APPLICATION OF PBIS WITHIN A CENTER-BASED PRESCHOOL

1. APPLICATION OF PBIS WITHIN A CENTER-BASED PRESCHOOL January, 17 2013 MAASE – SLIP Conference Denise Ludwig, Ph.D. David Ames, LMSW Melissa Mercer, LMSW GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2. Learner Objectives • Participants will be able to describe the purpose and rationale of applying Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) to preschool classroom, home and community settings • Participants will be able to identify family roles in implementation of PBIS within home and community settings • Participants will be able to describe the process used to implement PBIS for the birth to five year old population through staff development, learning walks, and teaching new and expanded skills to replace challenging behaviors within the classroom, home and community settings

3. Program Components • County wide home based services for birth through 5 years old • Parent groups • Cross categorical ECSE classrooms • Co-teaching and cluster inclusion models • Transdisciplinary related services team • Community based instruction

4. PBIS: Defined - an evidence-based approach that focuses on teaching new skills and replacement behaviors to modify and change undesired behavior - for preschool = develop staff skill sets in use of parent coaching and classroom strategies for prevention and replacement behaviors

5. Why did we align and implement PBIS with the birth – five year population? How did we align and implement PBIS with the birth – five year population?

6. Process for Implementing PBIS within a Center-Based Preschool • Provide staff training regarding PBIS • Staff identify critical elements of PBIS Initiative expectations as related • to the birth-five year population • Staff define ‘behavior’ (for both classroom and home) and ‘strategies’ • as related to the birth-five year population • Develop PBIS Team • Develop BERT Team • PBIS Team identify evidence-based strategies for implementation • PBIS Team develop staff manual for implementation (including embedding • expectations within lesson plan routines, documentation formats, common • vocabulary, resources, seamless service procedures)

7. IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS continued • PBIS Team develops parent manual for implementation, including parent ‘contract’ • Align PBIS terminology with customer-district expectations • Implement strategies using classroom routines and parent coaching model • Complete Learning Walks for classroom and home community programs • PBIS Team evaluate data • Ongoing evaluation of PBIS Process

8. Alignment of Preschool PBIS Model with Elementary Model Elementary Model Preschool Model • Prevention • Universal Expectations for • behavior • All areas of home, community • and school • Positive attention and • reinforcement of expected • behaviors • Participation in home and school • routines, social play and safety • Cued consequences • Relative frequency of re-teaching • and reinforcing expectations • Identifying and teaching • replacement behavior • Prevention • Universal Expectations • for behavior • All areas of the school • Positive attention and • reinforcement of expected • behaviors • Promote core values of • respect, responsibility and • safety • Predictable consequences • Interventions and strategies • are taught to reinforce • expectations • Responding to inappropriate • behavior

10. Framework for Viewing Behaviors in Preschoolers • All behaviors meet a need • All behaviors have a purpose • All behaviors serve a communicative intent • All behaviors are dependent on skills sets • All behaviors are reflective of environmental ecology • Interpretation of behavior utility is • determined by classroom team and/or parents

11. PBIS Team • School Social Workers • Teachers • Service Coordinators • School Psychologist • Administrator and for 0-3 • Parents/Guardians

12. Wellerwood Early Childhood Center Ken-O-Sha Preschool 2010-2013 Welcome to B.E.R.T. (Behavior Emergency Response Team) B.E.R.T. is an in-building team that will aid classroom staff during extreme behavioral emergencies by keeping other students safe and away from the student who is experiencing the extreme distress. • What B.E.R.T. is…. • A response to an extreme student behavior that cannot be dealt with by classroom staff alone. • A team to provide support when one-on-one intervention is required and help is needed to maintain student learning and safety. • Staff members who will remove other students from the area of an emergency in order to ensure safety and continued learning. • What B.E.R.T. is not… • Not a M.E.R.T. call. • Not a Security drill (Code Red). • Not a response to a known, expected, or frequent behavior. • Not an exemption from dealing with challenging behaviors from students.

13. PBIS Team Reviews Incidence and Evidence-Based Strategies • Incidence of Challenging Behavior: What Does the Research say? --Children with DISABILITIES exhibit challenging behavior three times more often than children without disabilities (Hemmeter, Ostrosky, & Fox, 2006, U.S. General Accounting Office, 2001) --10% to 40% of INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES exhibit behavioral challenges (23rd Report to Congress on IDEA, 2001)

14. Incidence of Challenging Behavior: What Does the Research say? -- The prevalence of SEVERE behavior problems is estimated at 3-6% of the general preschool population and 30% among LOW-INCOME preschoolers (Qi & Kaiser, 2003) -- There is a CORRELATION between LANGUAGE DISORDERS and PROBLEM BEHAVIORS for BOYS (Beitchman, et al, 2001; Feil, 2000**)

15. THE REALITY For a parent with a 2-YEAR OLD with Challenging Behavior, the INCIDENCE is 100%

16. Professional Development • School-wide expectations • Acknowledgment system • Positively stated expectations • Organized and predictable environment • Co-teaching • Home visit expectations • Staff manual • Family focused interventions for birth – three (strategies for teaching specific behaviors, strategies for responding to inappropriate behavior)

17. Preschool Classroom Model Universal Expectations

18. Listening Ears We do this by: • Following Directions • Responding to others

19. Walking Feet We do this by: • Walking into and out of the building • Walking instead of running • Keeping feet on the floor

