School-wide Positive Behavior Support:What, Why, How

Rob HornerUniversity of Oregon www.pbis.org

Goals

What: Define the core features of SWPBS

Why: Define if SWPBS is appropriate for your school

How: Define the process for implementing SWPBS

Main Messages

Supporting social behavior is central to achieving academic gains.

Invest in building a positive school-wide social culture

School-wide PBS is an evidence-based practice for building a positive social culture that will promote both social and academic success.

Implementation of any evidence-based practice requires a more coordinated focus than typically expected.

Six Basic Recommendations for Implementing PBIS

Never stop doing what already works

Always look for the smallest change that will produce the largest effect

Avoid defining a large number of goals Do a small number of things well

Do not add something new without also defining what you will stop doing to make the addition possible.

Six Basic Recommendations for Implementing PBIS

Collect and use data for decision-making

Adapt any initiative to make it “fit” your school community, culture, context.

FamiliesStudentsFacultyFiscal-political structure

Establish policy clarity before investing in implementation

WHAT IS SWPBS

LogicCore Features

Logic for School-wide PBSSchools face a set of difficult challenges today

Multiple expectations (Academic accomplishment, Social competence, Safety)

Students arrive at school with widely differing understandings of what is socially acceptable.

Traditional “get tough” and “zero tolerance” approaches are insufficient.

Faculty come with divergent visions of effective disciplineIndividual student interventions

Effective, but can’t meet needSchool-wide discipline systems

Establish a social culture within which both social and academic success is more likely

Context

•Problem behavior continues to be the primary reason why individuals in our society are excluded from school, home, recreation, community, and work.

Problem Behaviors

Insubordination, noncompliance, defiance, late to class, nonattendance, truancy, fighting, aggression, inappropriate language, social withdrawal, excessive crying, stealing, vandalism, property destruction, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, unresponsive, not following directions, inappropriate use of school materials, weapons, harassment 1, harassment 2, harassment 3, unprepared to learn, parking lot violation, irresponsible, trespassing, disrespectful, disrupting teaching, uncooperative, violent behavior, disruptive, verbal abuse, physical abuse, dress code, other, etc., etc., etc.

•Vary in intensity

•Exist in every school, home and community context

•Place individuals at risk physically, emotionally, academically and socially

School-wide PBS• Build a continuum of

supports that begins with the whole school and extends to intensive, wraparound support for individual students and their families.

What is School-wide Positive Behavior Support?

•School-wide PBS is:▫A systems approach for establishing the social culture

and behavioral supports needed for a school to be an effective learning environment for all students.

•Evidence-based features of SW-PBS▫Prevention▫Define and teach positive social expectations▫Acknowledge positive behavior▫Arrange consistent consequences for problem behavior▫On-going collection and use of data for decision-making▫Continuum of intensive, individual intervention

supports. ▫ Implementation of the systems that support effective

practices

Establishing a Social Culture

Common Vision/Values

Common Language

Common Experience

MEMBERSHIP

Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:Specialized Group

Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:Specialized

IndividualizedSystems for Students

with High-Risk Behavior

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

SUPPORT

27

SYSTEMS

PRACTICESDAT

A

SupportingStaff Behavior

SupportingStudent Behavior

OUTCOMES

Supporting Social Competence, Academic Achievement and Safety

SupportingDecisionMaking

School-wide PBS

School-wide PBS

•Braiding proven practices with practical systems:

Policies, Team meetings, Data Systems

PredictableConsistentPositiveSafe

Create Effective Learning Environments

Define School-wide Expectationsfor Social Behavior

Identify 3-5 ExpectationsShort statementsPositive Statements (what to do, not what to avoid doing)MemorableExamples:

Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, Be Kind, Be a Friend, Be-there-be-ready, Hands and feet to self, Respect self, others, property, Do your best, Follow directions of adults

Teach Behavioral Expectations

Transform broad school-wide Expectations into specific, observable behaviors.

Use the Expectations by Settings Matrix

Teach in the actual settings where behaviors are to occurTeach (a) the words, and (b) the actions.Build a social culture that is predictable, and focused on student success.

On-going Reward of Appropriate Behavior

Every faculty and staff member acknowledges appropriate behavior. 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative contacts

System that makes acknowledgement easy and simple for students and staff.

Different strategies for acknowledging appropriate behavior (small frequent rewards more effective) Beginning of class recognition Raffles Open gym Social acknowledgement

Are Rewards Dangerous?“…our research team has conducted a series of reviews and analysis of (the

reward) literature; our conclusion is that there is no inherent negative property of reward. Our analyses indicate that the argument against the use of rewards is an overgeneralization based on a narrow set of circumstances.”◦ Judy Cameron, 2002◦ Cameron, 2002◦ Cameron & Pierce, 1994, 2002◦ Cameron, Banko & Pierce, 2001

“The undermining effect of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation remains unproven”

Steven Reiss, 2005

Akin-Little, K. A., Eckert, T. L., Lovett, B. J., & Little, S. G. (2004). Extrinsic reinforcement in the classroom: Bribery or best practices. School Psychology Review, 33, 344-362

Use of rewards in

Education

“What the Worlds Greatest Managers Do Differently”-- Buckingham & Coffman 2002, Gallup

Interviews with 1 million workers, 80,000 managers, in 400 companies.

