Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew About SW-PBS 20 Years Ago
Tim Lewis, Ph.D.University of Missouri
OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral Intervention & Supports
www.pbis.org
Starting Point….
• Educators cannot “make” students learn or behave
• Educators can create environments to increase the likelihood students learn and behave
• Environments that increase the likelihood are guided by a core curriculum and implemented with consistency and fidelity
SYST
EMS
PRACTICES
DATASupportingStaff Behavior
SupportingDecisionMaking
SupportingStudent Behavior
PositiveBehaviorSupport OUTCOMES
Social Competence &Academic Achievement
Academic Systems Behavioral Systems
1-5% 1-5%
5-10% 5-10%
80-90% 80-90%
Intensive, Individual Interventions•Individual Students•Assessment-based•High Intensity
Intensive, Individual Interventions•Individual Students•Assessment-based•Intense, durable procedures
Targeted Group Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response
Targeted Group Interventions•Some students (at-risk)•High efficiency•Rapid response
Universal Interventions•All students•Preventive, proactive
Universal Interventions•All settings, all students•Preventive, proactive
Designing School-Wide Systems for Student Success
Science
Soc Studies
Reading
Math
Soc skills
Music
Spanish
Why Are we Here?
FRMS Total Office Discipline Referrals
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 04-05 05-06
Total ODRs
High School Outcomes….
• Triton High School– 48% Free and reduced lunch
– 59% reduction in suspension– Halved the drop out rate
• Mountain View High School– 30% free and reduced lunch
– 30% reduction in ODR– Last to first in achievement in district
BALLWIN ACHIEVEMENT PBS
405
302
185
760
32.531
58.2
47.4
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
2000 2001 2002 2003
YEAR
NUMBER OF REFERRALS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
MAP PERCENTILE
Office Referrals Proficient or Advanced on MAP
Bradshaw, C.P., Koth, C.W., Thornton, L.A., & Leaf, P.J. (2009). Altering school climate through school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Findings from a group-randomized effectiveness trial. Prevention Science, 10(2), 100-115
Bradshaw, C.P., Koth, C.W., Bevans, K.B., Ialongo, N., & Leaf, P.J. (2008). The impact of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) on the organizational health of elementary schools. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4), 462-473.
Bradshaw, C. P., Mitchell, M. M., & Leaf, P. J. (2010). Examining the effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on student outcomes: Results from a randomized controlled effectiveness trial in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12, 133-148.
Bradshaw, C.P., Reinke, W. M., Brown, L. D., Bevans, K.B., & Leaf, P.J. (2008). Implementation of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in elementary schools: Observations from a randomized trial. Education & Treatment of Children, 31, 1-26.
Horner, R., Sugai, G., Smolkowski, K., Eber, L., Nakasato, J., Todd, A., & Esperanza, J., (2009). A randomized, wait-list controlled effectiveness trial assessing school-wide positive behavior support in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 11, 133-145.
Horner, R. H., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C. M. (2010). Examining the evidence base for school-wide positive behavior support. Focus on Exceptionality, 42(8), 1-14.
RCT & Group Design SW-PBS Studies
Lessons Learned
10. Assistant Superintendents, Curriculum Coordinators, Business Managers, Principal
Reassignment Policies, Teacher Transfers…..
• “7 years of college down the drain”• Function vs. Job Title• Stake Holders
9. Non-Classroom & Momentum
• Outcomes = buy in• Continue to highlight• Track at-risk students within
8. The Ship has Got to Sail
• Focus on the 80%• Apply problem solving / function based logic
to those still on the dock
7. Data is not a “four letter word”
• Does it answer your questions• Consistency• Agreement• And yes, it really is important that you send
data to your province/district/region contacts on time
6. All in the Family
• Build plans for connections early and revisit often
• Connection Levels across tiers of support– Awareness– Involvement– Support
5. Its still all about the classroom
• Classroom Management Basics• “When I Need It”
– Who do I go see?– What should I expect?– How do I monitor?
Classrooms
• Keep in mind:– Most problem behaviors occur in the
classroom– Effective social and academic instruction is
essential for ALL classrooms– Classrooms are “personal”
Importance of Effective Instruction (Sanders, 1999)
• The single biggest factor affecting academic growth of any population of youngsters is the effectiveness of the classroom.
• The answer to why children learn well or not isn't race, it isn't poverty, it isn't even per-pupil expenditure at the elementary level.
• The classroom's effect on academic growth dwarfs and nearly renders trivial all these other factors that people have historically worried about.
So one of our own is now blaming everything on the
teacher!!
If classroom teachers are struggling, it is a systems issue NOT
an individual teacher issues
Creating Effective Classroom Environments
• Insuring ALL faculty and staff engaging in effective instruction and classroom management
• Align resources to challenges– Work within existing organization structure– Raze and rebuild
• Must build an environment that simultaneously supports student and adult behavior
On school reform…
Kauffman states “…attempts to reform education will make little difference until reformers understand that schools must exist as much for teachers as for students. Put another way, schools will be successful in nurturing the intellectual, social, and moral development of children only to the extent that they also nurture such development of teachers.” (1993, p. 7).
Essential1. Classroom expectations & rules defined and taught (all use
school-wide, create classroom examples)2. Procedures & routines defined and taught3. Continuum of strategies to acknowledge appropriate
behavior in place and used with high frequency (4:1)4. Continuum of strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior
in place and used per established school-wide procedure5. Students are actively supervised (pre-corrects and positive
feedback)6. Students are given multiple opportunities to respond (OTR)
to promote high rates of academic engagement7. Activity sequence promotes optimal instruction time and
student engaged time8. Instruction is differentiated based on student need
4. Free to a Good Home: Tier II
• Ownership “case manager(s)”• What students should be in the club
– Screening– Data Decision Rules
• Connect points to Universals / Tier III / other specialized support
• Classroom problem solving teams• Systems, Systems, Systems
3. Stages & Phases
SystemsExplorationInstallationInitial ImplementationFull ImplementationInnovationSustainability
Individual Learning• Acquisition• Fluency• Maintenance &
Generalization
Meaningful PD Outcomes
StaffDevelopment
Change inTeacherPractice
Change in Student
Outcomes
Change inTeacher Beliefs
A Model of the Process of Teacher Change
Guskey, 1986
2. Mimicry Sincerest Form of Flattery
• Good Consumers• Be prepared for next “hot topic”• “Modest” Bragging
1. Repetition Builds Fluency
• Data– What do we need to put in place– Is it working
• Practices– Research to support– “Buy in”
• Systems– Training & Technical Assistance
Final Thoughts
All of us will have set-backs on the journey
Allow yourself plenty of time to get there
Remember to bring the kids along
No matter how tempting….. Stay Positive!
Remember
• We can’t “make” students learn or behave• We can create environments to increase
the likelihood students learn and behave• Environments that increase the likelihood
are guided by a core curriculum and implemented with consistency and fidelity