Critical Element: PBIS Team “Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” —Mike Krzyzewski Critical Element: PBIS Team There are 10 critical elements in making Positive Behavior Intervention Supports effective on a campus. The first critical element on the Benchmarks of Quality assessment is PBIS Team. This is the establishment of a problem-solving team that is representative of the campus. Today, your team will assess and action plan together on the critical elements of Tier I implementation of school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports. The PBIS team is the guiding force to setting and prioritizing goals for the campus to reach school-wide implementation of PBIS to fidelity. You will assess your campus’s progress and action plan yearly. You will design the strategies and materials necessary to help your campus be successful, and you will need to do it while effectively guiding the staff. We will talk about the components of this critical element now by looking at the PBIS team critical element on the Benchmarks of Quality.

Benchmarks of Quality PBIS Team This document was referenced earlier in the training. The Benchmarks of Quality is a self-assessment tool to measure the fidelity of campus implementation of positive behavior interventions and supports for Tier I or school-wide implementation. Just as teachers design their assessments first, which drives instruction, we use this tool to guide our campus implementation plan. The Benchmarks of Quality is based on 10 critical elements that are the foundation for implementing Tier I of PBIS successfully. The scoring form is completed by the team, but the scoring rubric will guide your team in determining where you are at each element. Using the scoring guide rubric, determine where your campus is already. The purpose of assessing where you are today on the critical elements we discuss is to establish a baseline for the campus and help you action plan later.

Scoring Guide This is the first page of the Benchmarks of Quality scoring guide that establishes criteria for each critical element. This scoring guide is a rubric and is what we will refer to throughout the training to establish a baseline assessment of the operations within the campus. As you go through this training, you are encouraged to note within the scoring guide where your campus is particularly successful and where your campus may need improvement. You will be marking the campus score for each item in the critical elements we cover based on where you fall on the scoring rubric.

Benchmarks of Quality (Revised)— Scoring Guide This is an example of the items in critical element one, which is the PBIS team. As shown earlier, each critical element we will discuss today has a scoring guide rubric. The scoring guide gives examples of what a superior level of completion of this benchmark looks like. It also includes a description of what it would look like if this benchmark needs improvement.

LEADERSHIP IS CRITICAL! Administrator support is critical to the success of PBIS. Research has shown that lack of administrator support is a significant barrier to implementation, and most campuses will fail without active leadership. The principal does not need to be on the team, but an administrator does.

How Do We Develop Effective Teams? Hold regular meetings. Stick to the date. Hold each other accountable to be there on time. Establish roles for each member. Facilitator, minute taker, timekeeper, etc. Follow-up on tasks is established at each meeting. Agendas reflect action items. How do we develop effective teams? Planning to be an effective team is as important as planning for what actions you might take to implement PBIS. Schedule meetings at an agreed upon time and stick to it. Don’t allow outside forces to sideline your meeting. Hold each other accountable to be on time. Each team member should have a role in the team—something they are responsible for doing at each meeting. Use an agenda and stick to it. Avoid the never-ending meeting; if an item is not on the agenda, either table it for next time or decide as a group to discuss it. It is important for teams to be consistent in order for them to be effective. Ineffective teams will waste valuable time and prevent goals from being accomplished.

Ineffective Teams Waste Time Ineffective practices seen in the video include ( . . . ) Now let’s look at an example of an ineffective team. Before we begin the video, get a sticky note to jot down some things you think can make a team meeting highly ineffective. Play the video. Discuss with your team ineffective practices you saw in this team. In a minute, we will share some of the things you may have seen. Give teams 1–2 minutes to discuss. Now let’s have some teams share ineffective practices they discussed. For your team to operate effectively and efficiently, it is imperative to your team that you establish roles and responsibilities for each team member.

