food or, as in Ken's case, when the function is to attain a specific agenda. The student wants what he wants when he wants it. Students who are self-centered and have inflexible thinking often fall into this category. Some children with a history of abuse or neglect may have a low frustration tolerance and operate with the assumption that the only way to get their needs met is to grab the thing they want or overpower someone.

We see sensory behavior when a student is motivated by sensory input: Things feel good, look good, taste good, or sound good. Humming loudly while writing, chewing on the end of a pencil, or standing rather than sitting while working are all typical behaviors that fall into this category. These become problems when they interfere with learning, are disruptive, or make students look odd to their peers.

Finally, with attention-motivated behavior, the student tries to gain attention from an adult or peer. This can present as the student being belligerent, screaming, or continually interrupting the teacher. It can also work in the positive—that is, the girl who dresses up so a boy will notice her or a child who works hard on his reading so the teacher will praise him.

Negative Is Better Than Nothing

Teachers are sometimes surprised that negative attention, such as lecturing or redirecting a child, can reinforce attention-seeking behavior. For some kids—including those with social deficits who may have difficulty recognizing more subtle communication—even negative attention is better than no attention. Kids may prefer negative attention because it's dramatic; efficient (easier and faster); predictable; and more obvious than positive attention.

Consider Rebekka, a 6th grader with Asperger syndrome, who comes from a stable home. She's often loud and interrupts others. When she enters her science class, she'll often shout out inappropriate things, asking certain students whether they're gay or telling the teacher that "this is BS!" and that he clearly never went to college. When she gets upset, she yells.

If Rebekka enters the classroom quietly, she may not be able to predict when the teacher will give her attention. But if she swears, she knows that the teacher is going to attend to her behavior immediately. Rebekka may have learned at home that the best way she can engage adults' attention is to act inappropriately. A familiar example is fighting with a sibling when a parent is on the phone to get the parent's attention.

Taking ABC Notes

When a student has a behavior incident, teachers document the incident either in their class notebook, in an e-mail to the principal or parent, or in a separate journal. Spending the time to take these notes is worthwhile because it contributes to a solution.

Taking notes in an ABC format²  can help teachers see patterns in students' behavior. A is for antecedent (what happens immediately before an incident); B is the description of the student's behavior; and C is for consequence (the staff member's or a peer's immediate response to the student's behavior).

Ken's teacher, Ms. Silva, takes ABC notes to observe what's happening in the environment right before Ken's incidents of aggressive behavior and to look at the consequences to help her recognize patterns. She sees from her notes (fig. 1, p. 21) that when she puts one glue stick on a table for three students (the antecedent), Ken hits other kids to get it first. When students line up for music class (the antecedent), Ken pushes a student so he can be first in line. The notes indicate what triggers him; they also highlight his skill deficits. In this instance, Ken has trouble waiting to be first and waiting to get an object. He probably also has difficulty with perspective-taking: He can't understand why someone else has to be first sometimes and why someone else may need the glue stick.

Ms. Silva can also see how effective her responses were. The notes show that Ken (1) successfully got the glue stick to himself, (2) was first in line and then was able to sit out during music, (3) was first in line going to lunch, (4) lost his library time, and (5) wasn't permitted to use dice during vocabulary bingo. In three of the five incidents, Ken achieved his agenda. Knowing this, Ms. Silva will think about responding in a way that's more likely to reduce Ken's aggressive behavior rather than reinforce it.

FIGURE 1. ABC Notes for Ken's Aggressive Behavior

Which Accommodations Should We Use?

Once we know the function or intent of the student's behavior, it's easier to create a plan to change the behavior. The A in FAIR stands for the accommodations teachers can make to help the student succeed. In suggesting accommodations, we want to reduce the triggering aspects of the environment as well as explicitly teach replacement behaviors and underdeveloped skills.

For Ken, these accommodations might include

• An assigned line order.
• A "waiting bag" (activities, such as a Rubik's cube, to occupy him while he waits).
• Lunch in the classroom with a couple of his peers instead of in the cafeteria. An adult should be present to remind Ken not to bully his peers or cheat at any games the students might play during this time.
• A 20–5 schedule (20 minutes of schoolwork followed by a 5-minute break) to help him build tolerance to handle more work.
• A safe, calming corner in the classroom Ken can go to, with Ken receiving points for using it.
• A calming box (a box of objects that calm the student down, such as a weighted ball, a stuffed animal, an action figure, a portable music player with music, and so on).
• The use of technology—such as spell check—to reduce Ken's aversion to writing.
• Instruction in self-regulation strategies, such as labeling his emotions in the moment, and self-calming strategies, such as deep breathing or counting to 10.
• An aide from another room to help Ken practice self-calming techniques once or twice a day in the calming corner.

