PBIS system changing things for the better, local educators say
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Students pass through the hallways during lunch time at Delavan-Darien High School and social studies teacher Jeremy Andersen keeps an eye on things under one of the school's Comet Code signs.
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Increased teacher presence is evident as sixth graders eat their lunches under the watchful eyes of, from left, health aidBonita Sisk, associate principal Charles Tollefsen, library aid Pat Kozlowski, and principal Mark Weerts.
DELAVAN — No shouting in the library.
No throwing gravel at recess.
And at no point should hot lunch items leave your plate, go airborne and hit another diner—even if this would be really, really funny.
As grown-ups, those rules seem self-evident, the statutory equivalent of being told to breathe oxygen.
For kids, however, school rules can seem arbitrary—especially if they conflict with what’s allowed at home.
That’s the principle behind Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, a disciplinary system that’s changing local schools in tangible ways. Office referrals are down, detention and suspensions are down, and unwanted hot lunch items also are staying put, despite their potential for flight.
Dead horses
Parents, teachers and taxpayers are bound to be suspicious of another acronym program promising fabulous results.
But what schools are doing now isn’t working, said Nic Dibble, a school social work consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Studies show that “exclusion and punishment” are the most common responses to behavior problems, Dibble said.
Studies also show those tactics are ineffective in the long-term reduction of problem behavior.
“When the horse is dead, it’s time to dismount,” Dibble said in an online DPI video about PBIS. “You don’t try to get better feed, you don’t try a different saddle.”
Just as children are taught reading and writing, they also need to be taught what is expected of them at school.
Home rules, school rules
Wilson Elementary School in Janesville recently was named a “School of Merit” for its PBIS program, Principal Kim Peerenboom said.
PBIS provides a structure for discipline rather than a universal set of rules, she said.
“The rules are based on what each school needs,” she said.
At Wilson, the school’s slogan is, “Be safe, be respectful, be responsible.”
“At the beginning of the year, we teach all the students what it looks like, sounds like and feels like to be safe, be respectful and be responsible,” Peerenboom said.
Here’s what that means in real life: Leave rocks on the ground, go up the ladder and down the slide, follow adult directions the first time, use and return items properly, wash your hands after using the rest room, don’t blurt out the answers and return your classmates crayons after using them.
“The essence of PBIS is that you can’t assume kids are taught these rules at home,” Peerenboom said. “We do a lot of talking about home versus school rules—we might have different expectations at school than you do at home.”
Data then action
For all incidents, PBIS requires administrators to collect data—type, time, place and adult involved.
The data sometimes yields unexpected problem areas with easy solutions.
At Phoenix Middle School in Delavan, Charles Tollefsen, vice principal, discovered clusters of incidents around lunch period. Staff was asked to circulate through the lunchroom, “to find out where the buzz is, to be aware of what’s going on and to be more visible.”
Office referrals from that time period dropped significantly.
Part of PBIS is rewarding students for basics such as being on time to class, copying down assignments without the teacher having to ask and using appropriate language.
Students are rewarded “star bucks” to use for prizes or to enter into drawings for larger, quarterly prizes, Tollefsen said.
Why reward students for following through on such basic expectations? Because the expectations aren’t basic to students. To them, a little bit of talk amongst themselves before the class starts doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Dropping a curse word here or there might be allowed at home.
Delavan-Darien High School Principal Mark Schmitt claims teaching and reinforcement reaches about 80 percent of students. For others, a more intensive approach is needed.
At both the middle schools and the high school in the Delavan-Darien School District, teachers, administrators and school counselors meet to discuss “students of concern.”
“You have to remember that a behavior doesn’t exist in a background,” Phoenix Principal Mark Weerts said.
Social anxiety, depression, problems at home, cognitive disabilities all are factors that can impact student behavior. Sometimes students need one-on-one help from a counselor, a daily check-in from a staff member or other special assistance.
At Delavan-Darien High School, PBIS started in the 2009-10 school year, Schmitt said.
He and a team of teachers worked to create the “Comet Code.” Its basics are: Be safe, be responsible, be respectful and be a learner.
The code was introduced in the 2010-11 school year, and students learned what was expected of them through a series of assemblies and other events.
“This is our second year, and it’s really become the way we live our lives together,” Schmitt said. “It’s the way we learn together.”
BEHAVIORAL DATA
Parents, teachers and administrators have seen discipline programs go in and out of fashion. The supporters of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports say they have data to back up this one.
-- At Delavan-Darien High School, office disciplinary referrals decreased 15 percent compared to the same time last year, and fights have decreased 50 percent.
-- At Phoenix Middle School, Delavan, in-school and out-of-school suspensions have dropped more than 50 percent, and lunch detentions have dropped 81 percent for the month of September. In September 2010, there were 141 office referrals. This year, there were 69.
-- At Wilson Elementary School, Janesville, there were 47 office referrals for October 2010. As of Oct. 21 this year, there were 20.
Oct 23, 2011 at 8:10 p.m.
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"a behavior doesn't exist in the background" means that everyone in the room is affected by a behavior. Behaviors disrupt everyone's learning, not just the student who is not behaving.
Oct 23, 2011 at 9:59 a.m.
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Should start with having expectations for the parent(s?--ha!)...that's where the problem is rooted! Without their active and continued participation, there's little chance that any short-term, in-school-only behavioral modification program will actually work.
