Using Information for Decision Making Identifying Interventions that support Targeted and Intensive Students Susan Barrett www.pbis.org www.pbismaryland.org

Monitor Objectives & Outcomes Big Idea: The staff determine what they want to answer, what data will answer the question, the simplest way to get that data, and then write an objective for where they want to be in the future.

Questions How does the team use to data to: Get 80% staff buy-in (staff survey, TIC) Keep 80% buy-in (BIG 5, communication) for problem solving across all teams/committees Utililize the three-tiered model of prevention (integrate student services, academic support, teacher support)

Positive Behavior Support Supporting Decision Making Supporting Staff Behavior INFORMATION office discipline referrals PBS self assessment survey all staff (parents/students?) input academic progress attendance direct observation school improvement goal progress SYSTEMS School wide Non classroom Classroom Individual students PRACTICES define (behav. expect. & routines) teach acknowledge correct follow up & feedback consensus & collaboration Supporting Student Behavior

Why Collect Discipline Information? Decision making Professional Accountability Decisions made with data (information) are more likely to be (a) implemented, and (b) effective

Key features of data systems that work. The data are accurate The data are very easy to collect (1% of staff time) Data are used for decision-making The data must be available when decisions need to be made (weekly?) Difference between data needs at a school building versus data needs for a district The people who collect the data must see the information used for decision-making.

What data to collect for decision-making? USE WHAT YOU HAVE Office Discipline Referrals/Detentions Measure of overall environment. Referrals are affected by (a) student behavior, (b) staff behavior, (c) administrative context An under-estimate of what is really happening Office Referrals per Day per Month Attendance Suspensions/Expulsions Vandalism

Office Discipline Referral Processes/Form Coherent system in place to collect office discipline referral data Faculty and staff agree on categories Faculty and staff agree on process Office Discipline Referral Form includes needed information Name, date, time Staff Problem Behavior, maintaining function Location

Minor Incident Reports Overall Design Smaller than referral In triplicate Replaced Detention Forms Pre-Referral Documented Step Flexible Consequences Ex: Detention, reflection, parent signature, etc. Administrative Intervention Before Referral

When Should Data be Collected? Continuously Data collection should be an embedded part of the school cycle not something “extra” Data should be summarized prior to meetings of decision-makers (e.g. weekly) Data will be inaccurate and irrelevant unless the people who collect and summarize it see the data used for decision-making.

Organizing Data for “Information” Counts are good, but not always useful To compare across months use “average office discipline referrals per day per month”

Using Data for On-Going Problem Solving Start with the decisions not the data Use data in “decision layers” Is there a problem? (overall rate of ODR) Localize the problem (location, problem behavior, students, time of day) Get specific Don’t drown in the data It’s “OK” to be doing well Be efficient

Is there a problem? Office Referrals per Day per Month Attendance Faculty Reports

Interpreting Office Referral Data: Is there a problem? Absolute level (depending on size of school) Middle Schools (>5 per day) Elementary Schools (>1.5-2 per day) Trends Peaks before breaks? Gradual increasing trend across year? Compare levels to last year Improvement?

Is There a Problem? #1 Maintain - Modify - Terminate

Is There a Problem? #4 Maintain - Modify - Terminate

What systems are problematic? Referrals by problem behavior? What problem behaviors are most common? Referrals by location? Are there specific problem locations? Referrals by student? Are there many students receiving referrals or only a small number of students with many referrals? Referrals by time of day? Are there specific times when problems occur?

Referrals by Problem Behavior

Referrals by Problem Behavior

Referrals per Location

Referrals per Student

Referrals per Student

Referrals by Time of Day

Referrals by Time of Day

Designing Solutions If many students are making the same mistake it typically is the system that needs to change not the students. Teach, monitor and reward before relying on punishment. An example (Kartub et al, JPBI, 2000)

Targeted Group Supports For those students who exhibit difficulties despite proactive school-wide prevention efforts Likely to be student with both academic & behavioral challenges Approximately 10% of school population

Remember… targeted-level students. Without school-wide prevention, we cannot reliably identify targeted-level students.

