How to reduce discipline, increase academic outcomes, and provide an equitable learning environment.
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
Jordan resides in Lexington, Kentucky. He has experience in Public Education as an Administrator, Science Teacher, and as a Coach. He has extensive experience with School Discipline, PBIS, SEL, Restorative Practices, MTSS, and Trauma-Informed Care.
The modern classroom is an ever-changing environment, and it is important for school districts to have a unified approach to student behavior.
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
The modern classroom is an ever-changing environment, and it is important for school districts to have a unified approach to student behavior.
Having behavior plans that are consistent throughout the district can help ensure that students across the district are receiving the same educational opportunities and that there is a level playing field for students in every classroom.
In a recent episode of The Flywheel Effect, we sat down with Kim Wood of Placer County Schools to explore the benefits of school districts using similar behavior plans across all their schools and how it can help to create an equitable learning environment for all students.
Placer County, California is home to 16 unique school districts. Kim Wood is a behavior specialist and PBIS Coach for the Placer County Office of Education. She is tasked with leading behavioral support programs that are consistent from a fundamental perspective but also adaptable to the unique needs of the individual schools she oversees.
Kim has worked in the field of behavior analysis for over 25 years, with experiences including implementing intensive early intervention programs for children with autism, setting up behaviorally-based classrooms, utilizing organizational behavior management strategies to improve systems and staff performance, consulting with general and special education classrooms on global behavior management strategies, and coaching teams on the implementation of positive behavior intervention plans.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic approach used in schools to promote positive behavior and reduce or prevent problem behavior. PBIS is based on the idea that clear expectations and positive reinforcement can reduce or prevent problem behavior in the school environment. It involves teaching students about expected behavior and providing them with positive reinforcement when they demonstrate desired behaviors.
The PBIS points framework also includes strategies for responding to problem behaviors, such as providing logical and consistent consequences. At the core of PBIS is the idea that all students should have access to a safe, positive learning environment.
The PBIS framework provides a framework for school staff to design, implement, and evaluate school-wide systems of support. It involves developing clear expectations and teaching students how to meet those expectations.
Schools can use PBIS expectations to create behavior plans and reward systems to help students develop and maintain appropriate behavior. PBIS is widely used in schools and has been shown to reduce problem behavior, improve school climate, and increase academic performance.
It is a proactive approach to behavior management that has been proven to be effective in improving student behavior and creating a positive school climate.
We talk a lot about celebrating student achievement, and for good reason. But we tend to overlook the hard work of our staff sometimes. It’s a job and we are expected to carry out our duties and provide the best possible learning experience for our students.
But to provide that optimal learning environment we often need to innovate and pour a little extra sweat equity into our building programs.
Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate that?
With district-wide implementation, you can create the conditions necessary to share the wins and innovations that your leaders are achieving at the school level with their colleagues across the district.
Sometimes district personnel can get a bad reputation. If they aren’t seen in schools very often it can seem like district leaders are working in a “Crystal Castle” as Dedeeh Newbern put it in another recent episode of the podcast.
But when you have radically different approaches to behavior management happening in all of your schools it can be quite difficult to offer much help.
By providing the PBIS template across all your schools you are ensuring that the professionals charged to lead your district are familiar with the behavior structure of every school they step into which means they are better equipped to provide the type of support our teachers and school-level leaders could really use.
If you have an event in your community that you think might spike behavior events in your schools then your district office can now be boots on the ground to help ease the burden because they are familiar with the processes in use at those schools.
Support can be literally “boots on the ground” as we mentioned earlier. But there is an even more practical way to support behavior and school culture from the district level: fund it. 💰
Implementing PBIS across your district allows you to now write it into your improvement plans and most importantly, write it into your budget. It’s one thing to encourage your schools to improve their discipline practices…but in this case, the old saying applies: “sometimes you gotta put your money where your mouth is.”
By creating an environment where everyone is operating within the same basic structure you also create an environment where the variables can now be transferred from qualitative observations to quantitative observations.
You now have data that can be used to create more equitable practices across all schools.
For example, take a common data point: discipline referrals. Those referrals are an outcome tied to the system being used at the school. If one school reports 10 referrals and the other reports 1000… does that tell you anything useful?
Not really.
But if both schools are using a PBIS behavior plan you can now start looking at the levers at work in each building and not only understand those numbers but also provide support to improve both schools.
A shared culture and values amongst schools in the same district can promote unity, consistency, and equity in education. It creates a sense of belonging, and identity in your district.
Collaboration and the sharing of resources will foster creativity, efficiency, and innovation.
It creates a culture of collaboration and cooperation, leading to better results and a stronger organization.
Would the culture in your district improve if the leaders in your district had a shared language around behavior?
Suspensions reduce students' access to education, increase dropout rates, and can lead to even more negative outcomes.
Those negative outcomes include higher involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems for your students, or the “school to prison pipeline” as it has been unfortunately dubbed.
By focusing your efforts on teaching, recognizing, and reinforcing positive behaviors you're going to decrease negative outcomes for your students.
Decreasing your exclusionary discipline practices and promoting positive behavior also has a direct impact on the reason your schools exist in the first place: student learning.
By reducing negative behaviors you are reducing class disruptions which lead to class exclusion and therefore increasing the time your teachers have to instruct your students.
We have talked at length about the benefits of a common structure and a top-down approach to school discipline across your district. There is one caveat to that: each school is different and PBIS should be applied with that in mind. Or as Kim so eloquently put it on the podcast:
“Each PBIS Program should be like a snowflake, the same basic components are consistent with each but no two programs should be exactly the same.”
The goal here is to provide common structures upon which local leaders can build to create programs that work for their students. This is why PBIS points in your school is so effective as a district-wide tool.
It works best when it is supported by the district and molded by the school.
Having common but flexible structures between schools promotes collaboration, consistency, and equity within a community. This helps ensure that all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of their school.
Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
All the behavior resources you need to create the positive culture your school community deserves.
