Functional Behavior Assessment in Alaska Schools: A Parent's Guide

Your child is getting sent home, losing instructional time to disciplinary removals, or the IEP meeting keeps circling back to behavior without actually solving anything. A Functional Behavior Assessment — FBA — is a structured process Alaska schools can use to investigate why a behavior is happening before choosing interventions. Done properly, it changes the conversation from punishment to problem-solving.

What a Functional Behavior Assessment Is

A Functional Behavior Assessment is an investigation into the why behind a behavior — the function it serves for the child. Before an FBA, school staff often treat behaviors as the problem to eliminate. After a good FBA, the question shifts to what unmet need or communication is driving the behavior, and what to replace it with.

FBAs examine:

• Antecedents — What happens immediately before the behavior? What environment, instruction, transition, or demand triggers it?
• The behavior itself — Described specifically and observably, not vaguely (not "being disruptive" but "leaves seat and vocalizes during independent work lasting longer than 10 minutes")
• Consequences — What happens after the behavior? Does the child get sent to the hall (escape from demand)? Does the teacher redirect attention to the child (attention gain)? Does the task get modified (demand reduction)?

The function of a behavior is almost always in one of four categories: obtaining something desired (attention, tangibles, sensory input) or avoiding something aversive (difficult tasks, transitions, sensory discomfort, social interaction). Identifying the function is what makes behavior intervention actually work — you can't replace a behavior with a functionally incompatible alternative until you know what the behavior is doing for the child.

When Alaska Schools Conduct an FBA

Under IDEA, an FBA is specifically required in the disciplinary circumstance below; in other cases, the IEP team may use one to design behavioral supports:

1. When behavioral supports are needed. If the IEP team determines that a student's behavior impedes their learning or the learning of others, it must consider positive behavioral interventions and supports. An FBA is an important basis for a BIP, but IDEA does not require an FBA before every BIP.

2. After certain disciplinary removals. If a student with a disability is removed from their placement for more than 10 consecutive school days (or a pattern of shorter removals totaling more than 10 days), the district must conduct a manifestation determination review. If the behavior is determined to be a manifestation of the disability, the district must conduct (or review) an FBA and implement or modify a BIP.

Parents can also request an FBA through the IEP process at any time. If your child's behavior is interfering with learning and there is no FBA on file, a written request for an FBA is reasonable and the district must respond.

Who Conducts an FBA in Alaska

An FBA should be conducted by someone with expertise in applied behavior analysis or behavioral assessment — typically a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), a school psychologist with behavioral training, or a special education teacher with documented FBA experience. The evaluator should observe the child directly in multiple settings, review existing data, and interview teachers, parents, and the student.

Here is where Alaska's geography creates a real challenge. In rural and bush Alaska, there may not be a BCBA or a behaviorally trained school psychologist within the district. Alaska already has roughly 1 school psychologist per 1,660 students — and in many remote districts, even that capacity is provided by contracted specialists who visit periodically. An FBA conducted via a single observation during a charter flight visit, with no follow-up, is unlikely to produce findings that actually match the child's behavioral pattern across weeks of school.

If your child's FBA seems superficial — one observation, no interview of you as a parent, no ABC (Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence) data collected across multiple days — you have grounds to request a more thorough assessment or an independent behavioral evaluation.

The Link Between the FBA and the Behavior Intervention Plan

An FBA can inform a Behavior Intervention Plan. When the team determines a BIP is needed, it should specify:

• The replacement behavior that serves the same function (if a child leaves tasks to escape difficulty, the replacement might be a requesting strategy — raising a hand, using a break card)
• The antecedent interventions that reduce triggering conditions
• The consequence strategies — how staff will respond to both the problem behavior and the replacement behavior
• Who is responsible for implementing each component
• How progress will be measured

Alaska's 4 AAC 52.250 requires a minimum of 6 hours of annual training for special education aides regarding the specific disabilities of the children they serve, the contents of their IEPs, and the instructional and safety procedures to be used. If a paraprofessional is implementing behavioral supports, ask how that training and supervision will address the BIP. In rural districts where behavioral supports fall heavily on paraprofessionals — sometimes the only consistent adult with the child — that 6-hour minimum matters.

What Parents Can Do

If your child has behavioral challenges affecting their education and there is no FBA on file:

1. Submit a written request to the IEP team requesting an FBA. Include a brief description of the behaviors of concern and ask that the FBA be comprehensive, including direct observation across multiple settings and parent interview.

2. Ask the team specifically who will conduct the FBA and what their behavioral assessment qualifications are.

3. When the FBA is complete, ask for a copy before the next IEP meeting. Review it with these questions: Does it describe the behavior specifically and observably? Does it identify antecedents across settings? Does it propose a function with supporting data — not just an assumption?

4. If the FBA concludes that the function of the behavior is "attention-seeking" without data, or recommends only consequence-based strategies (take away privileges, add rewards) without addressing antecedents or replacement behaviors, request a more comprehensive assessment.

The Alaska IEP & 504 Blueprint includes guidance on reviewing FBA reports and participating effectively in BIP development meetings.

For a deeper look at functional behavior assessments under federal IDEA requirements, see our guide to functional behavior assessment.

See more Alaska guides →