I have heard the tales of dysregulation, I have heard school staff cursing the covid year in what is has cost kiddos, I have heard horror stories of kids running amok, and I have heard sad stories of teachers in tears. I know being back in school in more ‘normal’ circumstances is hard for kids who have not been used to the strict and consistent routines that schools have to offer during the last 18 months, especially if they were distance learning. Truth be told….it is sort of hard for teachers and school staff too. For this I am so grateful for all the PD I have had in the area of PBIS, becasue right now….that is my sanity saver.
Now, let me just say, I am a 100% believer in the power of PBIS. I was so fortunate to have extensive training, including that as a PBIS coachearly in my teaching career, so I have some tried and true tricks in my tool bag, that I still use with kids as an administrator, and that I still share with my teachers and support staff. To the same toke, I have heard teachers and administrators say…”eh….PBIS didn’t work for me’. Upon further discussion and questioning about the process, the implementation, and consistency and buy in, I can see that one of those pieces wasn’t solid, and so yeah…It didn’t work. I have come to conclude that systems that fully implement PBIS with consistency and fidelity and then give it time to become inculturated have successful expereinces. Those that pick and chose components that work for them, or implement bastardized versions of PBIS don’t get results.
Basic Components of a Successful PBIS Program
There are several critical components to a successful PBIS program. Omission of any one of these is PBIS ‘lite’, and your program will struggle.
- Common expectations for student conduct for all areas of the school that has been collaboratively developed, and includes student and parent voice
- Explicit teaching of behavior expectation in all areas of the school that includes examples and non examples and has been clearly operationalized for students.
- PBIS norms and values are present visually (posters and signs) and verbally with consistent reinforcement and feedback with adults using the common language to reinforce
- Student buy in and incentives for students- the ‘what is in it for me’ factor
- Data analysis for program implementation- in order to refine your practice you have to know what locations of the building, times of the day, specific teachers, or even specific students are areas of difficulty or experiencing difficulty. It is also important to know which students are getting the positive recognition on a more consistent basis, and being intentional with making sure that all students are getting positive recognition and feedback.
- Periodic re-teaching of the behavior expectation lessons over the course of the year, after returning from extended breaks, when data indicates a problem area, and across all grade levels. Do NOT just assume that just because a student is in an upper elementary classroom that they ‘know’ these things.
- Meaningful celebration!
Step by Step Implementation
Start with staff. Make sure all staff members from teachers to custodians know that they have a role to play and their buy in is important. Start with a blank matrix that includes the locations in the school across the top, and the behavior expectations along the side. For the behavior expectations, think values: Kind, Respectful, Responsible and Safe come to mind as commonly used values. Some schools get creative; My first PBIS school in a small border town used the Acronym CATS which stood for Caring Attitude, Taking responsibility and Safety. My school uses the Respectful, responsible, Safe and Kind, and we call that “Make it a four”, because 4 is the equivalent to an A on the academic report card. Get creative and get clever with how you approach the values you are promoting through your behavior matrix. These will be your verbal reinforcers and part of the common language you will use to reinforce the positives and redirect the negatives.
Each classroom will do a brainstorm and complete the matrix. The question is “What does exemplary behavior look and sound like in each area according to the value system you are using?”. Many times as teachers and classrooms work through this activity, students will phrase things like ‘No running in the halls’. I always challenge staff to avoid the words “no” and “Don’t” and use positive phrasing such as “walk in the hallways”. After each class has completed this activity, staff comes together to compare notes, and refine the expectations. Nine times out of ten, all the class matrices look similar. This makes it a pretty easy process to combine ideas, and create one master matrix for the whole school.
Teachers take this master Matrix back to the classroom and begin the explicit teaching of the expected behaviors. I had a PBIS committee that actually drafted lesson plans for teachers to follow in teaching these lessons, and as an added bonus, I ask teachers to take pictures of their classes as they teach and students practice these behaviors, I then incorporate these pictures on the posters that support our PBIS expectations that are posted in the building. Which brings me to the next critical implementation element: PBIS presence in the building.
