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