Illinois Summer Leadership Conference: District Issues in Sustainability Rob Horner University of Oregon OSEP TA Center on Positive Behavior Support

Goals  Define four major areas where district decisions affect sustainability of school-wide PBIS.  Define process for dealing with “competing initiatives” Use “bully-proofing” and “early literacy” as examples.

District Impact on Sustainability: Four common areas  Competing initiatives Integrate/braid Fund/support  Data use for continuous regeneration Require regular review of fidelity and outcome Cycle of review needs to fit cycle of impact.  Efficiency If it works now, make it easier to do next year  Stability/Leadership Job descriptions, etc.

Managing competing initiatives  The challenge Multiple expectations from multiple sources Everything sounds good Without clear direction and focus it is easier to add something than to adapt something The cost of adoption is usually high, but fundable through “off the table” resources… However the cost to sustain must be embedded in regular budget.

Managing competing initiatives  Two major categories: Multiple initiatives focused on the same goal/outcome Multiple initiatives focused on different goals/outcomes

Managing competing initiatives  When competing initiatives have a common goal Dissect “programs” into “practices” Look at what practices you already do to achieve the target goal:  Never stop doing what already works  Always look for the smallest change that will produce the largest effect  Never add something new without defining what you will STOP doing to create the needed resources

Managing competing initiatives  When competing initiatives have common goals. Invest in the systems to support effective practices  Team development  Trainer/ coach support  Data systems  Allocation of time for team/staff to succeed. Combine training/orientation requirements

Managing competing initiatives  When competing initiatives have common goals. Braid (combine) common initiatives into a unified implementation effort for staff.

Example: Adding Bully-Proofing to SWPBIS  Context: You have just invested two years in building SWPBIS in your district/schools, and the school board or legislature mandates (and provides funding) for you to adopt “Bully-proofing” as a new initiative in your school/district. What do you do?

Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems  Bully Proofing  Goal: Reduce bullying  Practices: Define and teach school- wide expectations Teach bully alternative social skills Establish consequences for bullying Teach victim and bystander to remove rewards for bullying  School-wide PBIS  Goal: Improve social and academic success  Practices: Define and teach school- wide Expectations Reward appropriate behavior Consistent consequences Use of data Continuum of interventions

Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems  Bully Proofing  Goal: Reduce bullying  Practices: Define and teach school- wide expectations Teach bully alternative social skills Establish consequences for bullying Teach victim and bystander to remove rewards for bullying  School-wide PBIS  Goal: Improve social and academic success  Practices: Define and teach school- wide Expectations Reward appropriate behavior Consistent consequences Use of data Continuum of interventions

Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems  Bully Proofing  Systems Staff training ?  School-wide PBIS  Systems Administrator role Team structure and training Data system Coaching Trainer role

Bully proofing within SW-PBIS  Example  Note: Braiding of initiatives (vision, purpose, roles) Focus on “practices” rather than “program” Common in-service format Use of existing “systems” for both Use of common data system for both initiatives Emphasis on efficiency

Your Turn: Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems  School-wide PBIS  Character Education  Character Counts  DARE  Substance Abuse Prevention  Drop out prevention  Violence free zone  Diversity celebration Define a competing initiative and your assessment of how it might best be integrated with your current SW-PBIS efforts Define a competing initiative you already had in place when you considered adoption of SW-PBIS, and how to adapt SW-PBIS to fit with the existing initiative

Managing competing initiatives  When initiatives have different goals. Consider “systems” needed to support both initiatives  Coaching supports Consider ways to combine training Define what you will stop doing to add the new initiative.

Example: Adding Early Literacy to SW-PBIS  Oregon, Michigan Kent Jorge

Summary  Administrative decisions at district/school level affect sustainability of SWPBIS.  Four major areas of impact Managing competing initiatives Data use for continuous regeneration Efficiency efforts Stability/Leadership  To manage competing initiatives Operate differently with initiatives focused on similar vs. different goals