Coach Data manager Recorder Time manager Task master Having specific roles on a team will increase team efficiency, capitalize on the specific strengths of individual team members, and help to ensure that tasks get done in a timely fashion. Every team member should have a role and a task associated with that role. Roles within the team and how they function will vary with each team. These are some examples. Think about what roles are needed on your team and who will take each role. In a little bit, we will work on assigning roles. Examples of roles may include Recorder—takes notes, maintains notebook and other materials; this person should be well organized Time manager—maintains time of meeting, sends meeting notices out to all members of the team, makes sure that meetings start and end on time Task master—keeps meeting moving and on topic per the agenda Data manager—compiles data for the team to review; this person will need access to the data in the student management system or data collection manager program that your school uses Any other role important for your team to function efficiently Coach Task master

Effective Teams Are Efficient Let’s watch another team meeting where these roles have been established. Using the sticky note or piece of paper that you previously used to note ineffective team practices, note practices you observe from this team meeting. Play video. Hopefully, you noted some differences from the last team meeting. What are some of the practices you saw that made this a much more effective team meeting? What are practices you saw that you would like your own team to adopt?

? PBS Team D-R-E-A-M Team P-R-I-D-E Team P-A-W-S BOB Squad (Data, Responsibility, Excellence, Achievement, Mission-focused) PBS Team P-A-W-S (Positive Action with Students) P-R-I-D-E Team (Prepare, Renew, Inspire, Design, Excellence) BOB Squad (Bobcat – Mascot) Teams may have a name already established or may choose to establish one for themselves. Consider what your team will be called if you do not have a name already. This will help identify you to others in the school and will help communicate your purpose. Here are some examples of names that PBIS Teams have selected. We will take a few minutes to decide what we will use for your team name in a few minutes. Responsibility Team PBS Team Positive Action with Students (PAWS) BOB Squad (Bobcat—Mascot) DREAM Team (Data, Responsibility, Excellence, Achievement, Mission focused) PRIDE Team (Prepare, Renew, Inspire, Design, Excellence) ?

Where Are You Going? It is important for your team to know where you intend to go, or your team will get lost. What’s your mission or purpose for existing on your campus? In a minute, you are going to work on writing your team’s mission purpose.

Mission Statement Example In order to help all students and staff succeed at our school, the PBIS team will provide students and staff with clear expectations to navigate our campus and the tools and instruction to meet each school expectation. You may want to include good vs. bad PBIS mission purpose examples. Google® search “PBIS mission statement examples” for additional ideas or examples to share with the teams. A mission purpose should communicate why you exist. It is the optimistic outlook of what your plan to accomplish. While it can be general, you want to be able to revisit it to determine if you are on track, and sometimes that is hard if it is too global. Remember to keep it short and simple. If it is too long, you may lose focus. Here is an example of a mission purpose statement for a PBIS team. For additional ideas of mission purpose statements, you can use Google and search “PBIS mission statement examples” for what other schools have used. In just a moment, you will work on your team mission statement.

Next Steps Decide your mission. Determine what you will call your team. Identify potential meeting dates and times. Determine roles and responsibilities. Have each team keep a record of the team information so they may reflect on it when they return to their campuses or meet next. Now we will take some time to work on the team tasks. In no particular order, here are the tasks we need to complete for your team. Reflect on your team mission and record it. Determine your team name. Identify when you will meet and for how long. Meetings should occur at least once a month, but some teams may choose to meet for shorter periods multiple times a month. Teams may meet during common planning times or before or after school. Decide what is best for your team and make it consistent so that members can plan for meetings well in advance. Determine what roles are needed for your team and who will be responsible for them. Having assigned roles helps with accountability and prevents disorganization.

Action Planner It’s time to complete the action planner for the critical element PBIS team. Fill in your Benchmarks of Quality scores from items 1–3 that you completed earlier. Your team now needs to determine the priority level of each one. Remember, as a team you will not be able to focus on everything that needs to be more effective on your campus. Your team will have to determine what is most important so that those things can be addressed first. There may be some items that you will not be able to work on until next year, and that is okay. Once you’ve determined what your priorities are, fill in the bottom of the action plan. This is where you will state what items need to be completed, by whom, and when they will be completed. You will evaluate your action plan at the end of each year, complete a new Benchmarks of Quality, record it online in PBIS Assessments so that you will have yearly access to your data. You will then complete a new action plan at the end of the year to continue making improvements or addressing items based on your current assessment so that your team will have a current action plan going into the new school year.