Issues in Sustainability: Integrating Competing Initiatives

1. Issues in Sustainability:Integrating Competing Initiatives Rob Horner University of Oregon OSEP TA Center on Positive Behavior Support www.pbis.org www.swis.org

2. Goals • Define four major areas affecting sustainability of school-wide PBIS. • Focus on process for dealing with “competing initiatives” • Use “bully-proofing” and “early literacy” as examples.

3. District Impact on Sustainability:Four common areas • Competing initiatives • Integrate/braid • Fund/support • Data use for continuous regeneration • Require regular review of fidelity and outcome • Cycle of review needs to fit cycle of impact. • Efficiency • If it works now, make it easier to do next year • Stability/Leadership • Job descriptions, etc.

4. Managing competing initiatives • The challenge • Multiple expectations from multiple sources • Everything sounds good • Without clear direction and focus it is easier to add something than to adapt something • The cost of adoption is usually high, but fundable through “off the table” resources… However the cost to sustain must be embedded in regular budget.

5. Managing competing initiatives • Two major categories: • Multiple initiatives focused on the same goal/outcome • Multiple initiatives focused on different goals/outcomes

6. Managing competing initiatives • When competing initiatives have a common goal • Dissect “programs” into “practices” • Look at what practices you already do to achieve the target goal: • Never stop doing what already works • Always look for the smallest change that will produce the largest effect • Never add something new without defining what you will STOP doing to create the needed resources

7. Managing competing initiatives • When competing initiatives have common goals. • Invest in the systems to support effective practices • Team development • Trainer/ coach support • Data systems • Allocation of time for team/staff to succeed. • Combine training/orientation requirements

8. Managing competing initiatives • When competing initiatives have common goals. • Braid (combine) common initiatives into a unified implementation effort for staff.

9. Example:Adding Bully-Proofing to SWPBIS • Context: • You have just invested two years in building SWPBIS in your district/schools, and the school board or legislature mandates (and provides funding) for you to adopt “Bully-proofing” as a new initiative in your school/district. • What do you do?

10. Bully Proofing Goal: Reduce bullying Practices: Define and teach school-wide expectations Teach bully alternative social skills Establish consequences for bullying Teach victim and bystander to remove rewards for bullying School-wide PBIS Goal: Improve social and academic success Practices: Define and teach school-wide Expectations Reward appropriate behavior Consistent consequences Use of data Continuum of interventions Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems

11. Bully Proofing Goal: Reduce bullying Practices: Define and teach school-wide expectations Teach bully alternative social skills Establish consequences for bullying Teach victim and bystander to remove rewards for bullying School-wide PBIS Goal: Improve social and academic success Practices: Define and teach school-wide Expectations Reward appropriate behavior Consistent consequences Use of data Continuum of interventions Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems

12. Bully Proofing Systems Staff training ? School-wide PBIS Systems Administrator role Team structure and training Data system Coaching Trainer role Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems

13. Bully proofing within SW-PBIS • Example • Note: • Braiding of initiatives (vision, purpose, roles) • Focus on “practices” rather than “program” • Common in-service format • Use of existing “systems” for both • Use of common data system for both initiatives • Emphasis on efficiency

14. School-wide PBIS Character Education Character Counts DARE Substance Abuse Prevention Drop out prevention Violence free zone Diversity celebration Your Turn:Compare: Goals, Practices, Systems Define a competing initiative and your assessment of how it might best be integrated with your current SW-PBIS efforts Define a competing initiative you already had in place when you considered adoption of SW-PBIS, and how to adapt SW-PBIS to fit with the existing initiative

15. Managing competing initiatives • When initiatives have different goals. • Consider “systems” needed to support both initiatives • Coaching supports • Consider ways to combine training • Define what you will stop doing to add the new initiative.

16. Example:Adding Early Literacy to SW-PBIS • Oregon, Michigan Kent Jorge

17. Summary • Administrative decisions at district/school level affect sustainability of SWPBIS. • Four major areas of impact • Managing competing initiatives • Data use for continuous regeneration • Efficiency efforts • Stability/Leadership • To manage competing initiatives • Operate differently with initiatives focused on similar vs. different goals