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SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Interventions Supports and the Middle School Experience Experience and Rationale April Faieta
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I.PBIS SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) and the Middle School Experience The focus of this study is to determine the effectiveness of SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in improving behavioral outcomes and how it relates to student achievement of Glendale Unified School District’s middle school students in the seventh and eighth grades as indicated by various assessments. Research indicates that a structured behavior plan needs to be in place at schools to support student success. The question remains as to what type of system generalizes best to the unique needs of the Glendale Unified School District’s middle school student population. At the time of this study, two of the district’s middle schools will be in their third year of SWPBIS implementation and the researchers are seeking results that will be used to help determine if the program justifies the District’s desire to adopt SWPBIS in the remaining schools, along with determining to what extent academic success can be attributed to the use of SWPBIS programs.
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II. Rationale Middle school is an important time in the life of an adolescent; it is in those years that students begin to face behavioral, academic and socioemotional challenges. It is these factors that have forced schools to seek out ways to decrease the number of problem behaviors and influence students to make better choices so they remain in the classroom and maximize instructional time. Traditionally, discipline in school has often been reactionary followed by a negative consequence (Fenning et al., 2012). Reactionary discipline has been decreasing in effectiveness likely due to factors including inconsistent buyin and lack of follow through. When the proper tools and supports are missing within the school program it often leads to an increase of negative behaviors and discipline issues which also affect student success. Students who are not provided the appropriate supports in early adolescence have an increased possibility of severe behaviors in high school. As a result, middle schools have begun to shift their attention toward finding ways to make sure students are engaged and attempting to reduce highrisk behavioral challenges which will ultimately lead to negative outcomes. To do this, schools today are seeking out ways of establishing positive behavior interventions, teaching behavioral expectations, and installing preventative programs (Flannery et al., 2014). To deal with discipline issues, Gottfredson and Gottfredson (2001) found that on average, schools initiate up to 14 types of behavior strategies or programs to curtail violence and promote a safe learning environment for all students. This inconsistency of programming can not only become overwhelming, but also lead to a lack of proper implementation, follow up, and fidelity, thus causing schools to scramble, often reactively rather than proactively, when dealing with different types of discipline issues without a properly implemented plan to improve behavior.
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Poorly executed behavior initiatives, albeit with noble intentions, become ineffective and often fail to improve or change a school’s culture toward the positive. A schoolwide, clear, sustained and systematic framework is needed, along with buyin from all parties, so that a uniform plan with plausible goals and expectations can be put in place. This allows students to not only understand what is expected of them and the adults on campus, but also to provide the necessary support to facilitate positive student behaviors (US Department of Education, 2010). SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is one approach being implemented by school districts across the nation to reduce problematic student behavior in schools. SWPBIS is a proactive system that relies on teachers and staff members to establish universal norms for student behaviors in all areas of the school. It is a multitiered program that provides standards of expected positive behaviors that are explicitly taught and followed through. The program strives to create a culture and support system needed to provide students with an optimum learning environment as students are rewarded for exhibiting the expected positive behaviors (Horner et al., 2010). The program follows predetermined and consistent consequences for misbehavior which leads to the reduction of negative student behaviors. Throughout the implementation of the program, faculty and administrators continue to assess the effectiveness of the school’s interventions. Ongoing data is used to make decisions with the focus on providing individual support for students and the adoption of systems which support effective practices (Bradshaw et al., 2013). Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) has chosen to pilot SWPBIS at two of their middle schools with the hopes of creating a positive social environment on their campuses. GUSD sought a program to support school sites in addressing an increasing number of discipline
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problems and the expanding ineffectiveness of behavior modification programs. School sites were implementing unsuccessful programs, such as assertive and holistic discipline approaches. Schools within the district are finding a need for a more consistent approach to discipline with a focus on improving student behavior. The District understands the link between negative behaviors and decreasing academic performance. SWPBIS research supports the district findings in that countless hours of missed classes due to disciplinary issues, along with those hours administrators are required to allot to deal with behavior issues, have negatively affected learning across grade levels and districts (Horner et al., 2010). In this study, the researchers will attempt to discern the true effectiveness of the program as it pertains to teacher, student and administrator perceptions of behavior and trends in academic progress and successes. The findings will be offered to both Glendale Unified School District's leadership team and the School Board as a means to determine whether to continue the schoolwide behavior interventions and support programs and expand to the other two middle schools and the rest of the schools in the district.
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References Bradshaw, C. B. (2013). Preventing bullying through positive behavioral interventions and supports (pbis): a multitiered approach to prevention and integration. Theory Into Practice , 52, 288295. Fenning, P., Pulaski, S., Gomez, M., Morello, M., Maciel, L., Maroney, E., & Maltese, R. (2012). Call to action: a critical need for designing alternatives to suspension and expulsion. Journal of School Violence , 11, 105117. doi:10.1080/15388220.2011.646643 Flannery, K. B., Fenning, P., McGrath Kato, M., & McIntosh, K. (2014). Effects of schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports and fidelity of implementation on problem behavior in high schools. School Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 2, 111124. Gottfredson, G. & Gottfredson, D. (2001). What schools do to prevent problem behavior and promote safe environments. Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation, Vol. 12. Issue 4, 313344. Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C.M. (2010). Examining the evidence base for schoolwide positive behavior support. Focus on Exceptional Children , 42, 114. Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Progress (2010). Implementation blueprint and selfassessment of positive behavioral interventions and supports. September 25.
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