Supporting Children with Challenging Behavior: A Positive Behavior Approach

1. Supporting Children with Challenging Behavior: A Positive Behavior Approach Kiki Mc Gough Positive Behavior Support Coordinator Colorado Department of Education

2. Acknowledgements PBS Leadership Team-Colorado Department of Education PEAK Parent Center Colorado Springs, CO George Sugai and Ann Todd-The OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at the University of Oregon

3. Families Partnering with PBS • Understand the process of behavior change • Recognize how to support our children with emotional and behavior challenges which affect life at home, at school and in the community • Identify predictable routines and positive behavior support strategies to use at home • Identify ways to work proactively with schools to support our children

4. ROSE RESPECT OTHERS SELF ENVIRONMENT

5. Meet My Children Spend a few minutes completing “Meet My Child”. Identify 3-4 strengths for child. List some interests and things your child likes and finds rewarding . Share your “child” as you meet the people at your table. Post these on your fridge at home as a reminder of your child’s strengths!

6. Meet My Children • Kate • Passionate about everything she loves • World traveler • Special Education Teacher • Degree in Drama and Psychology • Patrick • Has been dancing since age 3 • Is creating his own path……and I’m sure he will get there in his own way • Independent thinker and questions everything • Donovan • Artistic, creative, deep thinker • Sensitive (but don’t tell him!) • Firm in his convictions • Square peg in a round school system

7. What is Positive Behavior Support? PBS is an application of a behaviorally- based systems approach to enhance the capacity of schools, families and communities to design effective environments that improve the fit or link between research based practices and the environments in which teaching and learning occur.

8. In other words…… • Positive Behavioral Support (PBS) is… • Proactive and preventative • Instructionally focused • Empirically sound • Data-based • Systems change model that provides learning and social/behavioral support for ALL children in school, home or community.

11. Summary of PBIS “BIG IDEAS” Systems (How things are done) • Team based problem solving • Data-based decision making • Long term sustainability Data (How decisions are made) • On going data collection & use of behavioral data to make decisions Practices (How staff interact with students) • Direct teaching of behavioral expectations • On-going reinforcement of expected behaviors • Functional behavioral assessment

12. School-Wide Systems Non Classroom Setting Systems Classroom Systems Individual Student Support Systems

13. Eight Practices of School-wide Positive Behavior Support • Administrative Leadership • Team Implementation • Define Concrete Expectations • Teach Behavior Expectations • Acknowledge and Reward Positive Behavior • Monitor and Correct Behavior • Use Data for Decision Making • Family and Community Engagement

14. What Will You See in a PBS School? • Small # positively stated & behaviorally exemplified expectations aretaught & encouraged. • Positive adult-to-student interactions exceed negative • Data- & team-based action planning & implementation are operating. • Administrators are active participants in all aspects of implementation • >80% of students can tell you what is expected of them & give behavioral example because they have been taught, actively supervised, practiced, & acknowledged.

15. What does PBS look like? • Families and communities are actively involved • Time for instruction is more effective & efficient • Function based behavior support is foundation for addressing problem behavior. • Full continuum of behavior support is available to all students

16. Westgate Elementary • Respect • Responsibility • Safety

17. RESPECT • What does respect look like in the lunchroom? • How do we teach students to demonstrate respect in the cafeteria? • How we positively recognize students who are demonstrating respect in the classroom? • How will we support students who are having challenges with respectful behavior at recess?

18. RESPONSIBILITY • What does responsibility look like when students are walking in the halls? • How will we teach responsibility for homework and student materials? • How are we engaging families in this process?

19. SAFETY • What does safety look like in an assembly? • How do we teach and reinforce safety in a variety of school settings?

20. Self-Responsibility Tips • March has been designated as Self-responsibility month at Kemp. Let’s work together to focus on how to best teach our students to be responsible for themselves and their actions. • TIPS FOR TEACHERS AND PARENTS: • Give students choices • When they feel powerless they lose respect and dignity • This loss of powerless may escalate a minor disruption into a major loss of instruction time • Put the students in charge • By giving students the responsibility to adapt, monitor and measure activities and behavior you will increase student achievement and lower resistance to learning • Model and encourage self-responsibility • Avoid complaining, blaming and excusing • Explain to the students why certain limits or rules exist You may not be responsible for the circumstances in which you find yourself, but you are always responsible for your behavior in those circumstances!

21. School PBS Rules SAFETY OPPORTUNITY ACHIEVEMENT RESPECT

22. S.O.A.R. Matrix Alsup Eagles S.O.A.R.

23. SOAR Slips • Staff to Students • Students to Students • Students to Staff • Parents to Students • Parents to Staff Safety, Opportunity, Achievement, Respect ______________________________________________ Student’s full name and grade (Place this slip with your name on it, in the SOAR box in the media center.) Adult: Please circle the behavior demonstrated and write your name on the back . SOAR Assembly—after Winter break

24. Behavioral Manifestation of Depression in School • Agitation and emotional irritability • Negative or oppositional toward adults and peers • May not have friends, isolates self • Frequent visits to the clinic, may miss a lot of school • May be anxious and worry about performance, friendships • Difficulty concentrating • May be tired, sleeps poorly

25. Behavioral Manifestation of Anxiety in School Setting • Unrealistic worries, agitation, irritability • Difficulty focusing or concentrating • School phobia or fear of separation • Difficulty anticipating what may happen next, reacts poorly to changes in routines • Poor frustration tolerance, irritability and anxiety over poor performance. • Poor social skills, lacks friendships • Students may also tire due to sleep disturbance problems.