Kids need to see andhear PBIS language, norms and expectations. I tell staff members one verbal positive reinforcement at a minimum every ten minutes. That is a minimum. When you look around your classroom and you see a kid who is on task, highly engaged and productive and you provide specific positive feedback and tell that stduent, out loud how much you like to see that they are responsible because they are focused on their work and safe becasue they are minding their business, you can bet that 10 kids are going to do the same thing. Monkey see, monkey do, except you get to choose what behavior they are imitating. They also need to see posters and signs in the environment as reminders and reference points.
Those verbal reinforcers are tied to ‘what’s in it for me’. Does every kid get a prize with every verbal praise. Nope. But we do generously pass out Viking Cards, IBelieve cards, CATS cards, tokens, points, whatever your school works for. There are many ways to structure what could be considered a token economy, but staff will need to find one that works for them both in regard to time management and fiscally. Don’t choose to give kids things you can’t afford to maintain! I have see token economies work on an individual student basis such as giving kids tickets, stickers, etc, and I have seen them work as whole class incentives as well. Part of this decision is based on the needs of the kids, but another part of this is the age of the students. Older kids are more able to work collaboratively toward rewards than younger kids. Older kids are also better at understanding cumulative rewards and delayed gratification.
Data analysis is a Critical, CRITICAL component of PBIS. Knowing where your trouble spots are, knowing what time of day you see increased behavior concerns, and knowing who your high flyers are and what kinds of behaviors are issues, and why are all important factors in preventative action planning. If you notice you have an increase in behavior concerns on the playground, it is time to look at why. Evaluate the types of behaviors, the locations and the students involved. Devise a plan to address those specific issues, and monitor the implementation of the plan.
I always expect my staff to reteach te PBIS expectations at the conclusion of school breaks, or anytime the data warrants a reteach for a specific area or interaction. The refresher helps kids stay on track but also keeps teacher mindsets aligned with expected goals.
Finally, meaningful celebration is a hallmark of an effective implementation. Celebration is the honoring of stduents who have been consistently upholding the values and norms of the school. There is no limit to how this celebration takes place. Some schools do certificates and assemblies, others do social media posts, others do newsletter announcements. I was at a school that incorporated student celebration into their morning flag ceremony. I always find that layers of celebration work best, so students get a recognition with their names published in the newsletter for earning a Viking card, but then we do a viking card drawing every friday for prizes. At the end of each month we do a PBIS celebration which is a fun (still educational) activity that eligible kids get to participate in.
What does eligibility look like? Glad you asked. I’m going to back up to the continuum of supports: We positively reinforce desired behaviors frequently and specifically. But what about negative behaviors? Yep. We have those too, but we have a consistent systemic approach to how we address them. We call it a 15 secod intervention. This is a conversation that takes place between an adult and a student in which they point out the problem behavior, explain why it is not acceptable, discuss strategies for ‘next time’ and give the student the opportunity to ‘make it right’; this aligns to some of our work with restorative practices. We document these interactions, as they are a major element of the data we collect when we evaluate program efficacy. If a student gets three 15 second interventions for the same behavior concern, they miss their recess and complete a reflection sheet with the principal. The reflection sheet goes home for a parent signature. A student who has to complete a reflection sheet misses the end of month PBIS celebration for the month. Bummer.
Parents sometimes feel like this is a double consequence, but it is a non-negotiable; If your stduent didn’t figure it out after three opportunities, they can miss out on the fun. Here is why: Students watch other students. They know who is ‘good’ and who is not. If they see the kid who is not behaving appropriately enjoying the reward for the kids who did earn it, it sends the wrong message. It tells the kids, ‘eh, we don’t really expect you to behave.’
PBIS add ons…
Some things that enhance your PBIS program, but do not detract from efficacy if you dont have it include:
- Having a social worker or school counselor to assist with Tier three behavior students
- A classroom guidance curriculum that includes teaching children about self regulation and the zones of regulation, conflict resolution strategies, and harassment, intimidation, isolation and bullying prevention.
- Providing tier two and tier three social work support services to stduents who are ineligible for end of month celebrations- this is a great use of the celebration time!
A word of caution
Be aware, PBIS isn’t an overnight fix. When I was coaching PBIS teams, I used to tell schools that it takes two years for a full implementation and inculturation.
