From Chaos toConsistency

When one urban elementary school changed its culturefrom rowdy to calm, student achievement fell into place.

Susan McCloud

Although many educators havedoubts about the No Childl^ft Behind Act, we can allagree w ith its basicpremise—that many children

in the United States arc not receiving anadequate education. And we all ques-tion how we can change that reality.What actions can transform a stnigglingschool into a place where students learnthe concepts, values, and skills they willneed to succeed in life?

Eight years ago. as the new principalof T. C. Cherry Elementar)' School inBowling Green. Kentucky. I faced thisquestion man) times a day. To give youan idea of how bad the situation was,during the 1997-1998 school year wedispensed KHO disciplinar)' referrals.That same year, our students' averagescore on the CTBS/5 (the norm-referenced standardized test used inKentucky) was in the 56th percentile(Kentucky Department of Education,2003),

In the 2002-2003 schtMJl year,however, we handed out only 30 disci-plinary referrals, and our students'average score on the CTBS/5 was in the78th percentile. In recognition of ouraccomplishments, the I'.S. Departmentof Education designated T. C. Cherry asa Blue Ribbon School, an honorawarded to only 233 schools across thenation that year. To achieve blue ribbonstatus, a .school must either showdramatic improvement on standardized

assessments in spite of at least 40percent of its students coming fromdisadvantaged backgnninds. or havestudents performing in the top 10percent on state tests, regardless ofbackground. T. c;. c:herr) satisfled bothof the.sc criteria, the only school inKentucky to do so. That's quite a trans-formation in onlv five vears.

Our school culture

lacked order and

consistency and had no

established routines.

How did we do it? In a word, culture.We changed the culture of our schoolfrom rowdy to calm, from irresponsibleto responsible, from noncooperative tocooperative, from disrespectful torespectful. OurstudenLs becameproblem solvers instead of problemproducers.

A Culture of Chaoshi September 1990.1 was a brand-newprincipal eager to start the year, myhead filled with exciting ideas anddirections that I couldn't wait to sharewith staff and students, I anticipated awilling, attentive, and enthusiastic audi-ence. Perhaps I wa.s a bit naive.

School opened that year with 270students. Twenty-nine percent of themwere on the frec/rcduced-price lunchprogram (a figure that has increased to69 percent today), and practicall)' alllived in the school's urban neighbor-hood, characterized by high rates ofpoverty and unemployment. Our schoolculture lacked order and consistencyand had no established routines. Forinstance, on a given day one group ofteachers would monitor breakfast andmorning arri\ al and establish a set ofrules for behavior; the next day, therewould be another group of teacherswith totally different rules for morningarrival.

I spent my days dealing with verbaland physical altercations. My jaws werepermanently clenched, my headpounded, m)' heart ached. 1 feltdesperate. As time went by, I began todread my work. There 1 was. spendingall of my time dealing with conflict anddiscipline, ni)' unlulfllled dreams disinte-grating amid the clamor in the hallways.

My staft. meanwhile, was frustratedand discouraged. They had little timefor any real academic instruction.Student scores on state tests reflectedthis. Our students weren t learning.Teachers looked to me for answers, butI didn't have any. No one knew what todo.

Things muddled along in this mannerfor a while. Einally, in desperation, Icalled Western Kentucky IJniversit)^ and

4 6 E D U C A T I O N A L L E A D K H S I I I C / I - I L I I R I A R V 2 0 0 5

found out about the Kentuck)'Instructional Discipline andSupport (KIDS) project. 1applied for a grant, and T. C.Cherr)- became one of eightKIDS pilot schools for the199^-1998 school year.

The KIDS Project:Tools for ChangeWhen we received the grant, 1thought. "At last a savior willcome to help us ii\ ever) thingand make it right," But as we altknow, life isn't a fair) tale, and Ididn t exactly gei my savior.Instead, I met some knowledge-able people who had a work-able plan.

That plan was based on theprinciples of Randy Sprick'sbehavior management program,called Foundations: FstablishingPositive Discipline Policies(Sprick. Garrison. & Howard.2002). The Kentucky Depart-ment of Education contractedwith Sprick to provide materialsand training for the KIDSproject using Foundations,which is a research-based,proactive discipline approach designedto teach students responsible behavior,thereby allowing teachers to spend thebulk of their classroom time focusing onacademics. (For more information aboutthe Foundations program, visit www.safeandciviischools,com.)

Under the KIDS grant, our faculty andstaff agreed to participate in three yearsof training and on site coaching. Ourfirst directive was to organiz.e a leader-ship team and send its members to aserie.s of training sessions. We cameaway with concepts for change and thetools to acliieve that change. Many ofthe concepts we di.scussed werefamiliar, but the Foundations modelpresented them in a way that madethem more cogent and usehil. 'lliemodel espouses the following fiveprinciples.

