FBA Requires Parent Consent and Are Subject to IEE Request

A question that has come up with some frequency has been whether schools need to get parental consent before doing a Functional Behavioral Assessment ("FBA"). Many school districts have taken the position that an FBA is more an informal assessment, and therefore no consent is required. Schools have even more emphatically  taken the position that parents can not request a free independent educational evaluation ("IEE") if the school's FBA was deficient.

Many thanks goes out to fellow blogger Randy Chapman who has brought out a fairly recent U.S. Department of Education OSEP opinion letter that answers yes to both questions. That is, for a school to conduct an FBA the parent must consent and the parent has the right to seek an IEE to get another FBA accomplished.

It may seem like a small point but it is not.  FBAs too often arise in the heat of the moment when the school is building momentum to move a child to a more restrictive placement. The parent comes to a meeting and gets clobbered with an FBA data that shows what a horrible behavioral problem his or her child has been for some time, of course often unbeknownst to the parent. Armed with this OSEP memorandum, the FBA would be in violation of this OSEP guidance without parents' knowledge and written consent; certainly enough to take the wind out of the district's sails sufficient for the parent to regain at least equal footing with the school. The next step would be to then ask for an IEE for a new FBA, so the student gets a fair and impartial assessment of the behaviors which are interfering with their education.

Comments

[Margo/Mom]

More helpful than consent might be some minimum qualifications for the person who does the FBA. I have had school personnel respond to my request with "a what?" and then be given some forms to fill out that constitute the FBA. Needless to say--it's a mess and not very helpful. Only thing that it generally does is substantiate that "the behavior" is not as generalized as we have been led to believe, as the observer never gets to catch "it" in the act. Once they told me, "well, he's real smart, he's not going to do it when the observer is there."

Never have actually succeeded in getting anyone to understand that the goal is to come out with a testable hypothesis about the FUNCTION of the behavior (does it scare you that these are the same people who are supposed to teach the scientific method to students?), that can be manipulated to meet the child's need in a more acceptable way.

And if I can figure this out by going online at 11 PM at night, how come the trained teachers can't?

[Angela Anderson Moore]

Wow...this is interesting but it makes since. I am aware of many times that as the teacher is completing a FBA they are still upset witht the behavior(s) of the child and may biased in the process of conducting the FBA. Maybe it would be wise to have another teacher observe the student and provide input to complete the FBA.

[anonymous]

It is scary when you see how things are done in schools, such as writing a BIP without a FBA . The school principal agreeing on a change of placement for a student using the word "we" when the team did not even discuss the matter. I finally stated in a meeting (I am a Special Educaiton Teacher) that I request they comment on the IEP notes that the teacher "team member" does not agree to do a BIP without a functional. When excused from the meeting (god forbid anyone wants to allow these kids and their families their rights,) I stated "Not a problem, although the meeting is continuing without me, please remove my name from the roster, as I would be happy to leave." Boy will I pay for that one!

[Sandra Brown]

It is unfortunate that FBA are done in the heat of the moment. My district has set guidelines and will not do FBA until documentation has been collected over a certain period of time. We also has to document contact with parents and plans developed with the parents. That way the parents are aware of the behaviors and concerns of the schools.

[Michael Cocchiola]

Functional Behavior Assessments may be primarily intended to identify concerning behaviors and their 'function', but coming in fast at the heels of function is a well-thought out BSP that addresses concerning behaviors with proactive and effective interventions. Empirical data is necessary thereafter to support the function.

A simple FBA is useless if it does not drive an effective intervention. I often times equate it with the "Broken Bone" example. The FBA serves as the x-ray, but a simple x-ray does nothing unless a skilled professional looks at the x-ray and resets the bone in a cast to correct the error.