TIPS: Team Initiated Problem Solving using office discipline referral data

1. TIPS: Team Initiated Problem Solvingusing office discipline referral data National Leadership Forum Chicago, Illinois October 2010 presented by Anne Todd, UO Developed by Steve Newton, Anne Todd, Rob Horner, UO Bob Algozzine, & Kate Algozzine, University of NC at Charlotte

2. Objectives • Provide an overview of the TIPS system • Research results from two studies • Preview effective meeting practices through use of the TIPS Meeting Foundations • Preview Foundations Checklist • Roles & Responsibilities • Preview Meeting Minute Form • Be able to identify a problem that includes (not include) precision elements critical for problem solving

3. Context • Every school has teams • Teams are being expected to do problem solving • Select curricula • Get training and implement new ideas/programs • Provide efficient leadership • “Communities of Practice” • Teams need to report data to staff, families, administration, district, state • Teams NEED data to do good problem solving. • Most teams are not skilled at running problem solving meetings and using data for decision-making.

4. A Model:Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) • Includes: • Tools to define a system for effective meetings • Roles, responsibilities, materials, accountability and procedures • Steps of effective problem solving • A strategy for assessing, monitoring and evaluating the implementation and results of solutions • Can be used with other data sets

5. TIPS Model • TIPS Training • One full day team training • Two coached meetings • Team Meeting • Use of electronic meeting minute system • Formal roles (facilitator, recorder, data analyst) • Specific expectations (before meeting, during meeting, after meeting) • Access and use of data • Projected meeting minutes • Research tool to measure effectiveness of TIPS Training • DORA (decision, observation, recording and analysis) • Measures “Meeting Foundations” & “Thoroughness of Problem Solving”

6. Hold effective meetings that use data to problem solve and plan AND that result in positive student outcomes Building Capacity and Sustainability For Social Competence, Academic Achievement, and Safety OUTCOMES Team-based, documentation, regular communication cycles SWIS DIBELS Aims Web SYSTEMS INFORMATION Meeting Foundations Meeting Minute Format Problem solving routine PRACTICES Supporting Staff & Student Behavior and Decision Making

7. Two formal research studies • 2008-09 Single Subject Study • 4 teams in Oregon • Multiple baseline design • SW PBIS meetings & progress monitoring literacy meetings • 2009-2010 Randomized Control Trial Study with 34 teams • 22 teams in NC • 12 teams in Oregon

8. What we are learning • Need to conduct Team Training • Team includes all members and a coach • Define Roles and Responsibilities is critical • Plan for absences (have back up people) • Coaching is critical • Training critical skills to facilitator, minute taker, and data analyst • Keep people on track, • document relevant information for progress monitoring and evaluation • Launch the meeting with a data summary • Documenting decisions, actions, timelines, evaluation plan is critical for sustainability

9. Data Analyst Role & Responsibilities • Role • To create data summaries that will facilitate the team in • determining if there are problems • jump starting a problem solving discussion, and • evaluating the impact of solutions and fidelity of implementation • General Responsibilities • Prepares a brief written summary for distribution at meetings using each of the data sources needed for problem solving and decision making • Help to generate reports during the meeting as questions of the data arise

10. Launch the meeting with a data summary that helps define the problem with precision • How? • Establish the role of a data analyst (and backup person) • Teach data analyst to develop data summary • Oakes, DIBELS, SWIS…. Etc • Start meeting with defining the problem with precision • Refine precision of problem statement through inferences and hypothesis • Have data accessible for custom report generation during the meeting

11. Problem-Solving Meeting Foundations Structure of meetings lays foundation for efficiency & effectiveness

12. Meeting Foundations Elements • Define purpose of the team • Decisions to be made, cycle of decision making, and data source(s) to use • Define roles & responsibilities • Define team agreements about meeting processes • Inform facilitator of absence/tardy before meeting • Be prepared for meeting by completing previously assigned tasks • Avoid side talk: Remind each other to stay focused • Start and end on time • Be an active participant • Use electronic meeting minutes

13. Define roles for effective meetings • Core roles • Facilitator • Minute taker • Data analyst • Active team member • Administrator • Backup for each role Typically NOT the administrator Can one person serve multiple roles? Are there other roles needed?

16. Using Meeting Minutes • Documentation of • Logistics of meeting (date, time, location, roles) • Agenda items for today’s meeting ( and next meeting) • Discussion items, decisions made, tasks and timelines assigned • Problem statements, solutions/decisions/tasks, people assigned to implement with timelines assigned, and an evaluation plan to determine the effect on student behavior • Reviewing Meeting minutes • An effective strategy for getting a snapshot of what happened at the previous meeting and what needs to be reviewed during the upcoming meeting • What was the issue/problem?, What were we going to do?, Who was going to do it and by When?, and How are we measuring progress toward the goal? • Visual tracking of focus topics during and after meetings • Prevents side conversations • Prevents repetition • Encourages completion of tasks

17. Organizing for an effective problem solving conversation A key to collective problem solving is to provide a visual context that allows everyone to follow and contribute Problem Use Data Out of Time Solution

18. Langley Elementary PBIS Team Meeting Minutes and Problem-Solving Action Plan Form Today’s Meeting: Date, time, location: Facilitator: Minute Taker: Data Analyst: • Where in the Form would you place: • Planning for next PTA meeting? • Too many students in the “intensive support” for literacy • Schedule for hallway monitoring for next month • There have been five fights on playground in last month. • Next meeting report on lunch-room status. Next Meeting: Date, time, location: Facilitator: Minute Taker: Data Analyst: Team Members (bold are present today) Administrative/General Information and Issues Problem-Solving Action Plan Evaluation of Team Meeting (Mark your ratings with an “X”)

