Including the FBA Process in Student Assistance Teams: An Exploratory Study of Team Communications and Intervention Selection

Abstract

This exploratory study included functional behavioral assessment (FBA) within the student assistance team (SAT) process to examine: (a) whether SATs could select interventions related to behavior function; (b) at what stage (i.e., referral, descriptive, interpretative, verification) SAT members most accurately selected interventions related to behavior function; and (c) potential patterns of statements made by team members using the Consultation Analysis Record (Bergan & Tombari, 1975). Results of this exploratory study suggest that SAT members selected interventions related to the identified behavior function without a final trial intervention (i.e., verification stage). The use of FBA in the SAT process seemed to influence patterns of verbal interactions among team members. Implications for research and practice are discussed.