School-wide Positive Behavior Support March 24, 2005 Manchester School District 25 Industrial Park Road, Middletown, CT · (860) Connecticut State Department of Education · Division of Teaching & Learning Programs and Services

Recap of Day 3 Topics  Team Updates District Team Site Visits Bowers – SET Bennet – PD on March 17th  Effective Consequences  Identifying School-wide Expectations  Identifying Rules for Unique Settings

Today’s Topics  Developing a System for Teaching Appropriate Behavior  Developing a School-wide Reward System  Evaluating Progress  Creating a Plan for Implementation of a Comprehensive PBS System

Positive Behavior Support Developing A System for Teaching Appropriate Behavior

“If a child does not know how to read, we teach. If a child does not know how to swim, we teach. If a child does not know how to multiply, we teach. If a child does not know how to drive, we teach. If a child does not know how to behave, we teach?…punish?” “Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we do the others?” Tom Herner (NASDSE President) Counterpoint, 1998

Once you have developed classroom expectations, it is not enough to just post the words on the walls of the classroom… YOU MUST TEACH THEM!

Behavior Errors  More often occur because: Students do not have appropriate skills- “Skills Deficits” Students do not know when to use skills Students have not been taught specific classroom procedures and routines Skills are not taught in context

Why Develop a System for Teaching Behavior?  Cannot assume that students Know the appropriate ways to behave Will learn appropriate behaviors quickly and effectively without consistent modeling/practice  MUST assume Students will require different curricula, instructional modalities, etc. to learn appropriate behavior We need to teach appropriate behaviors as effectively as we teach academic skills

How Do We Teach Behavior?  School-wide  Within Individual Classrooms  For Specific Targeted Groups and Individual Students  Would like to keep…  Would like to revise or expand…  How Do We Connect… Existing programs; Curriculum Standards?

Introducing School-wide Expectations & Rules  All faculty and students participate  Decide on method that will be most effective for your school  Consider Importance/Impact- Activity/event should be a high priority…not given a few minutes in some other activity

What Other Schools Have Found to be Effective  Rotate classes through stations across school to learn about rules for that particular setting  Principal and teachers put program together to creatively introduce to students in an assembly format (e.g., teacher role play examples & non- examples, ask for volunteers, etc.)  Students perform skits on the morning news to be broadcasted daily

Lesson Plans  Provide initial plans and/or lesson plan format for teachers to begin teaching behavior  Develop a system for expanding behavior lesson plan ideas throughout the year  Determine the minimum requirements for teaching behavior

Guidelines for Teaching Expectations Teach As You Teach Core Academics:  Define in terms that students will understand  List critical attributes  Provide examples and non-examples  Enhance concept development  Check for understanding  Extend concept development  Acknowledge efforts  Re-teach and restructure teaching

Sample  Language Arts and Reading Use a novel that has an expectation as a theme Discuss characters in a novel and how they did not show respect, then have the students write the story with the character showing respect Have the students develop their own expectations and/or rules and then have them write a persuasive essay or debate why theirs should be used instead of the school’s

Sample:  Fine Arts (Music, Art, Computers, Graphics) When choosing a school play, choose one with a theme centered around one of the school expectations or write your own play Have the students compose a song/rap with the expectation Have students come up with a campaign for promoting expectations to the entire student body

Sample:  Science and/or Math Have students develop a hypothesis about what they think are the top behavior problems at school. Have them survey students, parents, & teachers; make graphs; and reach a conclusion about the hypothesis Have the students count the number of tickets redeemed monthly for prizes & graph them. You can include ratio of number of tickets to students, # of tickets per teacher, etc.

Sample:  Social Studies Have students research different cultures to find out how they define “Respectful” Talk about how different historical events occurred because of conflict and come up with solutions on how the conflict could have been resolved

School-wide Booster Trainings  You will be teaching expectations and rules throughout the year, but there will be times when we all need a more intensive refresher. When do you think some of those times may be? What will that format look like?

Sample Creative Ideas: “Putting it into Practice”  Video students role-playing to teach expectations and rules and show during morning show  Students compete for the GRAND Prize by participating in a behavior competition by grade level.  “NO Tardy Party”- Pick a random Friday. The principal announces that anyone who has demonstrated “responsibility” by being on time for class the entire week may participate (must have planner signed for entry).

Sample Creative Ideas: “Putting it into Practice”  Provide students with a script that includes actions and words expected  Rotate students through different settings- Teach the behaviors in the setting where the behaviors are expected to occur  Have classes compete to come up with unique ideas (student projects, bulletin boards, skits, songs, etc.)  Recognize staff for creative ideas

Develop  School-wide Plan for First Day of School  Sample Lesson Plan

Action Plan! What will you do with this information?

Positive Behavior Support Developing a School-wide Reward System

Something to Think About…  Do we provide reinforcers/rewards that are meaningful to individual students?  Do we align reinforcement with what an individual wants to gain or avoid from his/her behavior and to the universal behaviors we want to teach?

