Presented by Heather Batko, Renée Rosa-Esperanza Reznik and Pamela Torrence

Challenges & Changes in Education Common Core has raised the standards for content taught Intense pressure to have students perform on standardized tests Less support from parents Intense public scrutiny Government leaders trying to destroy unions Government leaders trying to implement merit based pay Tough economic times means schools are being forced to achieve results with less resources

Impact on Education Schools need to efficiently deliver high quality instruction. One way to preserve instruction time is by reducing or eliminating time and resources spent dealing with behavioral issues

School-Wide Positive Behavior Support System In order to keep the focus on instruction, many schools are adopting a School-Wide Positive Behavior Support system. (SWPBS) Some systems have helped improve students’ behavior while others have not.

Research Question What are the essential components of an effective school-wide positive behavior support system?

Literature Review of Research. There are a variety of School- Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) systems. Successful systems have three essential components

Component One Establish strong leadership team.

Leadership Teams Collaborates & gathers input from whole staff Unifies and motivates staff Guides the design & implementation Helps staff overcome roadblocks Does NOT develop ideas and pass them down.

Component Two Teaching Appropriate Student Behaviors: A Positive Systematic Approach

Clear rules & expectations Simple procedures Consistently taught Proactive & positive reinforcement Three-tiered system of interventions and consequences.

Why not harsh punishment? Outdated practices recommend delivering harsh punishments to reform or prevent bad behavior. Punishments did little to improve behavior. Zero tolerance policies often increase drop-out rate.

Component Three Using Data

Systematic Use of Data Necessary for sustaining system. Leadership team needs to establish systematic procedure for collection and analysis of data. Helps schools know if the system is working. Help identify students for interventions.

Data Collection Questions What kind of data should be collected? How it will be collected? How often? How will it be shared? How will it be used to alter system? How will it help kids?

Elementary School A Methods Settings : School in suburban district just outside of large mid-western city Pristine, ten year old modern facility Classrooms equipped with new technology such as SMART boards Subjects: Students, staff, parents, & administrators Students are predominantly Caucasian & live in single family homes Just over 100 students receive free or reduced lunch. 90% or more of students pass reading and math MEAP tests Large amount of parent volunteers Experienced and educated staff Instruments, Measures & Methods Electronic yearly surveys for staff, students and parents SASI program for referrals PBS surveys each trimester for staff

Elementary School B Methods Settings : Located in a suburban area Constructed in the mid-70’s and has 53,600 square feet Includes 25 classrooms, 1 media center, 2 gymnasiums and 1 computer lab. Classrooms equipped with new technology such as SMART boards, projector, audio system Subjects: One administrator Experienced and educated staff- 26 teachers total, 20 with Masters,2 with Ed. Specialist and 1 with a Doctorate Educates 490 students from kindergarten through fifth grade Ethnicities include African American, American Indian, Asian American, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Multi-racial students Majority of the students are Caucasian. Limited parent involvement Instruments, Measures & Methods: Electronic yearly surveys for staff and students Parents were given a paper copy of survey

Elementary School C Methods Settings : Located in a large urban environment within a predominately working class Hispanic/Latino neighborhood School is comprised of three buildings with a gymnasium, computer lab, library & a parent center Most classrooms are equipped with TEAM boards, document cameras, brand new computers & individual student netbooks Subjects: One administrator One Office of Academic of Evaluation One Literacy Coach The majority of the staff are bilingually endoresed and hold Master degrees with two in Educational Leadership Instructs more than 800 students from pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade 93% of the students population is Hispanic/Latino 72% Limited English Proficient 8% receive Special Education resources 83% receive free or reduced lunch

Elementary School C Methods Instruments, Measures & Methods: Annual electronic surveys for staff, students and parents Data collection & monitoring system

Elementary School A Results Strong leadership team trained at MISD proved to be essential. Leadership team guides analysis of staff, students and parents surveys. None of the surveys indicate a desire to go back to past practices. Positive comments such as “Tickets and store are a hit” “Kids are excited” “Positive words go a long way”

Elementary School A Results Establishing a positive, proactive system proved to be a challenging but necessary task Overwhelmingly large majority of parents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that the “policies were fair and effective” In a school with nearly 900 students, there were only 43 referrals to the office. Area of weakness for Elementary School A is using data to address the needs of students with repeat referrals.

Elementary School B Results Needs to create a simple, consistent behavior system that all staff members will follow Needs a positive systematic approach that is consistently taught Surveys need to be conducted by parents, teachers and students to see if students are motivated by the program Different tiers need to be in place to reach all students Data needs to be collected to see if the SWPBS is eliminating inappropriate behaviors

Elementary School C Results Need to dialogue with staff to create motivation and excitement Effectively training the staff for consistent implementation practices and the incorporation of a systematic three-tiered approach would provide benefits Determining criteria for data collection would allow for proper monitoring Establishing annual electronic surveys for staff, students and parents is necessary

Elementary School A Conclusion System is being sustained due to the strong leadership team. Staff surveys indicate that they feel involved in process. The program is well received by parents and students due to the positive approach. Data is being used to refine some areas of the system. However, interventions for students with repeat referrals are not being implemented.

Elementary School B Conclusion System is not being sustained due to no leadership team. Staff survey indicated 53% of staff feel the school does not use talents to help each other. Need to implement a SWPBS; teachers are doing individual classroom behavior plans The program is well received by most parents and students. Although, some students are not motivated. Data is not being used since teachers are doing their own behavior management

Elementary School C Conclusion SWPBS has not been properly established. Therefore, the foundation for sustainability is already weak. PBS team would need specialized training; They need to throughly present research-based information to staff. Surveys and data collection is necessary to effectively monitor the progress of the program. Full implementation of SWPBS would need an understood a systematic approach.

Final Thoughts

References Fullan, M. (2010). Motion leadership: The skinny on becoming change savvy. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin SAGE. Horner, R. & Sugai, G. (2006) A promising approach for expanding and sustaining school-wide positive behavior support. School Psychology Review, 35 (2), 245. Ross, S. W. & Horner, R.H. (2007). Teacher outcomes of school-wide positive behavior support. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 3(6). Simonsen, B. Sugai G., & Negron, M. (2008). Schoolwide positive behavior supports: primary systems and practices. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(6), Sprick, R. (2009). Doing discipline differently. Principal Leadership (Middle School Ed.), 9(5), 18-22