What is a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP)?

Behavior Intervention Plans (or BIPs), sometimes incorrectly called a BIP Plan, since the “plan” is a repeat, are vital for supporting students who continue to struggle with behavior. They outline how to provide consistent, individualized behavior support and clearly communicate what intervention strategies work best for the student. 

Think of it as a roadmap that gives teachers, parents, and even the students themselves a clear strategy for success.

BIPs focus on understanding why behavior happens (the “function”) and creating ways to encourage positive changes. They’re not about punishment—they’re about positive behavior interventions like teaching skills and helping the student regulate. 

The goal of the behavior plan is, ideally, to prevent interfering behavior from happening in the first place. But it’s also incredibly important that teachers know how to respond to the behavior when it does happen. That way, they can avoid reinforcing it from happening again. 

The BIP creation process almost always involves conducting a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA). This ensures that the strategies and behavior goals identified are as useful and meaningful as possible. 

Are BIPs only for students with IEPs?

Nope. While students in special education may be more likely to require a BIP, general education students and students with IEPs in general education classrooms can also go through the FBA and BIP process to help find more proactive strategies for their behavior. 

Students with IEPs who struggle with classroom behavior do not always require BIPs. Many students can get individualized learning in behavior through their IEP services and accommodations. 

What are the important parts of a BIP? 

A solid BIP plan is more than just a list of dos and don’ts. It’s carefully designed with several important elements. Let’s look at each one. 

• The Behavior: This is the specific action the plan is addressing. It’s written in clear, observable terms—no guessing or assumptions. For example, instead of saying “disruptive behavior,” a BIP plan might describe “shouting out during lessons.” It’s very important that we are clear on what the behavior does and does not look and sound like.
  
• The Function: Why is the behavior happening? Is the student trying to avoid a task, gain attention, or meet a sensory need? Understanding the “why” is critical. Take, for example, a student who is calling out in class because they like your attention. If you don’t know that they’re doing it to gain attention, you might accidentally reinforce it by prompting them to raise their hand.
  
• Setting Events: These are background factors that can influence behavior, like being tired, hungry, or upset about something outside of school. Knowing these helps paint a bigger picture of when the behavior is more likely to occur. You can probably be related to trying not to speed when you’re driving because you don’t want to get a ticket. A setting event for most of us to speed is that we had a hectic morning and are running late for work.
  
• Triggers: What happens right before the behavior? Maybe it’s being asked to transition to a new activity or receiving a difficult assignment. Knowing the triggers allows you to either remove the trigger or talk to the student about what they’re going to do when the trigger happens. For example, if a student screams and runs every time there is a fire drill, you can’t stop a fire drill. It’s going to happen, and you want your students to be able to participate. So, when you know a fire drill is going to happen, you may talk to the class or pull the student aside and remind them that when the fire alarm goes off, it’s very scary, but we can take a deep breath and run to the teacher instead of out the door.
  
• Signals: These are clues that the student is about to engage in the behavior. For example, they might fidget, clench their fists, or start pacing. When you know what the student does before they engage in challenging behavior, you can act fast! Knowing the signals can help us prevent many disruptions in learning.

• Replacement Behavior: Instead of focusing solely on stopping the unwanted behavior, the BIP helps the student learn an alternative. For example, instead of shouting out, the student might be taught to raise their hand or use a break card.
  

• Instructional Strategies: These are the teaching tools and classroom supports for how the student will learn the replacement behaviors. For example, teaching them how to take a break or how to ask for help. It’s very often teaching coping and self-regulation skills like breathing and movement.  
  
• Goals: The plan should include clear, measurable goals for improving behavior, such as reducing outbursts from five times a day to once per day. These goals are often added to the student’s IEP if they have one, but this may vary depending on your state and district policy.
  
• Student Strengths: While this is at the bottom of the list, it’s probably one of the most important parts. Kids who struggle with behavior can be challenging to support! And they feel that. They often feel like failures and disconnected at school, which in turn can make them act out all the more. When we know and build on strengths, the plan feels more positive and motivating for everyone involved. 

How do we know if the BIP is working? What if it’s not? 

Progress monitoring is essential for the BIP plan. In fact, most states require reviewing the BIP annually to ensure that it’s still meeting the student’s needs. 

The key to successful progress monitoring is careful data collection of the specific behavior that the BIP intends to decrease. You can find some data collection tools here that also help you analyze if the student is making progress! It’s super easy to use and time-saving. So even if you’re not a data guru yet, this will be stress-free progress monitoring that will give you an edge in your next problem-solving or IEP meeting. 

Why does a BIP plan Matter

When done right, a Behavior Intervention Plan can be a game-changer. It shifts the focus from “how do we stop this behavior?” to “how do we support this student in learning new skills?” When students feel supported and understood, the results can be transformative—not just for their behavior but also for their confidence and success in school and beyond.

The trick is that BIPs are really just documents. To actually help the student, that document needs to be easy to understand and at the teacher’s fingertips! But these plans are often long and locked up in a cabinet somewhere. 

But your students’ BIPs don’t have to be! Make them useful and get them into the hands of every teacher and paraprofessional who will support the student with this BIP At-A-Glance!

It’s a quick reference tool that provides all of the most important information in a simplified, teacher-friendly, and easy-to-access way. It can help you feel confident in supporting any student and get you closer to stress-free behavior management.