Reward System Guidelines  Keep it simple  Provide staff with opportunities to recognize students in common areas who are not in their classes  Include information and encouraging messages on daily announcements  Rewards should target 85-95% of students

Guidelines  Reward frequently in the beginning Keep ratios of reinforcement high (4:1)  Reward based on school-wide expectations— contingent upon desired behavior  Refrain from threatening the loss of rewards as a strategy for motivating desired behaviors  Refrain from taking earned items or activities away from a student  Students should be eligible to earn rewards throughout the day contingent upon appropriate behavior

Challenges  Remaining focused on the positive  Providing meaningful rewards  Maintaining consistency with all staff  Tracking your reward system

Solutions  Keep ratio of reinforcement to correction high (4:1)  Involve students on your team to help determine meaningful rewards  Provide reward system trainings to staff annually and plan for booster trainings as needed  Develop data-based system for monitoring and documenting appropriate behavior

Meeting Token System Challenges  Token System: Refers to a reward system that works in the same manner as money, where a “token” can be redeemed for “things” or “experiences”  Ex. Students earn “Riverside Bucks” to purchase items at the school store.  If tangible tokens are used: Ensure an adequate supply Take steps to prohibit counterfeiting Establish an efficient system of record keeping

Meeting Token System Challenges  Use tokens that students can “cash in” for back-up reinforcers Ex: buy button to participate in drawing  Designate a percentage of the tokens to be used to reward students who are not on a teacher’s roll

What Have Other Schools Found to be Effective?  School bucks to use in a school store on a regular basis (weekly)  “Caught Being Good” certificates  School Mascot cut-outs with students’ names printed on them--used in lottery drawings once a week or twice a month  “No Tardy Party”  12 day “No Violence Countdown”

Other Effective Strategies  Positive parent telephone contacts with students present  Coupons (purchased with established numbers of tokens) for the following: Extra P.E. Extra art Extra music No homework coupon (use with caution) Earned activity period for a preferred activity Early release pass

Reward System Self-Check  Clearly defined criteria for earning rewards  Portable for use in multiple settings  Flexible enough to meet the needs of diverse students  Contingent access to rewards  Supportive of and aligned with the data collection system

Reward System Self-Check  Varied to maintain student interest  Supportive of behavioral and academic success  Meaningful back-up reinforcers  Age-appropriate  Plan for encouraging and monitoring staff use of reward system

Reward System Self-Check  Hierarchical: Small increments of success are recognized with small rewards  Opportunities for naturally occurring reinforcement in multiple settings are promoted  The system is simple to use

Reflection for Developing Rewards  District Team What resources do schools need in order to implement reward systems?  Bowers How to get resources (including staffing) to sustain the existing reward system? How do you communicate the purpose and need for a reward system to families and staff?  Bennet What rewards would be supported by staff consistently? By students? How do you communicate the purpose and need for a reward system to families and staff?B

Action Plan! What will you do with this information?

Positive Behavior Support Evaluating the Progress of PBS Efforts

What We Need To Do  Identify areas of evaluation  Identify the purpose of evaluation  Be aware of the tools used in evaluation of school-wide PBS  Develop an evaluation process for your school-wide plan

Evaluating School-wide System  Survey of students and staff  Random questioning At least 80% of students can state school’s expected rules  Observations  Checklists

Why is Evaluation Important?  To gain an understanding of how the program is functioning “Are we really doing what we think we are doing?”  To document program effectiveness “Is what we’re doing working?”  To identify and examine strengths and weaknesses of the program Celebrate success Identify areas to improve

Areas of Evaluation  PBS Team Functioning/Effectiveness  PBS Elements The SW Plan Implementation  Outcomes Discipline & Academic Data Staff, Student, and Parent Perceptions

Evaluation Tools  PBS Meeting Evaluation  Team Process Survey  School Climate Survey  Staff Satisfaction Survey  Outcome Data Summary  Benchmarks of Quality

 Bower- How will you measure the success of implementation?  Bennet-How will you determine the needs for initiation next year?  District-wide- How will you determine the overall success across the district? Establish a Plan for Evaluation

Action Plan! What will you do with this information?

Positive Behavior Support Implementing School-wide PBS

Introducing PBS to Families  What to communicate to families? The “big picture”—purpose of school-wide plan Expectations—how they can be demonstrated in non-school settings Reinforcements & consequences Plan for on-going updates of behavior data How they can get involved in the school-wide plan

Introducing PBS to Families (continued)  Methods of communication: Written—letters, newsletters, marques Face-to-Face—school and/or community training event Other—hold message, video demonstrations

Teaching New Staff Members  Who is responsible for training new staff throughout the year?  Means of instruction Person-to-person Written guide Observations Video

Keeping it Fresh: Booster Trainings  Plan for refresher training throughout the year Person(s) responsible Timeline Instructional activities Training for modifications to the plan

Preventing Potential Pitfalls  Establish a plan to address barriers for implementation Mechanism for communication (dialogue at staff meetings, note box, s, PBS meetings, etc…) Maintaining staff/student involvement Family involvement

Congratulations! What’s Next? After successfully establishing school-wide behavior support you may find: Individual students who continue to exhibit significant behavior problems A group of students with similar behaviors of concern A particular classroom experiencing difficulty with behavior with a number of students

Levels of PBS  School-wide  Classroom  Targeted Group  Individual

Why Do We Need to Intervene?  Instructional time  Stress  Learning environment  Modeling  Resources  Test scores  SW not sufficient  Skill deficiencies don’t remediate themselves

Characteristics of Support  Preventative, educative, functional  Data-based  Empirically-valid  Collaborative  Tied to established school-wide, classroom, and individual support programs

Approaches to Intervention  Behavior Education Program (BEP)  Verbal De-escalation Training  Conflict Resolution Training  Social Skills Training  Anger Management Training

Establish a Plan for Next Year  Bower- How will you fully implement school-wide PBS? How will you obtain staff buy-in, understanding, and consistency? How will you engage families and students?  Bennet-How will you roll this out in Illing? What will you accomplish by the end of next year? Who needs to be involved?  District-wide- What will be the plan for district-wide expansion?

Action Plan! What will you do with this information?

Questions……………?

Next Steps…….