Wednesday, July 9, 2008

PBS links

Picking away at the positive behavior project. I've read the manuals and done some research online, and my first big question is, what happens after education and re-education? Part of the project is a positive consequence for appropriate behavior, but I've heard little in the way of steps between educating and supporting students in positive choices, and intervention processes. What should a teacher do if a student chooses to behave contrary to expectations (so as not to say "break a rule")? Obviously, not turning papers into the correct spot is not the same order of magnitude as swinging at another student, so there's some differentiation that needs to occur as well. I'll have to write to my contact to ask about that.

However, I've successfully outlined the agenda for the PD day, which will work as sort of a checklist to work on things in order. The biggest task, of course, will be coming up with ways to teach expectations to each student. I'm trying to make instruction such that we're modeling the behaviors we want to see, not only from the students, but also from the teachers. We'll be using multiple intelligences, maybe some mutual teaching, etc.

Some links that may be helpful to this project:

http://www.bridges4kids.org/PBS/
This site is a collection of information whose primary purpose seems to be to sell the program, and get schools and families involved in positive behavior support. Few of the articles have the sort of implementation suggestions I'm looking for now, but provide good background information.

http://www.pbis.org/main.htm
This is sort of where it all began, and I'll need to spend some more time looking through here. I'm using the blueprint form implementation that this organization created.

http://www.pbis.org/implementationExamples.htm
Links to examples of statewide (mostly) implementation of Positive Behavior Support programs. These will definitely be helpful when it comes time to map out long-term goals, and maybe some ideas for assessments of behaviors.

Edited to add implementation examples link and labels.

2 comments:

kayak001 said...

I enjoyed your post and links! Great start! Please allow me to wax poetic here (been involved with PBIS for about 5 years now)...Implementing PBS takes time (think 2-3 years). It isn't a program or curriculum-- (nobody's selling anything)-- it is a way of doing business based on 30 years of research. It is a systems change model focused more on developing positive adult culture and managing host environments than doing something "to" students. This is why it is important to have 80% staff buy in, real administrative support, and a data system before even starting (check out www.swis.org for a sample). Will it work? Your school data is there to be your guide to answer that question, and there are tools for checking if it is bing done with fidelity (SET and EBS) For what it's worth (lesson learned), start with SCHOOL-wide systems and Non-classroom systems. When you have 80% of your students consistently in the green zone (0-1 ODRs), then focus on classroom and individual systems (otherwise you will forever be stuck on red zone). There will always be students in the red zone (that includes my teaching colleagues)... the idea is to have it be 5%, not 20%. Our mantra: clear outcomes, systems to support the adults, data to guide decision-making and best practices to do the actual work. Deceptively simple, but anything involving people is messy and complicated! Finally, check out the work that Maryland, Colorado and Florida are doing around PBIS-- great PRACTICAL examples. Finally another web site: www.apbs.org

good luck!!!!
-ellen

JohnCosby said...

Ellen, thanks for the words of advice and the other sources! I've skimmed over them, but I'll refer to them in detail as the process continues. I think the focus on "developing positive adult culture" rather than "doing something 'to' students" is a really good distinction, one I hadn't seen put quite so succinctly. Also, reading what you said suggests that we're doing some things RIGHT! It's always good to discover that, too. Thanks again!