26. Behavioral Manifestation of ADHD in School Setting • Inattentive, easily distracted • Often talks excessively and interrupts others • Difficulty paying attention, listening to a lecture and taking notes and organizing complex activities over time • Poor Initiative: Due to inability to follow through or organize self to complete tasks • Impulsive, hyperactive • Poor social skills and friendships

27. Additional emotional and behavior concerns • Tantrums or aggressive incidents • Withdrawn, shy or uncommunicative behavior • Poor response to feedback or consequences for inappropriate behavior • Weak control of emotional reactions • Easily upset over trivial events • Extreme emotional reactions

28. Common Academic Issues for Students with Mental Health Issues • Uneven acquisition of new academic skills • Inconsistent performance in class • Messy, incomplete and disorganized work • Incomplete assignments and work not turned in • Difficulty applying and generalizing information and skills • Students “mentally tire” as they need to put conscious effort into school activities • Failure to ask for help

29. Developmental Challenges which Impact Behavior and Social Skills Cognitive Development • Uneven or slower rate of development • Stops and starts when learning new skills • May respond better to concrete vs. abstract • May respond better to visual presentation • Possible memory delays Language/Communication: • Receptive skills may be better than expressive • Communication delays or difficulty with verbal expression • May need extra time to respond

30. Physical and health conditions • Range of respiratory problems • Heart condition and physical limitations • Eating digestive problems Sensory-Motor • Delays in fine and gross motor or low muscle tone • Sensitivity to heat, cold, pain Vision/Hearing • May have hearing loss • May need glasses or hearing aid

31. Personality and Temperament • May inaccurately perceived as “easy going” or “strong willed” • May indeed be quite easy going or oppositional! • May respond more strongly to normal developmental changes and stages but at a delayed rate Social Development • Peer friendships may be affected by communication, cognitive or developmental delays

32. Imagine for a moment……. You are • A four year old at a new school and it is time to “Go to Centers” • A first grader who is going through the cafeteria lunch line for the first time • A third grader whose needs to complete a group project with a group of peers and there is a sub. • A seventh grader who has just been given his first semester schedule with 7 classes And you are beginning a new school year as a student with developmental or behavior challenges!

33. Individual Student Support in PBS • Focuses on the needs of students’ whose challenging behavior interferes with academic and social competence • Is most effective if when positive behavior support is in place in the school and classroom. • Interventions are developed and implemented through a flexible, but systemic process of functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention planning.

34. Billy’s S.O.A.R. Chart Safety 0pportunity Achievement Respect FIVE STICKERS = REWARD

35. Parent Engagement School-wide PBS Schools

36. Positive Behavior Support addresses the child in all environments Student School Family Community

37. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND Stronger accountability for results Increased flexibility and local control Expandedoptions for parents An emphasis onteaching methodsthat have been proven to work

38. NCLB Require schools to develop ways to get parents more involved in their child’s education and in improving schools. Requires that states and local school districts provide information to help parents make informed educational choices for their child. http://www.ed.gov/nclb/

39. IDEA 2004 “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 will help children learn better by promoting accountability for results, enhancing parent involvement, using proven practices and materials, providing more flexibility, and reducing paperwork burdens for teachers, states and local school districts.” President George W. Bush

40. When parents are involved in schools, there are:Demonstrated benefits to kids: • improved grades and test scores • improved attitudes, self-esteem, and behavior • better attendance, fewer dropouts and suspensions, more post-secondary education • greater motivation and more positive attitudes toward homework Adapted from Christenson, 1996

41. When parents are involved in schools, there are:Demonstrated benefits to parents: • greater understanding of how schools work • improved communication between parents and children about school work and other topics • increased involvement with learning activities at home Adapted from Christenson, 1996

42. When parents are involved in schools, there are:Demonstrated benefits to Teachers/Schools: • greater job satisfaction • higher ratings of teaching skills from both parents and principals • higher ratings of school effectiveness • decreased feelings of isolation • increased willingness of communities to support schools through taxes • improved classroom behavior through increased knowledge of children’s family, cultural, and community contexts Adapted from Christenson, 1996

43. The Importance of Family Involvement The evidence is now beyond dispute. When schools and families work together to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in school, but also throughout life. (Henderson and Berla, 1997)

44. (Henderson and Berla, 1997) In fact the most accurate predictor of a student’s achievement in school is not income or social status, but the extent to which the student’s family is able to: • Create a home environment that encourages learning. • Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for their children’s achievement and future careers • Become involved in their children’s education at school and in the community

45. Six Types of Parent Involvement • 1Parenting 2Communicating 3 Volunteering 4Learning at Home 5 School Decision Making and Advocacy 6Collaborating with the Community

46. Real change can only come as a result of the commitments of both the minds and hearts of the total school community - teachers, parents, students, administrators and school boards. Sergiovanni, 1994

47. Behavior Change is a Family Affair

48. Sound Familiar • Why do my children want my attention every time the phone rings?? • It’s time to go. You are going to be late this morning. Where are the shoes? What permission slip?! • What are the stressful times of your day at home? How can I handle everyday challenges in a more proactive and consistent way?

49. I wish my child wouldn’t do that!!! • Think of one or two behaviors that you would like to work on at home. • Record the behavior(s) on the left side of the sheet “Behaviors That Make Life Challenging”.

50. Please stop! Why are you behaving like that? • The telephone • Getting out the door in the morning • “NO” in the grocery store or at the mall • Driving down the highway • Time to clean that room • One more story….please!