Fostering Family Partnerships Across the Continuum

Tim Lewis, Ph.D. University of Missouri

Victoria WilliamsIllinois PBIS

Overview

• Follow Basic Logic of School-wide PBS– What do you want them to do instead?

• Connect points between school systems and families

Family Connection Foci

• Understanding the ecology of the family• Development of collaborative partnerships

between parents and professionals• Identification of family strengths and the child’s

positive contributions• Development of standards and practices that

strengthen family members and build on their existing skills and resources

• Identification of sources of stress for the family

(Koegel, L., Koegel, R., Boettcher, Brookman-Frazee, 2005; Lucyshyn & Albin, 1993)

Starting Point

• Schools and their communities should define what “involvement” means across a continuum of behavioral supports

• Schools should build a system that is accessible and open to family involvement– Schools cannot mandate family involvement– Schools must build a system of support that is not-

contingent on family involvement

• Families should also work toward understanding limitations of education system

A Working Definition of “Family Involvement”

• Awareness

• Involvement

• Support

Universals: Connect Points To Families

• Primary Focus = Awareness– Information, Information, Information (2-way)

• Educators and parents sharing information across multiple venues

• Involvement– Parent team member– Specific activities to partner with families at school

• Clear timelines, what is expected, outcomes• Support

– Information regarding range of services & supports– Referral Points– Strategies for home use

Michigan project(Ballard-Krishan, McClure, Schmatz, Travnikar, Friedrich, & Nolan, 2003)

• Training teams comprised of educators and parents to train school teams in school-wide PBS– Demonstrate respect for each training team member’s

knowledge– Identifying strengths of each trainer– Encourage and offer financial resources for training

teams to attend professional development– Offer on-going mentoring– Provide all trainers with skills and resources to train – Clear operational policies

Increasing Family Involvement

Benton Elementary

Background

• Title school• Small population, transient • Low attendance at school functions, conferences,

volunteering “reluctant families”• Very small PTA• Informed about PBS activities weekly through

newsletters

Applying the logic of PBS

• Family Buzz Passport

• Combine family activities with school activities

• Reward: Kids spend time with parents – parents involved with school – Family enjoys a pizza!

Outcomes

• Approximately 70 passports validated

• Noted increased attendance at

conferences, PTA, Chili Fun Night, Sock Hop, assemblies, Family nights, “McTeachers Night,” lunch at school with kids, volunteering, school zoo trip

Connecting to the Community Through Family Involvement

Small Group/Tier II: Connect Points To Families

• Primary Focus = Involvement– Parent consent/ information meeting– Parent part of planning– Follow-up meetings and outcome sharing

• Awareness– Continuum of supports explained– Referral points defined

• Support– Partnership to explore school / home strategies– Quick easy “generalization strategies” for home use

Individual/Intensive/Tier III: Connect Points To Families

• Primary Focus = Support– Partner planning – strengths-based focus using functional behavioral

assessment– Facilitating interagency programs– Targeted training/supports for families

• Awareness– Information (e.g., IDEA, ADA, Mental Health, District Services)– Accessible referral point (special education / non-special education)– Teacher education RE impact on family– “Science” of behavior for both educators and family

• Involvement– Family advocacy groups on school/district team– Parents of children with disabilities on school/district team

Individual Intervention more effective within “host environments” that supports PBS

“Research on parents of children with and without disabilities repeatedly shows that parents who benefit the least from parent training... struggle with one or more of the following issues: poverty, low SES, social isolation, single parenthood, marital discord, and depression or other mental illness” (Singer, Goldberg-Hamblin, Peckham-Hardin, Barry & Santarelli, 2002, p. 159).

Vicki Williams PBIS Family Partner

Batavia, IL

This is Me:

• Community volunteer• Mom of three kiddos on 504 plans• School volunteer in office, classroom and

this year as a PTO board member• Right now, I have a college freshman living

away from home, a 6th grader at our Rotolo Middle School (RMS), and a 3rd grader at Hoover-Wood School (HWS)

How I’ve Been Involved in PBIS

• My own personal experience• District-level• HWS Building-level Tier 2• Statewide Leadership Team• HWS Building-level Tier 1• RMS Building-level Tier 1

• Moved to Batavia in 1998 with one child and was asked by a neighbor to come to a Batavia Mother’s Club Foundation meeting.  

Batavia Parent Academy, funded by the Batavia Foundation for Educational Excellence, supported families by providing classes and information to help build positive and effective parenting skills.

My own personal experience

This is a presentation of the IL PBIS Network. All rights reserved.

District-level

HOW DID I GET HERE?

Overlapping circles of relationships in Batavia

History: District-Level Partnerships• Met District PBIS External Coach on Batavia

Parent Academy team• Coach invited me to join Tier 2 Systems Team

as HWS started to plan for Tier 2• Coach asked if I would be interested in the

Statewide PBIS Leadership Team (SLT)• SLT interest in and effort to engage families

motivated me to join our HWS Tier 1 team which had lost its parent partner

• Tier 1 Team was open to inviting another parent onto the team, so I asked another parent to join us and now there are two of us!

More district activities

• Support planning for Family Network meetings in district

• Participate at district meetings of Tier 1 Family Partners

• Starting this school year, I will also be participating as a family partner on the Tier 1 Team at RMS

• Bus Bucks

This is a presentation of the IL PBIS Network. All rights reserved.

HWS Building-level:Tier 2

Tier 2 Family Partner

• Partnering from the start of the process• Planning for Implementation• Supporting the system and process• Providing support and parent perspective• Adding another hand to help with

paperwork involved• Act as a parent liaison to communicate with

families

Tier 2 team role

• Participated from the start of planning as a full team member

• Present for entire meeting:• Until a little bit of Problem Solving

understandably started to bleed into the system meeting

• Then we had a couple of conversations to work out concerns regarding student confidentiality

• Help with other family contacts/liaison

This is a presentation of the IL PBIS Network. All rights reserved.

