Vermont Positive Behavior Supports Bringing out the BEST in all of us.

1. Vermont Positive Behavior SupportsBringing out the BEST in all of us. Presented by: Rae Ann Knopf VTPBS State Coordinator VTDOE Assistant Division Director The Vermont PBS State-wide Leadership Team The Vermont State BEST Team University of Vermont Center on Disability & Community Inclusion

2. PBS Implementation Coaches • Rae Ann Knopf, State-wide Coordinator • Richard Boltax, BEST Co-coordinator • Sherry Schoenberg, BEST Co-coordinator • Ken Kramberg, BEST consultant • Ruth Hamilton, BEST consultant • Carol Randall, DOE Education Consultant • Lisa Mazzitelli, DOE Education Consultant

3. Behavioral Expectations • Be present • Engage • Support each other • Team solutions and ideas

4. So What is PBS? Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) is a proactive, school-wide, systems approach to improving social and academic competence for all students.

5. Big Idea • Educational leaders must strive to lead and support development of sustainable and positive school climates • The goal is to establish school communities that support adoption and sustained use of evidenced-based practices (Zins & Ponte, 1990)

6. Challenge #1 – Rigid, Inflexible Systems

7. Challenge #2 – Someone Else’s Problem

8. Competing Pressures in Schools + • Conflicting Priorities + • Competing for limited resources = • Diminished capacity to focus on the needs of students & staff Why PBS? Do the math . . .

9. Positive School Climates. . . • Maximize academic engagement & achievement • Minimize rates of rule violating behavior • Encourage respectful & responsible acts • Facilitate more efficient, effective & relevant school functioning • Improve supports for students with disabilities & greater risk of educational failure

10. Instructional Time Lost • 1400 referrals = • 21,000 min@15 mins= • 350 hrs= • 44 teaching days • 59 administrative days • 131 instructional days for students

11. Ineffective Responses to Problem Behavior • Get Tough(practices) • Train-&-Hope(systems)

12. But….false sense of safety/security! • Fosters environments of control • Triggers & reinforces antisocial behavior • Shifts accountability away from school • Devalues child-adult relationship • Weakens relationship between • academic & social behavior programming

13. Based on Erroneous assumption that student… • Is inherently “bad” • Will learn more appropriate behavior through increased use of “aversives” • Will be better tomorrow…….

14. “Train & Hope”

15. When a student • Doesn’t know how to read – what do we do? WE TEACH. • Doesn’t know how to add – what do we do? WE TEACH. • Doesn’t know how to swim – what do we do? WE TEACH. • Doesn’t know how to drive – what do we do? WE TEACH. • When a student doesn’t know how to behave – what do we do?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16. Research on behavior has taught us that people…. • …… can learn better ways of behaving by being taught directly & receiving positive feedback…. • . . . . Especially when functionis considered • - Sugai and Horner, 2003

17. What PBS does - • PBS identifies a set of science-based behavior support practices that are proactive, instructive and inclusive. • PBS integrates academic and behavioral success. • PBS brings school teams, parents and communities together to design and implement a broad range of systemic and individualized strategies for teaching, encouraging, reinforcing, and generalizing social and behavioral competence. • PBS → EBS → PBIS • Core principle - make the smallest environmental change necessary in order to facilitate the greatest positive change in behavior.

18. Transforming Practices • Reactive Proactive • (Focus on Prevention) • Punitive Instructive • (Teach and recognize appropriate skills) • Exclusionary Inclusionary • (Keep students in school and in class)

19. Implementing and SustainingSchool-wide Positive Behavior Supports is • School teams coming together to – • Create a common purpose • Define 3-5 positively stated behavioral expectations • Develop systems for teaching, encouraging, and reinforcing expectations • Develop systems for discouraging negative behaviors • Develop function based systems for supporting students and responding to behavior patterns

20. Teaching Behavioral Expectations:An Instructional Approach • DEFINE expectations for behavior • TEACHthe expected behavior • REVIEW expectations regularly • MONITORperformance of expected behaviors • RECOGNIZEindividuals when expected behaviors are demonstrated • CORRECTindividuals when expected behaviors are not demonstrated

21. Public Health & Disease PreventionKutash et al., 2006; Larson, 1994 Tertiary (FEW) Reduce complications, intensity, severity of current cases Secondary (SOME) Reduce current cases of problem behavior Primary (ALL) Reduce new cases of problem behavior

22. Activity • Turn to the person next to you at your table and take turns teaching each other the triangle. • Try to cover the key concepts in two minutes or less.

