Behavior Intervention Plan in Michigan: What a BIP Must Include and How to Hold Schools Accountable

A Behavior Intervention Plan is only valuable if it is based on real data, written clearly enough to be implemented consistently, and actually used by every adult who interacts with your child. Many BIPs in Michigan schools fail on all three counts. Understanding what a compliant BIP must contain — and what your rights are when it is not being followed — puts you in a position to demand something better.

What a BIP Is and When It Is Required

A Behavior Intervention Plan is a written document that translates the findings of a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) into specific, proactive strategies for preventing challenging behaviors and teaching replacement behaviors. It is grounded in applied behavior analysis principles: if you understand why a behavior is occurring (its function), you can change the conditions that trigger it and teach a behavior that gets the student's need met in an appropriate way.

Michigan schools are required to develop a BIP in two main circumstances:

After a Manifestation Determination Review (MDR). When a student with a disability faces a removal that meets the threshold for a "significant change in placement" — more than 10 cumulative school days in a pattern suggesting exclusion — the school must conduct an MDR within 10 school days. If the MDR determines that the behavior was a manifestation of the disability, the school must conduct or review an FBA and develop or revise a BIP.

When behavior impedes learning. IDEA Section 614(d)(3)(B)(i) requires the IEP team to consider positive behavioral interventions and supports when a student's behavior impedes their own learning or the learning of others. In Michigan, this means behavioral support should be a proactive planning item at every IEP meeting for any student whose disability includes behavioral or emotional components — not just after a crisis.

What a Compliant BIP Must Include

Not every BIP document used in Michigan schools is legally adequate. A compliant BIP derived from an FBA should include:

1. Operational definition of the target behavior. Vague descriptions like "non-compliance" or "aggression" are insufficient. The behavior must be described in observable, measurable terms: "throws materials (pencils, books, papers) when presented with a non-preferred written task during independent work periods." Staff must be able to agree on whether they observed the behavior or not.

2. Summary of the FBA hypothesis. The BIP should state the function of the behavior — escape from task demands, access to attention, access to a preferred item, or sensory input. All strategies must be logically tied to this function. If the function is escape and the BIP strategy is a sticker chart for compliance, the BIP is not function-based.

3. Antecedent modifications. Changes to the environment or routine that reduce the likelihood the trigger condition will cause the behavior. For an escape-motivated behavior, examples include: shorter task segments, built-in breaks, choices within tasks, pre-teaching task expectations.

4. Replacement behavior. The specific, functionally equivalent behavior the student will be taught to use instead. For an escape-motivated student: learning to say "I need a break" or use a break card before reaching the point of throwing materials.

5. Teaching strategies. How the replacement behavior will be taught: direct instruction, role play, social stories, reinforcement of unprompted use.

6. Consequence strategies. How staff will respond when the target behavior occurs (without inadvertently reinforcing it) and how they will respond when the replacement behavior occurs (with specific positive reinforcement).

7. Monitoring and data collection protocol. What data will be collected, by whom, and how frequently. Progress on behavioral goals must be reported to parents on the same schedule as general education report cards under MARSE.

8. Staff responsibilities. Which specific staff members are responsible for implementing each component. A BIP that assigns responsibility to "all staff" without being specific is difficult to enforce.

How to Evaluate Your Child's Current BIP

If your child already has a BIP, here is how to assess whether it is functioning as it should:

Ask to see the data. Request the most recent behavioral data collected under the BIP. If there is no data, the BIP is not being actively monitored. That is a compliance problem.

Ask each teacher to describe their implementation. Email each teacher and paraprofessional who works with your child and ask: "Can you describe how you implement [specific BIP strategy] in your class?" If the responses vary widely or indicate staff are unfamiliar with the plan, the BIP is not being implemented with fidelity.

Compare the BIP strategies to the identified function. If the BIP hypothesis says the behavior is escape-motivated but all strategies are reward-based compliance systems, the plan is not function-based and is unlikely to produce lasting change.

Review whether the replacement behavior is actually being taught. A replacement behavior is not taught by praising the student when they accidentally do the right thing. It requires explicit instruction with practice opportunities. If the BIP does not describe a teaching sequence, the replacement behavior is not being taught.

When the BIP Is Not Being Followed

Failure to implement a student's BIP as written is a violation of the IEP and potentially a denial of FAPE. Document specific incidents where the plan was not followed: dates, staff involved, what the plan required, and what actually happened.

Once you have documented incidents, your escalation path in Michigan is:

Informal resolution. Contact the special education coordinator in writing. Describe the specific implementation failures with dates and request a meeting to review BIP fidelity and revise if needed.

State Complaint. If informal resolution fails, you can file a State Complaint with the Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education (MDE OSE). The MDE is required to investigate within 60 calendar days. A finding of non-compliance results in a corrective action order, which can include compensatory services for the period the plan was not being implemented.

Compensatory education. If behavioral incidents have displaced your child from educational time — repeated suspensions, early pickups, classroom removals — and the BIP was not in place or was not being implemented, you may have a basis for requesting compensatory services to make up for that lost instruction.

The Connection Between BIP and ESY in Michigan

Michigan IEP teams are required under MARSE R 340.1721e to explicitly consider whether each student needs Extended School Year (ESY) services. For students with behavioral IEP goals and an active BIP, regression during summer break is a specific risk to document. If behavioral skill regression during breaks has been documented through data — and the skill cannot be recouped within a reasonable timeframe after returning to school — ESY must be provided at no cost to the parent.

The Michigan IEP & 504 Blueprint includes a BIP review checklist and a template for formally requesting FBA and BIP revision when the current plan is not producing measurable progress.

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