19. Any tasks assigned get copied to the meeting minutes of the next meeting as a follow up item Meeting Agenda Item: Meeting Foundations Tasks: What, by whom, by when

20. Meeting Foundations

21. Identify Problems Team Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Model Develop Hypothesis Evaluate and Revise Action Plan Collect and Use Data Discuss and Select Solutions Develop and Implement Action Plan Problem SolvingMeeting Foundations

22. SWISTM(School-Wide Information System) • Defined • SWISTM is a web-based information system for gathering, entering, summarizing, reporting and using office discipline referral information • Purpose • A progress monitoring tool for improving the ability of school personnel to develop safe and effective learning environments

23. How SWISTM works

24. Organizing SWIS Data for Decision-making • Universal Screening Tool • Proportion of students with • 0-1 Office Discipline Referrals (ODRs) • 2-5 ODRs • 6+ ODRs • Progress Monitoring Tool • Compare data across time • Prevent previous problem patterns • Define Problems with precision that lead to solvable problems

25. Using the Referrals by Student report as a Universal Screening Tool

26. Using office discipline referrals as a metric for universal screening of student social behavior 6+ office discipline referrals 2-5 office discipline referrals ~5% ~15% 0-1 office discipline referral ~80% of Students

27. Using ODRs to Identify Problems • Build a picture for the pattern of office referrals in your school. • Compare the picture with a national average • Compare the picture with previous years • Compare the picture with social standards of faculty, families, students. • Goal • Identify problems empirically • Identify problems early • Identify problems in a manner that leads to problem solving not just whining

28. Total Office Discipline Referrals as of January 10 Total Office Discipline Referrals

30. SWIS summary 2009-10 (Majors Only)4,019 schools; 2,063,408 students; 1,622,229 ODRs

31. Elementary School 465 students (465/ 100 = 4.6 X .22= 1.01) Our rate of problem behavior has been above the national average for schools our size across 9 of 10 months this year. There has been a decreasing trend since Dec.

32. Elementary School 1000 Students (1000/100 =10 X .22= 2.2) The rate of problem behavior has been at or below the national average for schools our size across 6 of 10 months. The past 4 months have been below the national average

33. Middle School 765 students (765/100 = 7.6 X .50= 3.8) The rate of problem behavior has been at or below the national average for schools our size across 9 of 10 months. The past 8 months have been below the national average with a decreasing trend

34. Describe the narrative for this school

35. Describe the narrative for this school

36. Describe the narrative for this school

37. Describe the narrative for this school

39. Primary Problem Statements examples • Our average Major ODRs per school day per month are higher than national average for a school of our enrollment size • Our average ODRs per school day per month are higher this year than for corresponding months of previous year • Our average ODRs per school day per month are showing an increasing trend • Faculty, parents, and students say our ODR levels are too high

40. More Precision Is Required to Solve the Identified Problem • Define problem by identifying What problem behaviors are involved in ODRs • Clarify problem by identifying • When ODRs are occurring (time of day) • Where ODRs are occurring (location) • Who is engaging in problem behaviors that result in ODRs • Why are problem behaviors continuing to occur

41. Which Statement Is More Precise?

42. Identify Problems Team Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Model Develop Hypothesis Evaluate and Revise Action Plan Collect and Use Data Discuss and Select Solutions Develop and Implement Action Plan Problem SolvingMeeting Foundations

43. Examples Primary to Precise • Carly is having reading difficulties • 50% of 2nd graders are not meeting math benchmarks • Carly is reading 20 cwpm (goal is 60), skips or guesses at words she doesn’t know, mostly during language arts • 2nd graders, who entered school after Oct 31, do not know whole numbers 75-100 and are not accurately adding two digit numbers because of lack of skills

44. ExamplePrimary to Precise Our school did not meet AYP last year The past two years this cohort of students (3rd to 5th grade) has gradually decreased in overall proficiency, their comprehension strand scores are low, we shifted to blended grade classes during their 4th grade year The 5th graders are below the state proficiency score as compared to 5th graders in Oregon

45. Data Analyst Role & Responsibilities • Role • To create data summaries that will facilitate the team in • determining if there are problems • jump starting a problem solving discussion, and • evaluating the impact of solutions and fidelity of implementation • General Responsibilities • Prepares a brief written summary for distribution at meetings using each of the data sources needed for problem solving and decision making • Help to generate reports during the meeting as questions of the data arise

46. Launch the meeting with a data summary that helps define the problem with precision • How? • Establish the role of a data analyst (and backup person) • Teach data analyst to develop data summary • Oakes, DIBELS, SWIS…. Etc • Start meeting with defining the problem with precision • Refine precision of problem statement through inferences and hypothesis • Have data accessible for custom report generation during the meeting

47. Achieving a Precise Problem Statementfor Fictional Trevor Test School • Middle School – Grades 6, 7, & 8 • 565 students

48. Trevor Test Middle SchoolIs there a problem? If so, what is it?

49. Trevor Test Middle SchoolIdentified Problem • Identified problem • for last 4 mos., Major ODRs per day higher than national avg. • increasing trend across all 5 mos.

50. Trevor Test Middle School 11/01/2007 through 01/31/2008 (last 3 mos.)