Teaching · Related Services

Start the FBA with a sharper hypothesis.

Work through the interview with a teacher, family member or the student. The organizer drafts the hypothesis, points to the likely function from what follows the behavior, and lists what to confirm by watching.

Start an interviewWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Related Services toolkit, $99 for 96 items.

The interview

One interview per student, person and date. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Related Services$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A hypothesis statement, the likely function with how many consequences point to it, the questions observation has to answer and the next person to interview.
Who it is for
School psychologists, behavior specialists, special education teachers and counselors beginning a functional behavioral assessment.
Format
Browser form. One saved interview per student and date; printed with the summary or as a blank interview form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Related Services toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
ABCbefore, behavior, after, and back again
Drawn for this page. What happens right after a behavior is often what keeps it coming back.

How to use it

  1. Start an interview with the student’s code and the date.
  2. Get the behavior described as actions someone could count.
  3. Ask what comes right before, what makes it more likely, and what happens right after.
  4. Read the hypothesis back to the person you interviewed and adjust it.
  5. Interview a second person, then confirm with ABC observation before writing a plan.

Start an interview

How the summary is built

How the function is scored

Each consequence points to one function: adult or peer reactions to attention, a task removed or a trip out of the room to escape, getting an item or activity to tangible, and behavior that continues alone to automatic. The most frequent wins; a tie means observation has to decide.

An interview is a start

People remember patterns imperfectly. The hypothesis is a guess to test with direct observation (and, where a team chooses, a functional analysis) before anyone writes a behavior intervention plan.

IDEA

A functional behavioral assessment is required in some discipline situations (34 CFR 300.530(d) and (f)) and is good practice whenever behavior gets in the way of learning.

Sources

  1. O’Neill, R. E., Albin, R. W., Storey, K., Horner, R. H., & Sprague, J. R. (2015). Functional Assessment and Program Development for Problem Behavior (3rd ed.). Cengage.
  2. Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson: functions of behavior and indirect assessment.
  3. Hanley, G. P. (2012). Functional assessment of problem behavior: Dispelling myths, overcoming implementation obstacles, and developing new lore. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 5(1), 54–72.
  4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.530(d)(1)(ii) and 300.530(f): functional behavioral assessment.

The example student and interview are made up. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.