20. Looking Eyes • We do this by: • Looking at the teacher • Looking at toys • Looking at friends

21. Gentle Hands • We do this by: • Keeping hands to self • Using gentle touch • Being gentle with friends

22. Be A Friend We do this by: • Saying hello and goodbye • Sharing toys • Waiting for your turn

23. Be Ready To Learn We do this by: • Hanging up backpack • Putting away belongings • Cleaning up • Trying all activities

27. PBIS Staff Manual • Components of PBIS: • Clearly Defined Behavior Expectations • Acknowldeging and Reinforcing Target Behaviors • Consistently Responding to Challenging Behaviors • School-Wide Expectations • Behavior Expectation Matrix • Instructional Expectations for Lesson Plans • Understanding Behaviors • Universal Classroom Activities and Methods • BERT • Home Community Parent coaching Elements • Acknowledgement System • Functional Assessment • BIP • Parent Manual

29. Home Community Service: Individualized Expectations • Service Coordinator discusses “Framework for Viewing Behaviors in Preschoolers” • Parent(s) and Service Coordinator determine expectations • Parent Coaching for Strategies to respond to inappropriate behaviors • Parent Coaching for Strategies to teach new replacement behaviors • Embedded with Daily Routines

33. CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR • Disrupted Sleeping or Eating Routines • Physical Aggression • Verbal Aggression or Screaming • Throwing or Breaking Things • Severe Tantrums • Head Banging or Other Self-Injurious Behavior • Noncompliance • Withdrawal • New developmental skills

34. What is a Challenging Behavior? A “Challenging Behavior” is any repeated pattern of behavior that interferes with • engagement in healthy social interactions • participating in the classroom or home routine • learning new things with peers and adults

35. REASONS FOR CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS • To obtain/gain attention, desired object, desired activity, sensory stimulation • To avoid/escape (difficult task, boring task, physical demand, non-preferred activity, parent/peer/adult

36. Who Determines If a Behavior is Challenging? Challenging Behaviors are defined by classroom teams and individual families. Classroom teams determine child behavior as a function of participation in age appropriate activities/routines. Families’ perceptions of what constitutes an appropriate or inappropriate behavior are different, and dependent upon familial culture and values.

37. Establish the Parent’s Concern(s) • Allow the family to identify the behavior they would like to see change • Each family may have different priorities

38. Why Encourage Family Participation • Parents are the primary variable in their child’s development both now and in the future • Parents know their child best • Parents will always be present • Parents have a real interest in seeing change

39. Support for Use of PBIS with Families • Key principles in family centered service 1. family empowerment 2. social supports 3. building relationships as the basis for interventions 4. communication 5. parent access to information/services (Ludwig, D., 2009; Resch, J. 2010)

41. HOME PRACTICES: Identify Family Structure Variables that may impact family routines and practices: • Family history • Values • Personal parenting style • Make up of home • Resources available • Parents own experiences growing up • Parents physical and mental health • Parents schedules (jobs, etc…)

42. HOME PRACTICES: Build a Relationship • Respect the familial structure • Accept a parent’s truth (this may not change so work with it) • Practice active listening • Approach the situation with a “not knowing” attitude • Emphasize a parent’s strengths • Allow the family to set the agenda • Focus on functional goals for real activities

43. HOME PRACTICES: Why Use Routines • Natural places and activities that happen in a child’s life • Use of contexts in which a child needs to learn new skills • Use of natural and logical reinforcers –take into account a child’s preferences • Promote the development of new communication and social skills in predictable settings • Allow for maintenance and generalization • Develop functional and meaningful plans that provide opportunities to practice new skills

44. WHY PBIS HELPS PARENTS TO UNDERSTAND BEHAVIOR? Traditional response to challenging behaviors at home may be punishment…. use of harsh punitive discipline is associated with an escalation of Challenging Behaviors…….

45. Understanding the Child’s Behavior Understand the function or purpose of the behavior • Decide which behavior is interfering with participation in home routines. Which routines? • Decide how you want that behavior to change. • Observe the challenging behavior. What happens before and after the behavior? • Develop an understanding of the purpose of the behavior • Modify the environment to increase desired new behavior • Identify new skills to teach (to get the same result) • Match the intervention to the purpose of the behavior Focus on the purpose of the behavior.

46. Coaching Parents in Viewing Behavior • How do you respond to your toddler’s or preschooler’s challenging behavior? • What have you done in response to his/her behavior? • How do you feel when he/she acts this way? • What has happened before this behavior? • How do you think your child feels? • Why do you think your child is behaving this way? • Have there been any changes in your home that might help us understand? • How have these behaviors changed your relationship with your child?

48. PBIS STRATEGIES: Use Prevention Strategies • Teach clear expectations for behavior within routines • Focus on presence of a positive behavior • Address the environment to modify future behaviors

50. PBIS STRATEGIES: Use Prevention Strategies • Change the physical environment to support new skills (make challenging behavior irrelevant) • Use verbal, visual, and auditory cues to signal the beginning and end of an activity • Provide visual schedules • Select reinforcer prior to activity • Adapt and adjust expectations • Break expectations into steps • In the classroom have activities prepared and accessible • Provide choices • Provide an effective communication system for every child