The Impact of Universal Teacher Practices and Function-based Behavior Interventions on the Rates of Problem Behaviors among At-risk Students

The call for effective instructional and classroom management is frequent within the professional literature. However, type, amount, and sequence of strategies sufficient to impact rates of problem behavior are often missing or listed with limited guidance on differentiation based on student pattern of problem behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of universal teacher practices on general education students exhibiting problem behaviors, and the impact of such practices on specific students given the function of problem behavior. Specifically, this study was interested in exploring the extent to which universal teacher practices, when applied for all students in the classroom, impacted student behavior in general education settings. Additionally, this study was interested in examining the additive effect of combining both targeted classroom supports in the form of universal teacher practices and functional behavioral assessment-based interventions through a multiple-baseline design. Results indicated that when universal teacher practices are applied, rates of problem behaviors decrease based on the function of behavior. Implications for practice and research are discussed.