The Need for Behavioral Support

and Discipline Resources

By Lakisha Butler

Teachers dealing with discipline.

Teachers are experiencing more and more interruptions due to student behavior.

Advocate for students with disabilities

Based on Laureate Education (2007) a teacher leader should advocate for their students. I do advise teachers of strategies to use and I thoroughly explain the behavior point system that is in place and must be used but, I feel strongly about teaching them right from wrong while they are still young. . I never want them to have to go to jail because we failed to teach them that the judge doesn’t care that you are diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder when you are an adult.

The Need for Balance

We need to have consequences that are carried out when a child misbehaves. Based on The University of Kansas, (n.d.) The most effective behavioral management provides a balance of proactive strategies, positive contingencies, and natural and logical consequences that teach students to take responsibility for their behavioral choices and mirrors real life situations that they will be required to face as adults.

What the data shows

At our school data collected from discipline referrals show that 65% of the referrals were written for students that fall under the special education umbrella. Students are often disrespectful to teachers, bully other students, make physical attacks on staff and/or students, refuse to do classwork and leave their area without permission with very little repercussions.

Early Intervention

Based on Peterson & Skiba, (2000) an early intervention response to discipline is most effective. I believe we have made some efforts to effectively implement early intervention strategies. Last year our school began to implement PBIS. Based on PBIS.com, (2014) The Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports was established by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to define, develop, implement, and evaluate a multi-tiered approach to Technical Assistance that improves the capacity of states, districts and schools to establish, scale-up and sustain the PBIS framework.

What we Need

Emphasis is given to the impact of implementing PBIS on the social, emotional and academic outcomes for students with disabilities. I believe that we are on the right track however some changes need to be made. Although 65% of the discipline referrals written are for students with disabilities we are far too lenient on the disciplinarian actions that follow the formal write up. Based on Horner, Sprague, Sugai, & Walker (2000) referral data should be used to evaluate the overall climate and safety of the school. Our school could certainly use some improvement.

What we Need

Our students with disabilities may not be getting what they need. We know that many of these students need a more structured environment. Closer observations should be made when evaluating teachers to ensure that special education students are receiving their legal accommodations and modifications. Many times students who are experiencing great difficulty with the demands placed upon them will display inappropriate school behaviors.

Utlizing what we have

At the beginning of this school year our school was awarded an additional mentor to operate a planning room. This has acted as a place where students go to reflect on their behavior and determine what they could have done differently. Again, I believe this will be a great help as the year goes on for those students that typically are successful in school. I am not convinced that this type of behavior management system will be effective with students who have severe behavior problems. I do believe that we should utilize this area for students with disabilities as an alternative to suspension for our students with disabilities. This area could be used as a place where students are placed in a small structured environment when they are displaying behaviors that are unacceptable in the classroom.

What we Need There are several things that I feel need to be implemented in order to

effectively combat our problem. The first thing we need to do is to be sure that all teachers are effectively utilizing the PBIS system that is in place. Administration will need to closely monitor all classrooms to be sure that they have more incentives in place than just a monthly school wide incentive. The next thing that we need to ensure is that there is a balance between positive reinforcement and discipline. Again, I believe that administration will be forced to closely monitor and hold staff accountable for using both positive reinforcement and discipline. In addition to monitoring administration must be sure that discipline is fair once the referral has been written. It is up to our administration what consequences are handed down and they may need to sit down and discuss how each infraction is to be handled so that things are more consistent. We may need to have some staff development on how to communicate with parents and community effectively. Lastly, our administration may need to have some staff development on appropriately accommodating and modifying for students with disabilities.

Conclusion

Our administration will need to be extremely constringent when evaluating and giving feedback to teachers in this area. Clear communication is key so that teachers are aware of how they rate with special education. This may resolve some behavior issues within the special education population. Our school has so many good things in place however these strategies that we are currently using need to be refined.

Resources Peterson, R. & Skiba, J., (2000). School Discipline at a Crossroads: From Zero

Tolerance to Early Response. Exceptional Children, 66(3), 335.

 

Horner, R., Sprague, J., Sugai, G., & Walker, M. (2000). Preventing School Violence:

The Use of Office discipline Referrals to Assess and Monitor School-Wide Discipline Interventions. Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders. 8(2), 94.

Epstein, J. & Steven, S. (2002). Improving Student Behavior and School Discipline

with Family and Community Involvement. Education and Urban Society, 35(4).

Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports. (2014). Positive Behavioral

Interventions & Supports. Retrieved from https://www.pbis.org/