The ABCs of Student Behavior Management: BIPs, FBAs, & PBIS

Managing student behavior is integral to a successful educational experience for all students but becomes a mandate when a student has a disability. The IDEA and Section 504 recognize the connection between behavior and providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. When a student’s behavior impairs their or others ability to learn, school staff likely need to address the causes of and seek solutions for the problematic behavior.

School staff may use a variety of strategies to address problem behaviors, including positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), generally adopted on a campus-wide basis, and behavior intervention plans (BIPs), designed for individual students.

In July 2023, the Michigan Department of Education’s (MDE) Office of Special Education published a brief Family Matters fact sheet to explain the basics of PBIS, which it described as an evidence-based practice that creates “a framework for supporting whole school practices (schoolwide) to promote a safe school setting by supporting social, learning, behavioral, and emotional needs of all students.” Though PBIS is a schoolwide general education approach to behavior management, it also provides an excellent framework for developing student-specific interventions and, therefore, can be a valuable tool for IEP teams.

The IDEA requires IEP teams to consider the use of PBIS when a student’s behavior interferes with their learning or that of others. Though the requirement is only to “consider” the use of PBIS, hearing officers generally expect an IEP team to have developed a BIP that incorporates PBIS strategies when adjudicating a failure to provide a FAPE claim for a student who did not make progress on IEP goals, was moved to a more restrictive setting, or experienced a disciplinary change of placement because of behaviors.

A BIP should be included in a student’s IEP when it is necessary to provide a FAPE. It should describe with specificity the behaviors that interfere with the student’s learning and identify the positive behavioral interventions and other strategies that staff will implement to try to replace those problematic behaviors with appropriate ones. A BIP is not a behavior contract that sets out what a student will and will not do. Instead, a BIP is a document that identifies the proactive and reactive actions adults will take to address a student’s behaviors. For example, a BIP may include strategies to use if staff recognize that a student may become escalated because of stimuli in the environment. The BIP will also identify the interventions to use if the student is already escalated.

The IDEA does not regulate how BIPs are developed, but the best practice is to create a written document based on data about a student’s behaviors, the recommendations of a professional who has experience working with students with similar behaviors, and input from staff and parents. A BIP may be more effective if it is based on the findings of a functional behavior assessment (FBA), which involves identifying a target behavior, observing and collecting data about the antecedents and consequences of the behavior, and developing a hypothesis about the behavior’s function.

The IDEA does not impose requirements regarding who can conduct an FBA and how it should be administered, but school officials should ensure that FBAs are conducted by a person who has experience collecting the required data and using that information to identify the behavior’s probable function. A team then uses that information to develop a BIP, generally with input and guidance from the person who conducted the FBA. The BIP will include strategies to avoid problematic behavior (such as elopement) by satisfying the behavior’s function (which might be escape from a non-preferred task) in a safer and more acceptable way (perhaps a short break to engage in a preferred activity).

If a BIP is necessary for a FAPE, it must be implemented by all staff with fidelity and it should be revisited if new behaviors emerge or existing behaviors do not improve.

The IDEA expressly requires school officials to conduct an FBA and implement a BIP in only one situation – when a student has engaged in behavior that may result in a disciplinary “change of placement.” A change of placement occurs when a student is moved out of the setting identified by the IEP as the student’s least restrictive environment (LRE). If the behavior is a manifestation of a disability, school officials must conduct an FBA and implement a BIP. If, however, a BIP has already been implemented, the IEP team must review and modify the BIP to better address the behavior. If the behavior is not a manifestation of a disability, school officials may still obtain an FBA, if appropriate, and implement behavioral intervention strategies and modifications designed to prevent the behavior from recurring.

Proactively addressing behaviors that impede learning by using FBAs and BIPs and adequately training staff on how to implement behavior interventions will help avoid special education due process and state complaints and create a calmer learning environment for students and staff.