Intervening During the Escalation Cycle Even if you conduct the
most thorough functional behavioral assessment and flawlessly
implement the best-designed behavior intervention plan, no plan
is foolproof. There will still be times when an individual
student may reach a crisis level and someone will be in danger
of getting hurt. This does not mean you failed. Behavior
management is tough stuff, and no one has all the answers. We
always say that there is no such thing as failure in behavior
management, only assessment. So what is best practice in these
unforeseen, very difficult situations? The most important thing
is to know your student. Dangerous behavior almost never comes
out of nowhere. There are usually signs that trouble is starting
to brew long before behavior escalates to an unsafe level, and
these signs are very student specific. Different sources call it
different names such as the escalation cycle,1 the rage cycle,2
or the crisis development model,3 but the basic concept is the
same. The student sta