Course Name: INTENSIFYING BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS USING DATA-BASED DECISION-MAKING

Course Developers: Skip Kumm, Caitlyn Majeika, Brittany Sterrett, Sarah Wilkinson

Course Description: This Masters-level course is designed to provide guidance for practitioners in special education or general education settings who work with students with high rates of problem behavior. Educators will learn how to assess student behavior, design ethical behavioral interventions that incorporate evidence-based practices, and monitor progress of these interventions within a multi-tiered system of support framework. Course content includes background in behavioral theory, critical features of intensive interventions, measurement and feasible data collection, data-based decision-making, creating appropriate behavior intervention plans based on results from functional behavioral assessments, implanting adaptations for unique populations and settings, and other current issues in the field.

Learning Objectives: 

After taking this course, the student should be able to:

1. Describe characteristics of students with behavioral challenges and how these characteristics can impact students’ academic and social behavior in the classroom.
2. Understand the logic of a multi-tiered system of support (e.g., PBIS), and explain the relationship of each tier to the others.
3. Determine an appropriate data collection process for measuring student behavior and then use data to analyze intervention effectiveness as part of a data-based decision-making process.
4. Apply the strategies learned to their own practice, both directly (i.e., with students) and indirectly (i.e., by working with other educators who teach students with challenging behaviors).
5. Collect data from a variety of sources and aggregate those data into a functional behavioral assessment (FBA).
6. Write an effective, ethical, data-driven behavior intervention plan (BIP) incorporating evidence-based practices and interventions.

Developed course materials include the following:

• • Syllabus for 14 weeks of instruction
  • Detailed lesson plans
  • Class PowerPoints
  • Required texts and readings
  • Detailed assignment instructions and related rubrics
  • In-class materials and activity sheets
  • Grading criteria

**For access to a complete set of materials for a particular course, please email a request to nclii@vanderbilt.edu.

Course citation: Kumm, S., Majeika, C., Sterrett, B., & Wilkinson, S. (2018). Scholar-designed Course: Intensifying Behavioral Interventions Using a Data-based Decision-making Approach. National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention; Grant H325H140001. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Available at http://nclii.org/scholar-designed-courses/intensifying-behavioral-interventions/.