14.2 Recommending Behavioral Interventions from Case-Study Data

What 0007c is asking you to write

Competency 0007—Analysis, Synthesis, and Application—is the single constructed-response (CR) item. It counts 20% of the total test score. The Field 060 study guide directs you to analyze the exhibits, use evidence from all of them, and write approximately 400 to 600 words. The test design document states that the CR is built with the expectation of a response of up to about 60 minutes. At least two qualified New York State educators score the item.

The study guide publishes three performance characteristics:

• Completeness: the degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment.
• Accuracy: the degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively.
• Depth of Support: the degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning.

Score points are 4 (thorough command), 3 (general command), 2 (partial command), and 1 (little or no command), plus U (unscorable: unrelated to the topic or off-task, unreadable, not in English, or insufficient original work) and B (no response). Some unofficial prep materials invent four dimension names such as Purpose, Application of Content, and Rationale. Those are not the Field 060 study guide labels. Do not treat an unpublished combined raw total (for example 2–8) as official NYSTCE policy.

Sample official assignments vary. One published sample asks for an academic need and a study-skills need. Another asks for an academic need and a behavioral need. Completeness means answering this prompt's pair. A polished behavior paragraph fails Completeness if today's bullets asked for study skills.

Chapter 9 covers format, pacing, and exhibit mining. This section is the behavioral recommendation (0007c), using 0007a/b habits: you still analyze the student profile and the formal/informal data. You then name a function, name a strategy, and prove the match.

Function first: FBA and ABC, not the disability label

Topography is what the behavior looks like (ripping paper, swearing, leaving the room). Function is why it continues: access to attention, escape/avoidance of a demand or setting, access to a tangible, or automatic/sensory consequences. 0007c is testing whether you can apply behavioral interventions—including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)—in a way that matches the exhibits.

Hunt Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3 for:

• ABC rows (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence)
• An FBA summary or BIP excerpt
• Setting events (missed sleep, substitute, skipped medication)
• What adults do after the behavior (removal, extra help, preferred device)

If eight of ten incidents start within 90 seconds of "begin independently," and the typical consequence is removal from the worksheet, the function is escape from independent academic demand—even if the student is also classified OHI or emotional disability. Matching the label instead of the function is an Accuracy miss.

Name a procedure, not a slogan

"Be consistent," "use a BIP," "give consequences," and "PBIS tickets for being respectful" are not implementable recommendations. A scorable answer names a research-based procedure and the steps a teacher would run tomorrow.

PBIS is a continuum. Schoolwide acknowledgments are Tier 1. A function-based individualized plan is still inside PBIS when it is instructional, preventive, and data-based. The trap is treating PBIS as tickets-only or treating FBA as the opposite of PBIS. If exhibits already show a Tier 1 system and the behavior persists in one academic condition, recommend the function-matched strategy, not another hallway poster.

How to write the behavioral recommendation

Work in this order on your scratchpad, then type:

1. Quote the function in one sentence with exhibit citations ("Exhibit 3 ABC shows…; Exhibit 2 FBA summary states…").
2. Name one strategy (FCT, CICO, self-monitoring with a timer, DRA, high-p request sequence). One is enough; a laundry list hurts Completeness by crowding out steps.
3. Describe the steps (what the teacher says, what the student does, how you will fade).
4. Explain why it matches these data, including a strength or interest from Exhibit 1 when it is available.
5. Audit Completeness, Accuracy, and Depth of Support. Then keep the whole CR near 400–600 words.

A Score Point 4 response thoroughly addresses every part of the assignment, demonstrates thorough accuracy, and is well supported with relevant examples and sound reasoning. Score Point 3 is general. Score Point 2 is partial (parts thin or missing, or reasoning flawed). Score Point 1 is minimal. Depth of Support is where exhibit silence dies: "this will help him behave" is not reasoning.

Original vignette (not a Pearson sample): Luis Ortega, Grade 5, Yonkers

Practice on original New York cases. Do not reproduce official sample students or exhibits.

Luis Ortega, Grade 5, Yonkers ICT; classification: emotional disability.

• Exhibit 1: Enjoys basketball and drawing comics. Counseling 1× per week. ICT for ELA and math.
• Exhibit 2: FBA summary: 18 office referrals in six weeks, all during independent seatwork after group instruction. When given a 10-item independent worksheet, Luis throws a pencil, swears, and walks out. Typical consequence: sent to the office and misses the worksheet.
• Exhibit 3: ABC log: 8 of 10 coded incidents occur within 90 seconds of independent work. Zero incidents during teacher-led small group at the table.

Function: Escape from independent written work (Exhibit 2 FBA; Exhibit 3 ABC timing and setting contrast).

Named strategy: Functional Communication Training for a break-and-return card, plus demand fading (start with two items, then increase) and DRA (two minutes of comic drawing contingent on returning and finishing the assigned set).

Why it matches Luis: Office removal currently pays the behavior (Exhibit 2). FCT gives a socially acceptable request so escape is not obtained by walking out. Demand fading matches Exhibit 3's finding that the full independent packet is the trigger. Comic-drawing as the reinforcer uses Exhibit 1. Schoolwide "respect" tickets do not change the escape contingency. Preferential seating and extra time do not teach a replacement for walking out.

Model sentences that serve Depth of Support: "Exhibit 3 shows 8 of 10 incidents within 90 seconds of independent work, so the function is escape from that demand. I would teach Luis to present a break card, take a two-minute break, and return; I would fade from two items to ten using DRA. This is appropriate because the current consequence removes the worksheet (Exhibit 2), which maintains walking out."

Exam watchouts

• Answering study skills when this prompt asked for behavior, or the reverse.
• Recommending extended time or seating as the behavioral intervention.
• Naming the classification instead of the function.
• Memorizing a commercial sample student instead of reading these exhibits.