The IDEA Amendments of 1997: A School-Wide Model for Conducting Functional Behavioral Assessments and Developing Behavior Intervention Plans

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 require that if a student's behavior impedes his or her learning or the learning of others, then the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) must address the problem behavior. To address the behavior in a proactive manner, the IEP team should conduct a functional behavioral assessment (FBA), develop an IEP that includes measurable behavioral goals and benchmarks or short-term objectives and, based on the FBA, write a behavior intervention plan (BIP). The purpose of this article is to (a) present the requirements of the new law, (b) describe the process of conducting an FBA, (c) explain the legal requirements for developing measurable goals and benchmarks or short-term objectives, (d) describe the development of a BIP, and (e) present a model that can serve as a guide for schools to meet their own specific needs.