The responsibility of managing student behavior has become a heightened concern for general education teachers as a result of increased accountability for student gains. Although functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) are widely recommended for use in such situations, there are clear indications that this evidence-based practice is not occurring regularly or reliably. Nevertheless, there are core elements of FBAs that promote function-based thinking (FBT) that may help bridge this gap and serve as an efficient strategy to address behavior problems and inappropriate referrals. This article outlines the FBT model, which aims to empower general education teachers and school-based personnel to apply a more systematic approach to problem-solving possible functions of student behavior. FBT is an approach to behavior intervention planning that can be more easily embraced by general education teachers than FBA. Drawing on the FBA literature, the FBT model provides a framework for systematically exploring possible conditions that might be contributing to the student's misbehavior. After describing the core elements and merits of FBAs, as well as the factors that impede consistent use in schools, the authors offer a rationale for FBT and a case study illustrating how it can be implemented by general education teachers. They conclude with a discussion of the professional development and coaching that is necessary to support high-quality implementation of FBT. (Contains 3 figures.)