Traditional approaches to disciplinedon't work. In our first meeting, wet(M>k a hard look at our approach todiscipline. When a teacher at T. c;.

Cherry caught a student misbehaving,he or she would t) picalh' react to thatmisbehavior by assigning a punishmentintended to exclude the student fromthe school communit)", such as deten-tion, suspension, or expulsion. Thisapproach was characterized by threetraits: It was reactive, punitive, andexclusionar). We learned that byreversing the.se characteristics andemphasizing a proactive, positiveapproach—and by explicitly teachingstudents our expectations for appn>-priate behavior—we could make ameaningful difference in our .schoolculture.

Use objective data to form policiesand procedures. As part of theprogram, we learned the value ofsurveys. By sending surveys out tostudents, parents, and staff, we wereable to gather and anah/e infoniiationthat helped us identilS' areas tliatrequired immediate attention.

Involve the entire school community.

For a change in school cultureto be successful, those drivingthe change mast scrutinizeevery aspect of the school andinvolve ever)' member of theschool in the process. Schoolleaders must organize allsch(M)l settings, from the hall-wa)s to the parking lot. topromote positive studentbehavior. All school personnelmust share responsibilit)' forencouraging such behavior.

Lkm't forget the classroomcomponent. Although it helpsto have consistent, positive,schoolwide policies thatgovern common spaces oncampus—the halls, cafeteria,parking lots, and so on—mostof a student's day is spent inthe classroom. Each teacherneeds to implement an effec-tive behavior management plan

in his or her classroom,s:I Teachers should teach appro-C priate behavior just as theyJ teach math, .science, or.s<x;ial; Studies. By writing and usinge lesson plans with a proactive

approach to teacliing positivestudent behavior, our teachers gainedmore time an task for the other subjectareas.

Safety breeds learning. A civilschool is one in which everyone—students, parents, teachers, and staffstreats one another with respect anddignit). When students respect theneeds of their peers, name-calling andpushing in the hallways come to anend. Students are courteous, generous,and cooperative. When teachers greetstudents by name and chat with themrespectfully, students feel safe andcomfortable—even loved. When theyfeel honored and safe, students stopmisbehaving, and when students stopmisbehaving, teachers have more timeto ItK'us on teaching. It s a naturalprogression.

Invaluable ResourcesThe KIDS project provided us withthree invaluable resources: the Founda-tions program; a classroom management

A S S O C I A T I O N FOR S U P E R V I S I O N AND CI 'RHK: I I I ,UM D E V F L O H M R N T 47

tool called CHAMPs; and confidenceand commitment.

Foundations. We used the Founda-tions program to guide the wholeschool through designing and imple-menting a proactive schoolwide disci-plinary' policy. Foundations providesstep-by-step guidance, forms, and work-sheets to help school staff plan andwrite policies that let them be positiveand consistent in every area of theschool. We evenuially created ourProcedures and Protocol Handbook, adocument that delineates responsibili-ties for ever}' person and procedures forevery activit) at T. C. Cheiry.

CHAMPs. CHAMPs is based on thetheory that if students know how youexpect them to behave, they will atleast try to meet those expectations.The CHAMPs program helps teachersdesign a classroom management planand teach their students how to behaveduring every activity' and transition inthe classroom. CHAMP is an acronymthat stands for guidelines that teachers

We learned that by

emphasizing a proactive,

positive approach to

discipline we could make

a meaningful difference

in our school culture.

give students about each activity:• Conversation. Are students allowed

to talk to one another during thisactivity?

• Help. How do students get ateacher's attention and get their ques-tions answered?

m Activity. What tasks are involved,and what is the objective ofthe activity?

• Movement. Are students allowed tomove abotit, to get up to sharpen apencil, for example?

• Participation. What does work

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behavior look and sound like? How dostudents show that they are fully partici-pating?

Every teacher at T. C. Cherry isrequired to build and maintain aCHAMPs notebook and implement thelessons in it.

Confidence and commitment. Theseare intangible assets that KIDS gave us.T. C. Cherry s staff had been unable tosee past our school's noncooperativeculture for so long that we felt inspiredby the claritj' of our new vision for ourschool, and we developed renewedconfidence and a commitment to makechange work.

The First Step:Find the Trouble SpotsOne of the fundamental tenets of theFoundations program is using objectivedata to drive change. The first thing ourleadership team did after our initialmeetings was to send out tlireesurveys—one each for students,parents, and staff. The surveys questionparticipants about how they feel in allthe common areas of a school (such asthe cafeteria, hallways, and play-ground): how they perceive oneanother (for example, do parentsbelieve that the staff cares aboutstudents?): and how they feel about theschool s current behavior managementprocedures.

