A Diagnostician's Primer on Functional Behavioral Assessment

Developing effective interventions for students with challenging behaviors may require functional behavioral assessment (FBA), now mandated by IDEA '97. While the assistance of students, parents, and teachers is crucial, it is the educational diagnostician who likely will be responsible for orchestrating the tasks involved in conducting a proper FBA. It stands to reason that diagnosticians, as assessment professionals, must be thoroughly knowledgeable about FBA. This article synthesizes available information from the special education literature about FBAs, including the law and FBA, working definitions, basic assumptions underlying FBA, the role of the diagnostician, the role of special educators, the steps to conducting an FBA, the methods of FBA, and tools for the diagnostician.