Statewide

Family Partner on Statewide Leadership Team

• Quarterly meetings• Contribute on workgroup, monthly

planning/calls• Assist with state leadership conference• Give voice and opinion, help guide direction

of efforts on website• Support my own school and district with

what I am learning about PBIS

This is a presentation of the IL PBIS Network. All rights reserved.

HWS Building-level:Tier 1

Universal Team Family Partner

• Joined in where there was not a family partner • Halfway through year, pulled another family

partner into group• Assist team with: celebration planning, boost

planning, staff communication at staff meetings, producing reward tickets (Hawk Hoorays), communicating with parents who have questions or are new to school, and participating in celebrations (!)

This is a presentation of the IL PBIS Network. All rights reserved.

Kick-0ff the HWS Year

Summer 2013 Ice Cream Social and School Supply Drop Off

Summer 2013 Ice Cream Social• Several parents circulated on playground• Parent roles were valued/important/substantive • Interacted with students and family members

• Quizzed returning kiddos about the 3Bs• Reinforced with a Hawk Hooray to start the school year

• Made positive contact/welcomed students• Reminded/prompted kiddos for school-wide

expectations• We were first exposure to PBIS for some

Kindergarteners and other new students• Handed out pamphlets about PBIS at school & at

home

HWS First Day of School PBIS Kickoff Assembly

• Half-hour long all-school assembly at the end of the first day of school

• Each Universal team member presented a piece of the assembly

• One team member had a “cheer” prepared!• Parent partners (Christy and I) gave the

kiddos a hint of the fun stuff they would earn by being Hawks in school

HWS Curriculum Night 2013

• Tier 1 Information Table at Curriculum Night

• Parent Partners, Christy and I, handed brochures to parents coming in for curriculum night and answered questions about our behavior curriculum PBIS

PBIS at Home

• Being safe, respectful, and responsible at home

• Keep it simple, sweet (KISS)• Say yes more than no• Having a common language with school

Types of Teams

• Universal (Tier 1)• Secondary Systems (Tier 2)• Secondary Problem-Solving• Tertiary Systems (Tier 3)• Individual youth and family teams (i.e. Wraparound)• District teams

Who Is On School/District Teams?

• Principal (administrators)• General education Teacher(s)• Special education teacher(s) & staff• Support personnel (i.e. Social Worker)• Family representatives• Community representatives• Students

How do Family & Community Members Participate on PBIS teams?

• Participate as full team members to:• Action plan and implement PBIS• Use data for progress-monitoring

• Share information with other families, family groups, and community members

• Increase and improve community and family partnerships

Families as Team Members• Bring voice of community; local culture• Share unique perspectives and input • Help with resource mapping and identification of

local resources• Provide community and cultural connections• Have awareness of youth interests and activities

outside of school• Often ‘hear’ the kids talking about what’s

happening at school• Donate time and unique talents• Help develop education and behavior plans when

needed for their child

How do schools find family members to participate?• Suggestions:• PTA / PTO Members• School Leadership Teams• Parents/grandparents that volunteer at the

school• Parents whose children benefit or receive

additional support through the three-tiered system • Parents who have expressed questions or

concerns about behavioral systems & issues

How can schools ‘recruit’ families for teams?

• Information posted in school newsletters• Pamphlets distributed during beginning of the year

curriculum nights or open houses• Meetings for families held during nontraditional

hours (evenings, weekends)• Teacher/ Parent Referral• Community locations• Website and local media• Family members already involved can recruit other

families

(adapted from Harvard Family Research Project, October 2006; L. Owens, J. Phillips, K. Breen)

Benefits of Family/Community Members on Teams

• School staff stick to the agenda• Less time is wasted regarding location, start time,

material for meetings, etc.• Confidentiality respected by all• Youth voice (even if don’t have youth on team)• Balcony view of school activities and interventions• New/different views/ideas when brainstorming• Expertise (advertising, accounting, crafts, etc.)• Contacts/resources (fund raising , etc.)

Why is it Importantfor Families to Be on Teams?Teams which include families have more effective and meaningful team meetings

More effective and meaningful team meetings lead to better outcomes for kids!

“FamiliesFacilitate Fidelity”

Conclusion

12 Key Connections Between Individual/Intensive & Families

1. Build collaborative partnerships with families and other professionals who serve the child or youth with a disability.

2. Adhere to family-centered principles and practices throughout assessment, support plan development, and implementation support activities.

3. Help families identify and achieve meaningful lifestyle outcomes for their child with a disability and the family as a whole.

4. Recognize that problem behaviors are primarily problems of learning.

5. Understand that communication is the foundation of positive behavior.

6. Conduct functional assessments to understand the functions of problem behavior and the variables that influence behavior and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of behavior support plans.

12 Key Connections Between Individual/Intensive & Families

7. Develop individualized, multi-component support plans that help families create effective family contexts in which problem behaviors are irrelevant, ineffective, and inefficient at achieving their purpose.

8. Ensure that PBS plans are a good contextual fit with family life.9. Utilize the family activity setting as a unit of analysis and

intervention that can help families embed interventions into family life.

10. Provide implementation support that is tailored to family needs and preferences.

11. Engage in a process of continuous evaluation of child and family outcomes.

12. Offer support to families, professionals, and other members of a support team in a spirit of sincerity and humility.

(Lucyshyn, Horner, Dunlap, Albin, & Ben, 2002, p. 13)