1. Utah State University and Cache County School District
Principal(les) for Data Collection: Important Ingredients for Successful and Targeted Interventions
Richard P. West, Ph.D.
Terry Humphreys, M.S.
Tim G. Smith, M.S.
Matthew J. Taylor Ph.D.
Utah State University and Cache County School District

2. If Schools Are To Achieve All They Can, They Will Need…
Better information about what works (Best Practices)
Tools for monitoring progress
Tailored assistance in developing and implementing appropriate policy
More skillful communication and more public involvement in reform
Education Commission of the States, 1998

3. Better schools result from better decisions, and better decisions result from better data
Sustained improvement in academic achievement requires changes in the school environment
An ethic of collegiality and cooperation is necessary to bring about meaningful school reform
PRINCIPLES

4. Indicators of School Quality Monitoring the School Environment

5. External Variables
Internal Variables

6. Web of Causation for Academic Achievement Instruction Academic

7. Web of Causation for
Social Competence
Punishment
Social Competence

8. saturated fat, cholesterol,
Web of Causation for Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attacks)
Taken from Friedman, G. D. (1994).
Primer of Epidemiology (5th Ed.).
New York: McGraw-Hill, p.4.
Natural selection of
metabolic adaptation
to starvation
Social
pressures
Industrial
society
Dietary excesses in
saturated fat, cholesterol,
calories, salt
Personality &
emotional
stress
Hereditary
factors
Cigarette
smoking
Lack of
exercise
Obesity
Coronary
artery
distribution
Diabetes or
carbohydrate
intolerance
Hyperlipidemia
Increased
catecholamines
Thrombotic
tendency
Hypertension
Significant
coronary
atherosclerosis
Deficiency in
collateral
circulation
Myocardial
susceptibility
The authors note that “Despite
the apparent complexity of this
diagram, it is undoubtedly an
oversimplification and will
certainly be modified by further study.” (p. 5).
Coronary occlusion
Myocardial
infarction

9. The Indicators of School Quality
Parent Support
Teacher Excellence
Instructional Quality
Administration
Student Commitment
Safety
Resources

10. Areas of Risk
Home Language “Is English the primary language spoken at home?”
Mobility “Have you moved more than once in the past three years?”
Peer Associations “Do you generally approve of your child’s closest friends?”
Family Bonding “Do your neighbors generally monitor their children’s activities?”
Community Affiliation “Do you regularly attend community, social, or religious meetings?”
Academic Risk “Do you have a high school diploma/GED?”
Economic Risk “Do you have Internet access at home?”

11. ISQ and Academic Achievement
The variables measured by ISQ account for more than 80% of the variance of academic achievement scores
Even when “risk” is removed from the equation, the correlations between ISQ variables and achievement are statistically significant

12. Hierarchy of Risk Economic Status Community Affiliation Family Bonding
Mobility
Academic Status
Home Language
Peer Acceptance

13. At-Risk Schools

14. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
A Tale of Two Schools
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
We want to share with you today some of the data regarding two schools in which we have used ISQ. Put in a George Washington Report. Put in Progress Reports for School 1 and School 2. For school 1 talk about risk profiles. Talk about the risk and the hiearchal relationship. Talk about how for this school to be able to change, they need to be paying attention to and responding to the data.
Then bring in school 2. Tell a little about its history. Tell about Terry’s arrival on the scene and how she was able to use this data to help the staff identify some changes that needed to be made. Once she had the environmetn data, she was able to look more closely into the school data. Talk about he school data for year 1 and profile this school a little bit. This wasn’t a bad school, but it did have some problems (e.g. ISP, unclear expectations, unclear classroom responses, etc).

15. Clear Communication of Behavioral Expectations
Universal
All Students
Targeted
At-Risk Students
Clear Communication of
Behavioral Expectations
Bobcat Pride
(Rules, Values, Common Language)
Administrative Intervention
(Instructions
Individual Negotiations
Contracts)
Relationships and Bonding
System-wide Advisement
Extra-Curricular Programs
Mentoring
Relationship-building
Teaching Emphasis
Academic Skills
Social Skills
Self-management Skills
Teaching Social Skills
Behavior Modeling
(Expectations, Modeling, Practice, Fluency, Evaluation)
Intensive Teaching
(Planned
And
Opportunistic
Teaching)
Recognition for Appropriate
Behavior
Bobcat 200
(Praise Notes/Boards
Recognition Programs
Good Behavior Game)
Increase)
Instructive Praise
Bobcat Tracks

16. Office Referrals

17. Office Referrals OCTOBER

18. Total Level 1 Violations by Groups
59%
41%
25% 6%
At-Risk students, in this case, are identified as having 5 or more violations MARCH 2004

