Presenters: Stephanie Wood-Garnett,

1. Urban Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in Public and Charter Schools Presenters: Stephanie Wood-Garnett, Executive Director of the State Improvement Grant Frances Harris-Burke, Director School Improvement Support for Charters Margaret Stephens-Aliendre, Principal Wilkinson ES Angela Maxwell Brown, Coordinator of DC-PBIS

2. Background • The District of Columbia Public Schools Board of Education under its "State" function was awarded a five-year State Improvement Grant (SIG) by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs in 2004. • The DC-SIG focuses on instruction, behavioral support, and family engagement as the most critical areas to the improvement of both general and special education services within DCPS. This includes the necessity to (a) increase the capacity of special and general education staff to support the academic and behavioral needs of all students, (b) improve outcomes for students, and c) offer opportunities for families to obtain information/training that supports the needs of their children.

3. Overview of DC Schools • 55,000 traditional public school students (146 schools) • 19,000 charter school students (51 schools on 71 campuses) • Demographics: • African Americans - 84.4% • Hispanics - 9.4% • Whites - 4.6% • Asian Americans - 1.6% • Other - 0.5% • Free or Reduced Meals Eligibility - 66% • 112 different home languages • 138 different nationalities • 12% of the student population belongs to a language minority group and another • 7.7% are classified as Limited English Proficient (LEP) on Non English Proficient (LEP/NEP) learners

4. Special Education Population was Growing as Total Student Population was Declining

5. Who is Placed Outside of DCPS

6. What does PBIS Implementation look like in the District of Columbia? • 47 schools • 3 cohorts • Varying rates of progress based on their capacity • Complexities in implementation • Leadership • Data Collection and Interpretation • “Initiative Fatigue”

8. Lessons Learned • Process vs. Program • Role and Availability of Administrators • Norms and Expectations • Student/Staff expectations • Communications systems • Data Decision Making

9. KEY Messages • Flexible approach to the adoption of PBIS • Enhance facilitation skills of staff • Improve knowledge of and usage of data

10. Conclusions • Provide framework/templates for basic PBIS products i.e. ODR reporting; school-wide expectations etc. • Provide additional time & training for coaches: staff buy-in; data analysis; social skills instruction etc. • Modify presentation of content and frequency of boosters

11. Conclusions • Review basics and revisit frequently data/systems • charters have few systems in place • systems support may be shaky or nonexistent • Establish rapport and communicate with district leadership (level of support varies from leader to leader) • Anticipate and prepare teams for staff turnover (equalization, and timing)

12. Contact Information • Stephanie Wood-Garnett, Executive Director State Improvement Grant stephanie.garnett@k12.dc.us • Frances Harris-Burke, Director School Improvement Support for Charters fharrisburke@studentsupportcenter.org • Margaret Stephens-Aliendre, Principal Wilkinson ES margaret.aliendre@k12.dc.us • Angela Maxwell Brown, Coordinator of DC-PBIS angela.brown@k12.dc.us