Differential effects of assessment report type on special educators' recommendations regarding identification of goals and choice of intervention

There has been a substantial amount of research supporting the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students with severe to profound disabilities. Many of the studies with these populations have shown to greatly impact the behavior of students when FBA-generated interventions, which match the function of the targeted behavior, are used to improve behavior. This research was the basis for the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which specifically requires the use of the FBA to generate educative, positively-based interventions. Since IDEA '97, research has shown the effective use of the FBA to create interventions matching the function of the problem behavior for students with milder disabilities. This is promising as research has been lacking in what assessment data teachers use to select behavioral interventions. Furthermore, school personnel have been ineffective in dealing with the problem behavior of students with disabilities as evidenced by high suspension rates for students with disabilities. There is also very limited research in the area of what assessment data is used in the development of individualized education programs (IEP) for students with emotional disabilities. The psychological evaluation is used to determine eligibility for special education, yet there is no research indicating that the information contained within a psychological evaluation is used for either goal development or intervention selection. This is problematic in that IEPs developed for students with emotional disabilities are lacking in quality and effectiveness. This study examined the effect that types of assessment report played on teachers' selection of interventions and IEP goal development for a student with an emotional disability. After reviewing an FBA or psychological evaluation, participants were to develop a behavioral goal. These goals were rated for the presence or absence of five quality indicators that should be present in a well-developed goal. No ...