Prior to hypothesizing a student's function, the Tier 2 Team must first understand how Antecedents and Consequences work together to make the Behavior more or less likely to occur.
This is known as the A-B-C model.
A - The antecedent refers to what happens to trigger the behavior in question. Essentially, the antecedent is anything that prompts the behavior. Antecedents can be both negative and positive, for example:
Staff distributing incentives for following the school-wide expectations;
Staff not utilizing Active Supervision practices in the A Wing.
A positive antecedent can influence desired actions, while a negative one can lead to an unwanted behavior occurring.
B - The behavior impeding learning is what is being analyzed in each scenario. As with the antecedent, the behavior in question can be either positive or negative, for example:
Students pick up trash in the cafeteria;
Students meet in the A Wing to fight.
The behavior impeding learning must be described in observable, measurable terms so that two different observers can identify the same behavior.
C - The consequence is what happens because the behavior impeding learning occurred. Consequences can be used to either encourage or extinguish the behavior, depending on whether that behavior is desired or unwanted. For example:
Increased distribution of school-wide incentives & More student's receive school-wide incentive;
Increased number of office referrals/suspensions & More student's missing instruction because they are not in class.
Noting whether the consequence is negative or positive is important because the consequence determines whether or not a person is more or less likely to continue engaging in behaviors. Since the term "consequence" often carries a negative connotation, think of it as 'the outcome' instead.
Tier 2 Teams are encouraged to review the resources below to learn more about the A-B-Cs of behavior.