“You have to remember that a behavior doesn’t exist in a background”--what does that even mean? In a "vacuum," perhaps? This whole article is full of PC nonsense...if this was puppy kindergarten or dog socialization class (which is really what we're talking about here), you could be specific and not "euphemise" the excuses for bad behavior.
Hope it works far better than the "D.A.R.E." program did, which scientific, statistical studies--the same type of evaluation that should be used to evaluate this program, NOT anecdotes--suggested might even be encouraging the "graduates" to dabble with drugs and alcohol! Oh well, at least we got the tee-shirts, coffee mugs, and pens out of that expensive, time-consuming, and deeply embedded debacle.
Oct 23, 2011 at 9:08 a.m.
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It would seem that the article would be more thorough or honest if ordinary staff members were interviewed and allowed to comment without intimidation and job-threats or disciplinary reactions. In many area schools this kind of care and monitoring was going on long before the acronym was developed. Most teachers and principals work together to affect positive changes in student behavior. Find out and join your local PTA or PTO. There is more to these organizations than serving tea and cookies on parent nights.
Oct 23, 2011 at 8:20 a.m.
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poorrichard..that's what worked at our house and how we raised our kids. But today a lot of kids don't have parents in the true sense of the word. It's a shame for the kids. Makes me glad I probably won't live to see how this generation will fare when they become adults. I guess I sorta know. Not all kids but many.
Oct 23, 2011 at 7:45 a.m.
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I graduated from DDHS in 1966. This "program" was called "common sense" back then. We learned it from our parents. If we forgot once in a while at school they let our parents know and we were "reminded". Guess that won't work anymore-too easy?
Oct 23, 2011 at 4:49 a.m.
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At home it might be acceptable to just grab something that you want without asking and without returning the item. If this WORKS for the child, why not use that same technique in school? The pbis system sees that as an opportunity to TEACH what is acceptable .....ask to use something and then return it. It also teaches the kid whose crayon/pencil/book whatever has been grabbed from that child to TELL the other kid: "I don't like it when you just grab my crayon/pencil/book, ASK me first. So, the offender and the victim BOTH learn how to do something in an acceptable way...the offender still gets what he/she needs and the victim communicates what he/she dislikes and needs. I bet all the adults who are responding to this article have worked with some people who have objectionable behaviors. The objectionable behavior has always worked and NO one has told them what to do instead! pbis in the workplace might help.
Oct 22, 2011 at 9:22 p.m.
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All this is out the window if the union-teachers are protesting Scott Walker's policies regarding collective bargaining. At which time all activities involving bullying and intimidation are not only alright but encouraged.
Oct 22, 2011 at 8:45 p.m.
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PBIS is used throughout the district and it's a consistent message as students advance through schools. Yes, rewards are given for basic expectations, but there is a need for students to know they're doing the right thing. Unfortunately, some kids probably don't hear that much at home. If PBIS makes students better citizens, then why not support it? Will you always have teenagers that stink at a job? Probably, but I'd be interested to see what students are like at a job when they've been hearing the same Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful for many years. Maybe it'll have a positive impact. If it makes a school easier to learn at, it can't be a bad thing.
Oct 22, 2011 at 8:10 p.m.
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Fantastic that schools are putting forth an effort in educating kids in more than academics. Will every child succeed under this program, probably not, but the one's who do are worth the effort. Thanks for the innovation Wilson School.
Oct 22, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
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The reward for coming to work on time and doing a good job is your job and raises. It is also feeling good about yourself and your boss's occasional "good job." Some is intrinsic, some is not. I would hate to work at a place where my boss didn't appreciate me. I would only be there long enough to find something else.
Oct 22, 2011 at 5:42 p.m.
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A big kudos to Wilson's last year principal, Becky Bicha and Wilson's former social worker, Jessica Grandt for all their hard work the last couple of years that resulted in the award for Wilson's PBIS!
Oct 22, 2011 at 5:34 p.m.
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nicksmom... I agree. Rewarding someone for performing what they are naturally "suppose to" do, seems silly. I have also witnessed the younger generation "crash and burn" on a job. Its sad that this type of behavior is now landing on our educators. Many parents should know better... This sort of personal development "used to" be developed at home.
Reward systems like this, will fail, just as you stated... due to lack of a strong home network. I am disappointed with the youth of today. They are the "instant gratification" generation.
Those that do succeed were taught correctly at home. Knowing that you must have a license to drive a car, yet you need NO certification to raise children is a reflection of what the general public now must deal with.
Damned if we do... damned if we don't.
Oct 22, 2011 at 4:54 p.m.
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What is all this about flogging dead horses???
Oct 22, 2011 at 4:38 p.m.
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Catherine did a great job explaning the essence of PBIS. Schools are now expected to teach positive behaviors. Just like we reward learning academic skills with good grades, learning positive behaviors need to be rewarded as well. Before all of you "when I went to school..." people start posting comments of how much of a waste of time and money this is, volunteer in schools and see the types of learned behaviors students bring from home.
Oct 22, 2011 at 4:37 p.m.
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The article ends with data that claims to back up the progress that has been made. But the data does no such thing - there are many reasons for the data, none of which points directly to this program.
Oct 22, 2011 at 4:33 p.m.
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And when these children get jobs then what? You don't get rewards for coming to work on time. I see 20 somethings fail at work all the time because they are not getting constant praise & warm fuzzies. Maybe I'm wrong but I seriously wonder if this is the right approach long term.
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