Building a Sustainable System

1. Building a Sustainable System Long-term Action Planning Jennifer Doolittle, PhD Oregon Department of Education

2. Goals of the Presentation • Describe the importance of implementation fidelity • Demonstrate models of sustainability • Describe how to create an action plan for sustainability

3. Operational Definition of Sustained Use • A minimum of three years of implementation with the last two years demonstrating fidelity of implementation • Three to five years of implementation has been the level accepted by other studies (Mihalic & Irwin, 2003; Rog et al., 2004; Schrag, 1996).

4. Sustainability Assumptions • Must be implemented with high accuracy if maximum effects are to be realized. • Practices and systems must be durable if meaningful change and improvement are to be realized.

5. Seven key features of school-wide PBS (SW-PBS) • School-wide behavioral expectations defined • Expectations taught to all students • Rewards provided for following expectations • A consistently implemented continuum of consequences for behavioral violations • Problem behavior patterns monitored and data used to make changes • Administrative support and involvement • School district support (policies, training)

6. Implementation Measures: The SET (School-wide Evaluation Tool) • Assesses implementation of SW-PBS • Seven subscales • Fidelity: An overall SET score of 80% or above (meaning 80% of the essential PBS features are in place)

7. Team Checklist (PBS Surveys.org) • Implementation measure that PBS team completes • At beginning of PBS implementation and uses it at regular intervals (monthly or quarterly) to monitor progress • Not a research tool • Fidelity: 80% or greater overall score

8. Team Checklist Implementation Activities • Six main activities in Startup Activities section: • Establish Commitment • Establish & Maintain Team • Conduct Self-Assessment • Establish School-wide Expectations • Establish Information System • Build Capacity for Function-based Support.

9. TIC Activities Cont. • Ongoing Activities section: • PBS Team Has met at Least monthly • PBS Team has Given Status Report to Faculty at Least Monthly • Activities for PBS Action Plan Implemented • Accuracy of Implementation of PBS Action Plan Assessed • Effectiveness of PBS Action Plan Implementation Assessed • PBS Data Analyzed.

10. Administrative Support Team-based Action Planning Collection and use of data for Decision-making Sustained Use of SW-PBS Policies Mission SIP Job Descrip Handbook Expectations Lesson Plans Schedule BSP tools Consequence Letters to Families District Investment Coach Trainers Beh Spec Data System Family Collaboration Cultural Core Link to comm Home link Budget Planning Stud Train Team Devel Reward Sys Visibility Newsletter Newspaper Posters Etc Horner & Sugai, 2005

11. Figure 3. Model of sustainability derived from the literature.

12. Sustainability Features from the Literature • Contextually appropriate • Shared vision and resources • Buy-in and agreements • Ongoing technical assistance • Administrative Support • Leadership from Various Levels • Data-based decision making • Lateral and vertical communication • Regeneration

13. Readiness • Contextually Appropriate • Community and parent support • Shared Vision and Resources • Where does your school want to be in 5 years? • Mission statement • Action Plan • Financial Support for at least 3 years • Buy-in and Agreements • 80% of all staff • Number of years will agree to implement

14. Implementation • Ongoing Technical Assistance • Quality • Regular access to knowledgeable coaches or facilitators and directive training materials (Bauchner et al., 1982) • Beyond the initial implementation stage • Teacher implementation rates can drop by 20% to 60% one year after training (Rohrbach et al., 1993) • Teacher turnover (Elias et al., 2003) • Increased time spent on professional development equates to increased changes in teacher practices (Borko & Putnam, 1995; Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993; Louis & Marks, 1998; Parsad et al., 2001)

15. Implementation cont. • Principals are the “Gatekeepers of change” (Berman & McLaughlin, 1776) • Support equates to quality implementation (Bauchner et al., 1982; Berman & McLaughlin, 1976; Cherniss, 2006; Huberman, 1983; Loucks & Zacchei, 1983; Mihalic et al., 2004) • 5 Leadership functions • Encouragement and recognition • Adapting standard operating procedures • Monitoring the improvement effort • Handling disturbances • Expanding the program (Firestone, 1998; Mihalic et al., 2004).

16. Implementation cont. • Leadership from Various Levels • Lateral and Vertical Communication • Data-based Decision Making

17. Sustaining: The “second adoption decision” • Regeneration • Using data to fit timely needs • Sharing data outside the school • Collaboration • Training in new areas, review of others

18. Figure 4. Comparison of the literature and PBS sustainability models.

19. Study of Sustainability • Tested all elements of the model • Study demonstrated that should have: • Administrative support and Communication in place, & • Data-based decision making

20. Study of PBS Features • Which PBS features are most significantly tied to sustainability? • Expectations defined/taught* • Reward System* • Data-based decision making

21. Which features were most significantly different for those districts that had once implemented with fidelity and those that had sustained? • Reward System • Management (Administrative Support)

22. Implementation must be delivered by “typical intervention agents.” Data on child outcomes must be used to make decisions for continued adaptation and sustained implementation. Implementation of effective practices at the local level will require modification of procedures to “fit” the culture, structure, and needs of the local setting Establish “systems” that support functional, doable, and durable implementation of effective practices. Keeping in mind…

24. Tools: Blueprint and Self-assessment(pbis.org) • The purpose of the blueprint is • to present a rationale for adopting school-wide positive behavior support (SW-PBS), • describe the key features of SW-PBS, and • illustrate processes, structures, and supports of SW-PBS.

25. Definition • Designed to improve the efficiency and success of large-scale replications (i.e., school, district, state) • Intended to make the conceptual theory, organizational models, and specific practices more accessible • Considered dynamic and iterative in that guidelines will be improved as new implementations are tried and studied, and as new research is conducted

27. Focus on activities to maintain and strengthen current efforts Focus on next steps (next year) Plan for activities that will take time (e.g., ISS, behav. capacity) Data System Practice Long Term Action Planning

28. Social Competence & Academic Achievement Positive Behavior Support OUTCOMES Supporting Decision Making Supporting Staff Behavior DATA SYSTEMS PRACTICES Supporting Student Behavior

29. Long Term Action Planning • 2-5 Years • Short term and long term goals • Focus on Sustainability • Team status (protected time, admin/staff support, staff resource) • Behavioral capacity • District-wide processes and supports • Build continuum of support • New student/staff training • Data-based decision-making and evaluation • Efficiency (“like riding a bicycle”)