Behavioral Intervention

At the middle and high school level, school psychologists and school social workers provide support to students who have identified needs in behavior and/or social emotional areas as a part of their special education program (IEP) in collaboration with the IEP teacher. This role is called Behavior Specialist. The behavior specialist may work with a student and his teachers to increase his ability to be successful in the classroom.

This support is also provided with the IEP teacher and school psychologist at the elementary level when behavior or social emotional needs rise to the level of needing specially designed instruction through the student’s Special Education evaluation and IEP team decisions. Parents are integral parts of these decisions and students who are provided this type of behavioral intervention are only those who have a written IEP plan.

At times, teams study the behavior and use a tool called a functional behavior assessment (FBA) to develop a specific plan of support for the student called a behavior intervention plan (BIP). The FBA is part of the student’s evaluation and the BIP is part of the student’s IEP.

Please contact your school psychologist or behavior specialist if you have concerns or questions about this area.