Why emphasizing and reinforcing positive behavior can lead to fewer behavior concerns for high schools.
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. 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.
Student behavior and engagement are critical concerns for every school environment to succeed. This is a fact.
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. For more on PBIS tiers, check out episode 29 of our podcast!
Student behavior and engagement are critical concerns for every school environment to succeed. This is a fact.
I need to preface that this isn’t intended to minimize the obstacles to success in the lower grade levels but these concerns are a bit different for high schools.
It might seem that the more independence and maturity your students gain as they age then the easier the school would become to manage…that’s just not the case.
There are a whole set of problems as your students age into young adults, mainly, they develop young adult problems while maintaining teenage maturity levels and possessing social skills that are at best a work in progress.
These are challenges I am very familiar with as I have experience as a Dean of Students at a large public high school.
A normal day for me could have included any behavior concern you can imagine. Anything from skipping class to fights, vandalism, illegal substances, contraband, theft, and even a bomb threat or two. 🤯
But there is also a big advantage to managing a high school as opposed to the younger grades. As students age, they also develop agency which gives them the ability to take action or to choose what action to take.
That agency means they are capable of making decisions about their school and then taking actions based on those decisions.
We recently had the opportunity to meet with Callie Daugherty, who is using that big advantage to not only overcome those challenges I mentioned but to really make gains in their school culture that is measurable and achievable.
Callie has been the Technology Integration Specialist for Wirt County High School in Elizabeth, West Virginia for the past 3 years.
She started the culture overhaul at Wirt in a very simple way; she asked her students what they thought about their school.
“Our students were telling us that it’s not fun to come to school anymore.”
That answer led them to redesign their behavior plan to focus on the positive behaviors that would lead to student success and to reinforce that behavior through the kinds of rewards that would really motivate their students.
The plan was rooted in PBIS. Let's take a look at what that means, why it's great for high school students, and why it has to be a bit different for those students.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support) is a tool for schools to use in order to maintain a positive and supportive learning environment. PBIS focuses on early intervention for students exhibiting concerning behaviors, instead of waiting until the behaviors escalate.
By intervening early and providing support to students, PBIS points in your school helps create a safe and productive atmosphere within the school.
Additionally, PBIS helps to promote academic success, as it allows teachers and staff to focus on teaching rather than managing behavior.
Furthermore, PBIS increases student engagement, as it emphasizes positive reinforcement and rewards for good behavior. Through implementation, schools can create an environment where students feel supported and are better able to reach their potential.
1. Improved Academic Performance: PBIS improves relationships between teachers and students and leads to increased motivation, engagement, and collaboration. As a result, students are more likely to focus on learning and be more successful academically.
2. Improved Behavior: PBIS helps to create a consistent system of expectations and consequences, which encourages positive behavior and discourages negative behaviors. It also encourages students to take ownership of their behavior and promotes a sense of responsibility.
3. Improved Relationships: Through PBIS, schools can develop a shared language and understanding of what is expected of everyone, which can lead to improved relationships between students, staff, and administrators as you have fewer negative interactions.
4. Improved School Climate: By consistently reinforcing positive behavior, PBIS can reduce incidences of negative behavior like bullying, disruptive behavior, and absenteeism. The absence of these behaviors in particular can foster a greater sense of belonging among students and staff.
5. Increased Engagement: PBIS encourages students to be involved in their school’s activities, which helps to increase student engagement. When students understand what is expected of them and how they will be rewarded for their actions they are more likely to meet expectations.
1. High School PBIS focuses more on teaching students how to self-regulate their behavior, while lower grades emphasize more on teaching students basic social skills.
At Wirt, this process was made easier as students were involved in drafting their behavior rubric so they had a vote on what to focus on.
2. High School PBIS involves more proactive and preventative strategies, such as positive reinforcement and problem-solving, while lower grades may focus on more reactive strategies.
At Wirt, this meant creating a rewards system that was based on tickets for things students wanted to improve throughout their school day such as extended lunches or homework passes.
3. High School PBIS includes more complex and comprehensive interventions, such as group counseling and restorative justice, while lower grades focus more on individual interventions.
At Wirt, this means including small-group interventions focused on social skills as well as mentorship opportunities similar to Check-In/Check-Out.
4. High School PBIS takes into account the developmental needs of adolescents, while lower grades focus more on the developmental needs of younger children.
At Wirt, this meant basing their rubric around skills that would benefit their students in their post-secondary school lives, whether that be further education or the workforce.
5. High School PBIS emphasizes more on teaching students the importance of making good decisions and responsible choices, while lower grades may focus more on teaching students the consequences of their actions.
At Wirt, this meant teaching their staff to identify and reinforce the behaviors they chose to target and to apply consequences consistently across the building.
To build a successful behavior program, Callie Daugherty and her team leaned on their students to identify the challenges that were inhibiting strong relationships between students and teachers to form.
When we emphasize and reinforce positive behavior, distractions are minimized, and students spend more time learning and growing. 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.