Create working environments where employees: 1. Know what is expected 2. Have the materials and equipment to do the job correctly 3. Receive recognition each week for good work. 4. Have a supervisor who cares, and pays attention 5. Receive encouragement to contribute and improve 6. Can identify a person at work who is a “best friend.” 7. Feel the mission of the organization makes them feel like their

jobs are important 8. See the people around them committed to doing a good job 9. Feel like they are learning new things (getting better) 10. Have the opportunity to do their job well.

“What the Worlds Greatest Administrators Do Differently”-- Buckingham & Coffman 2002, Gallup

Interviews with 1 million workers, 80,000 managers, in 400 companies.

Create working environments where Faculty: 1. Know what is expected 2. Have the materials and equipment to do the job correctly 3. Receive recognition each week for good work. 4. Have a supervisor who cares, and pays attention 5. Receive encouragement to contribute and improve 6. Can identify a person at work who is a “best friend.” 7. Feel the mission of the organization makes them feel like their

jobs are important 8. See the people around them committed to doing a good job 9. Feel like they are learning new things (getting better) 10. Have the opportunity to do their job well.

“What the Worlds Greatest Teachers Do Differently”-- Buckingham & Coffman 2002, Gallup

Interviews with 1 million workers, 80,000 managers, in 400 companies.

Create working environments where students: 1. Know what is expected 2. Have the materials and equipment to do the job correctly 3. Receive recognition each week for good work. 4. Have a supervisor who cares, and pays attention 5. Receive encouragement to contribute and improve 6. Can identify a person at work who is a “best friend.” 7. Feel the mission of the organization makes them feel like their

jobs are important 8. See the people around them committed to doing a good job 9. Feel like they are learning new things (getting better) 10. Have the opportunity to do their job well.

WHY CONSIDER SWPBSSWPBS possible?SWPBS is needed in our school?SWPBS benefits our students, staff, families?

Reduction in problem behaviorIncreased attendance and academic engagementImprove academic performance Reduction in referrals to special educationImprove family involvement in schoolImproved perception of school as a “safe environment”Improved perception of teacher efficacy

States Implementing SWPBS10,000+ schools in 48 states

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 570

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

States

Num

ber o

f Sch

ools

California

Illinois

Current ResearchSchool-wide PBS is “evidence-based”

Reduction in problem behaviorIncreases in academic outcomes

Horner et al., 2009Bradshaw et al., 2006; in press

Behavioral and Academic gains are linkedAmanda Sanford, 2006Jorge Preciado, 2006Kent McIntosh

School-wide PBS has benefits for teachers and staff as well as students.

Scott Ross, 2006

Sustaining School-wide PBS effortsJennifer Doolittle, 2006

I write to you today as a former Jackson Elementary school student who wishes to convey her fondest of gratitude toward a fantastic school. As I grow older and move from state to state, I never forget my roots and where my future began…. Though I had only attended Jackson for roughly four years during kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, I realize now that those years were just as important as any other and I am proud to say that I was once a Jaguar. Without further ado, I would like to state that nine years later I still remember your kindness, your positivity, and most of all the three R's: Respect yourself, Respect others, and Respect property.Those three lessons have stuck with me throughout the years, from age eight to seventeen, and have bettered me as a human being. In essence, I simply dropped by to express my thanks, and to reassure the staff of Jackson Elementary that their hard work does not go to waste, and that even the simplest of actions or words can spur on a revolution.Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to live my life to its fullest.Sincerely,

High School

Student writing to her grade school

principal

HOW IS SWPBS Implemented?

Nine Implementation StepsBuild commitmentEstablish implementation teamSelf-Assess for local adaptation of SWPBSDefine and teach expectationsEstablish system for recognizing positive behaviorEstablish consequences for problem behaviorEstablish classroom management structureCollect and use data for decision-makingEstablish function-based support for students with more severe support needs.

Leadership TeamActive Coordination

FundingVisibility Political

Support

Training Coaching Evaluation

Local School/District Teams/Demonstrations

BehavioralExpertise

Policy

Implementation Stages

ExplorationInstallationInitial ImplementationFull ImplementationInnovationSustainability

Implementation occurs in stages:

Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005

2 – 4 Years

Summary

School-wide PBIS is an approach for investing in making the school a more effective social and educational setting for all students.

Core features of RTI are an effective framework for improving Behavior and Academic Support