23. Six Components of SW Discipline (SW-BSP) • Statement of purpose (Common approach to discipline) • Clearly defined expected behavior • Procedures for teaching expected behavior • Continuum of procedures for encouraging expected behavior • Continuum of procedures for discouraging problem behaviors • Procedures for record-keeping & decision making

24. PDSA Cycle Dean A. Fixsen and Karen A. Blasé, 2006 Team Agreements Act Plan Data-based Action Plan Evaluation Study Do Implementation

25. Non-Teaching Family Behavioral Capacity Priority & Status Representation Specialized Support Administrator Team Community Data-based Decision Making Administrator Student Teaching Communications

26. Agreements At least 80% of staff Prioritizing use of data-base for informed decision making (e.g., EBS Staff Survey, ODR’s) 3-4 year commitment Proactive instructional approach Supports Administrative leadership Prioritized resources Materials, personnel On-going coaching Time Secure SW Agreements & Supports

27. PDSA Cycle Dean A. Fixsen and Karen A. Blasé, 2006 Team Agreements Act Plan Data-based Action Plan Evaluation Study Do Implementation

28. 4 Elements of Data-based Decision Making • Use data to answer questions and verify outcomes • Describe in measurable terms • Specify realistic & achievable criterion for success • Identify priorities for action High quality data from clear definitions, processes, & implementation (e.g., sw behavior support) Efficient datastorage & manipulation system (e.g., SWIS) Process for using data to make decisions & take action

29. Example Committee Review Form

30. Kinds of Data • Office discipline reports • Out of classroom referrals • Behavioral incidents • Attendance • Suspension/Detention • Special education referrals • Observations • Self-assessments – PBS Surveys, Youth Risk Behavior Surveys

31. PDSA Cycle Dean A. Fixsen and Karen A. Blasé, 2006 Team Agreements Act Plan Data-based Action Plan Evaluation Study Do Implementation

32. Research to Practice Classroom Setting Systems Nonclassroom Setting Systems Individual Student Systems School-wide Systems

35. Redesign Learning & Teaching Environment School Rules NO Food NO Weapons NO Backpacks NO Drugs/Smoking NO Bullying

36. Few positive SW expectations defined, taught, & encouraged

37. Expectations

38. PDSA Cycle Dean A. Fixsen and Karen A. Blasé, 2006 Team Agreements Act Plan Data-based Action Plan Evaluation Study Do Implementation

39. Is PBS creating success for students in your school? • After PBS Implementation – the middle school above reduced office discipline referrals by 64% • A 64% reduction of 1324 referrals recaptures – • 26 – 8 hour days of teaching time • 35 – 8 hour days of administrative time • 70 – 8 hour days of student instruction

40. 4J School District Eugene, Oregon Change in the percentage of students meeting the state standard in reading at grade 3 from 97-98 to 01-02 for schools using PBIS all four years and those that did not.

41. Are the Components you Worked on Actually In Place?

42. Are they staying in place over time?

43. SW-PBS (primary) >80% of students can tell you what is expected of them & give behavioral example because they have been taught, actively supervised, practiced, & acknowledged. Positive adult-to-student interactions exceed negative Function based behavior support is foundation for addressing problem behavior. Data- & team-based action planning & implementation are operating. Administrators are active participants. Full continuum of behavior support is available to all students Secondary & Tertiary Team-based coordination & problem solving Local specialized behavioral capacity Function-based behavior support planning Person-centered, contextually & culturally relevant District/regional behavioral capacity Instructionally oriented Linked to SW-PBS practices & systems School-based comprehensive supports What should I expect to see/hear in a PBS school?

44. What’s the Status in Vermont? • State-wide Leadership Team – 34 members • Training of External Implementation Coaches – 6 state-wide coaches, 3 district coaches • Established priority for Act 230 spending 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 spending • Training and Implementation in Schools • Over 900 educators & mental health personnel – introductory training • 34 schools engaged in implementing SW-PBS

45. Vermont Data

46. How to find out more - • Nationally - • www.pbis.org • www.apbs.org • www.pbssurveys.org • In Vermont – • rae.knopf@state.vt.us • Richard.boltax@state.vt.us • sherscho@sover.net

47. Activity • What further questions do you need answered to better understand any aspect of PBS? • Post them on the flipchart and note common themes.