Using Data to Select Interventions Who are the students who need additional support? (referrals by student, targeted:2-5 referrals, intensive: 6 or more referrals) What are the interventions? (link to SW) What is the referral process? (teacher support-quick, easy, ) What is the time frame students get access to the intervention? (72 hours) What is the process to determine function? FACTS, student questionnaire, role of academics, hypothesis statement, team process? Does the SST have access to the data for ongoing monitoring of intervention?

Secondary Prevention: Primary Prevention: Tertiary Prevention: Interagency Partnerships Community Partnerships Court/ Institutional Liaisons Spot Light On Schools/ P.O.s Maryland’s Tomorrow Program Homeless Program NW/SW IEP Team Individual Student IEP/ 504 Plans Student Therapeutic Support Student Threat Assessments Abuse and Neglect Reporting Program (CPS Liaisons) Traumatic Loss Teams Baltimore County 2004-2005 32 Schools: 14 ES, 12 MS, 6 HS ~5% ~15% Secondary Prevention: Project Attend/ FACE School Resource Officer Program D.A.R.E./ S.A.D.D. Programs Student Assistance Programs Wellness Centers Health Action Plans/ Appraisals Peer Helper/ Mediation Programs Pupil Personnel Home Visits/ Social Histories Instructional Support Teams (IST) Functional Behavior Assessments Behavior Intervention Plans Educational/ Psychosocial Assessments Psychological Assessments Student Case Management Social Skills, Anger Management, Conflict Resolution Parent Presentations/ Trainings Alternative School/Program Placements Primary Prevention: School Improvement Planning School Emergency Safety Plans Positive Behavior Plans/ Codes Character Education Programs Parent/ Family Resources Student Support Teams Health Screenings/ Protocols School Nurse/ Assistant Services Essential Guidance Curriculum School Counselor Services Pupil Personnel Services Residency/ Attendance Officer Services School Social Work Services School Psychologist Services ~80% of Students

Targeted and Intensive /Programs/Initiatives Name of school: County: School Year 2005-06 Programs Purpose Expected Outcome Target Group Outcome Data (Is it working?) Recommendations: 1. What programs groups can we eliminate? 2. What programs groups can we combine? 3. What programs groups need to be supported for improved outcomes and sustained functioning?

Targeted and Intensive /Programs/Initiatives Name of school: County: School Year 2005-06 Programs Purpose Expected Outcome Target Group Outcome Data (Is it working?) Homework Club Recommendations: 1. What programs groups can we eliminate? 2. What programs groups can we combine? 3. What programs groups need to be supported for improved outcomes and sustained functioning?

Conduct Brief Functional Assessment Is the behavior maintained by peer attention? Is the behavior maintained by escape from social interaction? Is the behavior related to lack of academic skills? Escape Motivated BEP Reduce adult interaction Use escape as a reinforcer BEP + Academic Support Increase academic support Peer Motivated BEP Allow student to earn reinforcers to share with peers Horner, Hawken, Marsh

How would we use data to decide where and how to direct problem solving and effectiveness of implementation. L. Newcomer

Summary of PBIS “BIG IDEAS” Systems (How things are done) Team based problem solving Data-based decision making Long term sustainability Data (How decisions are made) On going data collection & use ODR’s (# per day per month, location, behavior, student) Suspension/expulsion, attendance, tardies Practices (How staff interact with students) Direct teaching of behavioral expectations On-going reinforcement of expected behaviors Functional behavioral assessment

Using Data School-Wide What’s happening? Are we meeting our goals? Are we doing what we said we would? Individual Students What do we do next?

School-Wide Analysis: What’s Happening Can we predict our problems? Why are they occurring? What can we do to prevent? Is it working?

School-Wide Data Analysis: What are our Goals? What do we want? Is it happening? If Yes - what next? If No - what next?

School-Wide Analysis: Are we Doing it? Are we doing what we said we would? What are our barriers? What do we have to do to make it work?