Replacement Behaviors

During the time it takes for students to improve underdeveloped skills—such as Ken learning to wait, take another's perspective, share objects, self-regulate, and think flexibly—it's important to teach them how to get their needs met more appropriately. By providing a replacement behavior that's not too difficult to handle, teachers help students behave more appropriately while gaining the skills they need so they no longer want to avoid the task at hand.

For example, it will take time for Ms. Silva and the school counselor to address Ken's underlying learning disorder and skill deficits. In the meantime, Ms. Silva would like him to be able to ask for a break—an acceptable way to get his needs met—instead of throwing everything off his desk or walking out of the room.

The replacement behavior needs to be as easy to implement as the inappropriate behavior, or it won't stick. Ms. Silva gives Ken a "break card" to keep on his desk. When he needs a break, he can hold it up and then go to the room's reading corner to sit in plush seats and take deep breaths. This replacement behavior is appropriate because there's no requirement to use language or wait for permission—Ken doesn't have the skills to do either when he's upset.

Teaching Self-Regulation

Teachers often recognize that students may have a low frustration tolerance and need help learning how to change their behavior when they're overwhelmed. But they may not be sure about the necessary skills to teach. Most students with challenging behavior lack the skill of self-regulation.

Just as they would do with all skill deficits, teachers need to explicitly teach this skill. This begins with teaching students to identify their own feelings. The teacher labels the student's emotion in the moment and then names specific behavioral attributes that can show the student what he or she is feeling (for example, "You're clenching your fists, your voice is loud, you're frustrated"). With practice, students can learn to assign themselves a self-calming strategy in these moments and avoid an explosive incident.

Which Interaction Strategies Work Best?

The I in FAIR is for interaction strategies. Many students who have challenging behavior have a history of school anxiety, school failure, and difficult relationships with authority. Teachers need concrete, easy-to-implement strategies to nurture students and convey to them that they are liked, respected, and safe. Building such a relationship can enable students to take risks and move out of their comfort zone.

Teachers are often skilled at positive reinforcement (for example, saying "Good job!" when a student acts appropriately), but they may not frequently use noncontingent reinforcement. We call this "random acts of kindness": ways to recognize students for who they are rather than for what they've done. When students get stuck in a negative cycle with a teacher, if the teacher takes time to show she cares—by bringing in their favorite snack, giving them a thumbs-up sign of recognition, or offering them a sticker "just because I like you"—these gestures can be crucial in helping students stop their challenging behavior. They learn that the teacher likes them for who they are, not just when they behave well.

How a teacher gives initial directions and talks with students has a huge impact on their behavior. One strategy is to give students some choice in a direction. For example, for an oppositional child, instead of saying, "Line up!" try, "Do you want to walk in the front or the back of the line?" You can also build a delay into the direction, giving students control over when they comply. Rather than saying, "You need to clean your desk right now!" which an oppositional student will resist, try, "You need to clean your desk before lunch."

Interaction strategies for Ken might include

• Avoiding yes-or-no questions.
• Using declarative language whenever possible (statements rather than questions or commands, such as "I see this is broken. We can fix it with some tape").
• Embedding choice in instruction.
• Using humor whenever possible.
• Offering extended time for compliance with requests.
• Offering positive and noncontingent reinforcement.
• Building on the relationship by having lunch together once each month.

What Response Strategies Should We Use?

The R in FAIR is for response strategies. How a teacher responds to an agitated student can escalate, deescalate, or maintain his level of agitation. First of all, the teacher must avoid reinforcing the function of the behavior. If an attention-motivated student starts to argue and the teacher takes her into the hallway for a stern talk, the teacher has accidently reinforced the behavior. The student is likely to argue again the next day.

If Ken starts to argue, instead of responding verbally and perpetuating the argument, the teacher might write him a note that says, "please start reading quietly" and then quickly walk away, busying herself in another conversation or task (preferably with her back to him). This response will not only deescalate a situation that could have become loud and explosive, it will also reduce the likelihood that Ken will argue tomorrow because the teacher didn't reinforce his behavior with attention.

It's FAIR

As a result of his FAIR plan, Ken learned to count to 10, take deep breaths, and appropriately ask for breaks when he became frustrated. Ms. Silva noticed it took him longer to get frustrated and that he was better able to tolerate not being first in line. After only three weeks of being on the plan, he stopped being aggressive with his peers. Moreover, his mother reported he was better at doing his homework at home.

Although teachers may feel at times that they cannot control challenging behavior, there are variables they can control. By understanding what the student is communicating, figuring out replacement behaviors, and building a strong relationship, teachers discover that seemingly intractable behavior can diminish and students can thrive.