Welcome Designing Positive School- Wide Discipline Plans Randy Sprick, Ph.D.

2 Goal: To create a safe, civil and productive school.

3 Foundations CHAMPs Interventions

“Which prom are you going to?” From the Dallas Morning News April, 2004

The most popular question at _____High School this month won’t be “Who are taking to the prom?” or “What are you wearing?” The most pressing question will be, “Which prom are you going to?”

Irked by a school rule that bars many of their classmates from the school-sponsored prom, a group of students is planning an alternative prom to compete with the official prom on April 24 th.

High school principal Buddy ____, to encourage classroom attendance, decreed that students who collected eight absences between November 10 and March 31, excused or not, can’t attend the prom.

That didn’t sit well with seniors Ian ___ and Peter ____, who launched the alternative prom idea with the help of friends.

“It was a joke at first, “ said Ian, 17. “Then we just said, ‘Let’s do it. They can’t stop us,’” added Peter, 18, “We’re teenagers with time.”

Graduation Rates? ? 1946? 1900?

U.S. Dept. of Education Percent 1946 U.S. Dept. of Education 2000 Manhattan Institute Graduation Rates?? 6% 48% 71%

School-Wide Classroom Ind. Studen t District

13 Variables: There are five variables that staff can manipulate to increase the chances that students will behave in a safe and civil manner.

Structure /organize all school settings for success. Teach students how to behave responsibly in those settings. Observe student behavior (supervise!). Interact positively with students. Correct calmly, consistently and immediately in the setting in which the infraction occurred.

STOIC: One who is admired for patience and endurance in the face of adversity.

Many schools depend too much on punitive consequences Punitive consequences have inherent and inescapable drawbacks including, but not limited to: escape/avoidance fear may become neutral may become reinforcing can set a negative climate

School-Wide Classroom Ind. Studen t District

The Improvement Cycle: Review Prioritize ReviseAdopt Implement Surveys Observations Disc. Referral Injury reports Focus groups

Surveys: Middle School Student Survey Responses % Agree

Disciplinary Referrals Trends and patterns: Type of offense Location Month or week Day of the week Time of the day Referring staff

Structure/ organize all school settings for success. For example: Physical arrangements/org 1

Structure/ organize all school settings for success. For example: Ending Routines 1

Structure organize all school settings for success. For example: Physical arrangements Scheduling issues Organizational patterns Routines and procedures Expectations for students Expectations for staff 1

Teach students how to behave responsibly in those settings. For example: Lessons on classroom expectations, routines and policies Lessons on common area expectations, routines and policies Lessons on essential behaviors such as respect, bullying prevention, school pride, and possibly even keeping things neat 2

For example: Restrooms 2

Teach students how to behave responsibly in those settings. For example: Lessons on classroom expectations, routines and policies Lessons on common area expectations, routines and policies Lessons on essential behaviors such as respect, bullying prevention, school pride, and possibly even keeping things neat 2

Teach students how to behave responsibly in those settings. For example: Lessons on classroom expectations, routines and policies Lessons on common area expectations, routines and policies Lessons on essential behaviors such as respect, bullying prevention, school pride, and possibly even keeping things neat Coaching provides a great model of teaching, and reteaching as needed. Coaching also provides a great model of inspirational leadership. 2

Observe student behavior (supervise!). Without monitoring, even responsible adults will push the limits. In the classroom, this involves circulating and scanning. In the common areas, this involves organizing supervision to insure that: –a sufficient number of adults are present. –friendly, respectful behavior is modeled. –the adults are coordinating with and supporting each other. –students receive consistent information on what is acceptable and not acceptable. 3

Observe student behavior (supervise!)--Consistently.

I nteract positively with students. This involves three different skills. A. Interact in a welcoming manner with every student. –Say hello, use students ’ names –Show an interest in students — listen, converse. B. Provide age appropriate, non-embarrassing positive feedback. 4

C. Strive to interact more frequently with every student when s/he is engaged in positive behavior than when s/he is engaged in negative behavior. –Some students are starved for attention. –What you pay the most attention to is what will occur more frequently in the future. –Strive for at least 3:1 positive to negative ratios. Positively interact with students. This involves three different skills. 4

Correct irresponsible behavior calmly, consistently and immediately in the setting in which the infraction occurred. –Some schools may implement a 3-Level System for responding to misbehavior. 5

Fire in the Lab