Operational DefinitionJohn, a 15-year-old male, is an 8th grade student attending a local middle school. John is an out-of-state transfer student and he was placed in an inclusion class because he was identified as a student with a disability and needs an IEP. Lately, John has been verbally and physically disruptive during math class. Some of the disruptive behaviors John often exhibits in class include making loud noises and jokes while teaching, insulting his peers, physically touching his peers, and grabbing group materials. John's teacher collected data and learned that his disruptive verbal behavior occurs 4-8 times during each sixty-minute class meeting, and that his physical group disruptions occur 75% of the time he works with a group. After meeting John's other teachers, his math teacher learned that his disruptive behavior was only present during math class. Based on John's math test scores on his IEP, his math teacher also learned that math is a difficult subject for John and that he is significantly below grade level. John's math teacher and his IEP team came to an agreement that they would like to reduce the number of times John disrupts teaching and ultimately eliminate this disruptive behavior. John's replacement behavior is to remain focused and on task during math instruction and assigned activities without triggering any disruptions (i.e., loud noises or distracting jokes causing a burst of laughter in the classroom, physical contact with peers, name-calling or seizure). documents from his peers). Instead of John being punished for his disruptive behavior, the replacement behavior would allow him to stay in math class, and he could also receive a positive...... middle of paper ...... prevent the student to become frustrated (Scheuermann & Hall, 2012). This is appropriate for John because it has already been determined that he has a performance deficit and is not motivated to perform in math class due to his frustration at not understanding concepts. This teaching method could ultimately help John improve his math skills rather than forcing him to continue to struggle with math. Because John is in an inclusion class with several other students, John's teacher does not always have the opportunity to provide him with one-on-one instruction; therefore, other evidence-based interventions should be implemented when individual teaching is not available. ReferencesScheuermann, B. and Hall, J. (2012). Positive behavioral supports for the classroom. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc. ISBN # 10:0132147831