19. Level 1 Violations by At-Risk Groups
MARCH 2004

20. Violations by Location

21. Clear Communication of Behavioral Expectations
Universal
All Students
Targeted
At-Risk Students
Clear Communication of
Behavioral Expectations
Bobcat Pride
(Rules, Values, Common Language)
Administrative Intervention
(Instructions
Individual Negotiations
Contracts)
Relationships and Bonding
System-wide Advisement
Extra-Curricular Programs
Mentoring
Relationship-building
Teaching Emphasis
Academic Skills
Social Skills
Self-management Skills
Teaching Social Skills
Behavior Modeling
(Expectations, Modeling, Practice, Fluency, Evaluation)
Intensive Teaching
(Planned
And
Opportunistic
Teaching)
Recognition for Appropriate
Behavior
Bobcat 200
(Praise Notes/Boards
Recognition Programs
Good Behavior Game)
Increase)
Instructive Praise
Bobcat Tracks

22. The Future of ISQ
Indicators of PBS
Domain and PBS Checklists

23. Elementary Students Do your teachers always give clear instructions?
Are you often confused about how to behave at school?
Do you like to read?
Do your teachers tell you when you do well?

24. Secondary Students
Do all of your teachers generally give clear instructions?
Is there an adult at this school who you can approach for help?
Are you frequently confused about what is expected of you at school?
Would you know where to get help if you fell behind in your schoolwork?
Have you been recognized individually in the last school week for behaving well?

25. Staff
Do you post clearly stated expectations for behavior in your classroom?
Do teachers regularly encourage students to come to them for extra help?
Is there a coordinated effort by all school staff to teach appropriate social skills?
Do all of your students know where to get help to catch up academically?
Are you encouraged by the administration to recognize positive student behaviors?

26. Checklist of Contextual Factors
Clear Communication of Expectations for Performance
A well-written set of behavioral standards and expectations exists at this school
The set of expectations is short (generally from 5 to 7 items)
Students were involved in the development, refinement, and communication of the standards of behavior
The behavioral expectations are statements of how to behave well, rather than what not to do
Behavioral expectations are posted prominently throughout the school
Behavioral expectations are emphasized in each classroom (e.g. explicitly taught, reminded, and encouraged)
Students are able to remember and repeat statements of behavioral expectations
Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California State University,Los Angeles

27. Checklist of Contextual Factors
Relationships and Bonding
Strong administrative support for staff exists (e.g. good teaching is recognized, faculty requests are acted upon promptly)
Strong staff support for one another exists (e.g. staff confer with one another regarding instruction and discipline)
Staff greet and help students feel welcome in the classroom
Staff interact with and show interest in students in various settings
Staff have many more positive than negative interactions with students
Students generally comply willingly with staff requests and instructions
Students tend to “hang around” staff, engaging in conversations, etc.
Staff are really well acquainted with each and every student, and are familiar with students’ personal characteristics, attributes, and challenges
Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California State University,Los Angeles

28. Checklist of Contextual Factors
Skill-Building Emphasis: Academic, Social,
and Self-Management Skills
The school assumes responsibility for learning of academic skills
Curriculum in all areas is organized to emphasize active rather than passive responding, with many tailored opportunities for all students to respond
Academic assignments are adjusted to students’ functional levels
Sufficient additional academic support is provided to struggling students
The school assumes responsibility for learning of social skills
Social skills are identified and taught effectively emphasizing fluency and generalized performance in natural settings
Failure to meet high expectations of performance is followed by individual intensive teaching rather than punishment
Students receive explicit instruction and support in self-management
Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001) California State University,Los Angeles

29. Checklist of Contextual Factors
Recognition of Appropriate Behavior
Recognition is provided by the administration to students who meet the behavioral expectations
Recognition is provided by classroom teachers to students who meet the behavioral expectations
All students receive frequent and appropriate recognition for their accomplishments and efforts to meet high standards of good behavior
At-Risk students receive more frequent and personalized (tailored) recognition for their efforts to meet high standards and expectations (in both academic and deportment)
Evidences exist in this school of efforts to pay more attention to good behavior and success than to problem behavior and mistakes
Adapted from G. Roy Mayer (2001), California State University,Los Angeles

30. California State University,Los Angeles
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
“It appears that changing these identified contextual factors not only can help prevent antisocial behavior, but also can help to create an environment more conducive to learning”
G. Roy Mayer (2001)
California State University,Los Angeles

31. Nine Contextual Factors that Contribute to Punitive School Environments and Promote Antisocial Behavior
Low student involvement in school activities
Unclear rules for student deportment
Weak or inconsistent administrative support
Student academic failure
Student deficiency in social & personal management skills
Problems discriminating prosocial & antisocial behavior
Consequences delivered inconsistently
Inadvertent reinforcement of antisocial behavior
Over reliance on punitive methods of control (Mayer, 1995; Similar to home-based contextual factors noted by Loeber, Stouthammer-Loeber & Green, 1987 and Reid & Patterson, 1991)