We got a 77 percent response rate.Once we compiled the results, we orga-nized a staff retreat so teachers wouldhave the time and the quiet to studythose results. The staff actually placedticts on which area ofthe school wouldbe perceived as the most poorlymanaged. When we looked at our anai-\ sis, we discovered that morning arrivalwas an exceptionally difficult andconfusing transition, so we decided thatour first step in improving the school sculture would he to restructure thissegment ofthe school day.

Good MorningT. C. Cherr\- is an urban neighborhoodschool. Many students live close by andwalk to school; on the way, there areplenty of opportunities for conflict tobreak out and spill over into the school

48 EDDCATIONAL LEADEKSHIP/FEBRUARY 200*1

grounds. To add to the confusion, manysludcnls arrive by bus and by car.Students used to arrive without anydirection from us. They would congre-gate in the common areas and millan)und \\ itli nothing to do—a perfectbreedinji ground for trouble.

To deal with this pmblem. the leader-ship team developed a comprehensiveplan ihai manages everyone who entersthe building, parents and staff included.This plan ^pelis out in great delail there.sponsibiiiUcs of both adults andstudents. It covers ever>' morningactivity, from which door to use whenentering the building to where to getsupplies for cleaning up breakfast spills.We also developed lesson plans thatteachers could use in their classroomsto teach the students these appropriatebehaviors.

in addition, we added a morningassembly to our daily routine, duringwhich we recognize special achieve-ments, honor binhdays, makeannouncements, and generally start theday on a positive note. It would beeasier, of course, to make theseannouncements over the intercom. Butthat doesn't produce A sense of commu-nity. When schools bring everybodytogether to recognize l(M)s on sciencetests and other achievements, studentsthrive. We have found that the thrill ofsome students being recognized ever\'morning produces a striving towardexcellence.

Students, teachers, and staff at T. C.Cherr\' know exactly where they shouldbe and what they should be doing atany given time in the morning. Ourstudents are meeting our expectationsand then some. By changing ourbehavior from reactive to proactive, wehave made mornings calmer and moreproductive. We are fostering an atmcvsphere of caring and community, whichin tum encourages positive behavior.

Expanding OurSchoolwide PlanFnim tliis beginning. T. C. Cherry'sadministrators and teachers havecontinued to build and improve ourproactive, schoolwide behavior manage-ment plan. During the last seven years.

we have addressed other problem areas,designing clear procedures and delin-eating responsibilities. We have codifiedall of these in our 7()-pUispage Proce-dures and Protocol Handbook, whichwe review and revise everv' year. Forexample, the page from our handbookon positive expectations outlines waysin w hich teachers can use rewards toencourage good beliavior:

Positive verbal reinforcements areused daily, along with stickers, happynotes, treat jars, special privileges,aiid extra recess. Wall charts are u.sedto record student success in home-work assignments. The student ofthe week will be highlighted eachweek on the bulletin board. Indi-vidual behavior contracts will beconstructed as needed. Homeworkcertitlcates will be given to studentswho have completed daily home-work.

The time we Spent

building a proactive,

schoolwide behavior

management program

has paid off tenfold.

We also opened our Cherry Pit store,which ser\es as a successful incentivefor students to behave. When teacherswitness a student behaving weU in acommon area of the school, thatstudent receives a "Cherr\' Pit point."Tlie points add up. and ever\" Fridaystudents can spend their points in theCherr\- Pit store. This point system givesour students a sense of power andcontrol; "Hey, I can behave, and if I do,I get things that I want!"

One of our most powerful steps washaving teachers create CHAMPs note-books for use in their classrtx)ms. TTieCHAMPs notebook does for eachteacher what our Procedures andProtocfj! Handbook does for the school:It identifies behavioral expectations anddefines procedures and responsibilities.This system encourages teachers tothink about each day, each activity', and

each transition in a classroom, and todesign proactive procedures tbat curbmisbehavior. It takes a lot of time todesign a notebook and teach thebehavior lessons it ctMitains. Butteachers who put in this time upfrontfind that in the end they gain back all ofthat time and more to use on academicsubjects.

The Payoff for PersistenceInstalling a new management system inan old organization is never easy. Therewill always be those who resist. Fortu-nately, that old adage about not ai^uingwith success applies here; As peoplesaw the posiii\'e changes in our schoolculture, the) found it harder to disagreewith our innovations.

At the beginning, bringing in changewas a struggle. But communication iskey. Whenever the leadership teamhad a meeting, we assigned certaincommittee members to share theoutcomes with other staff members. Asthis process went on, the entire stafft>egan to feel involved and to believe inthe system. Some staff left, but the staffmembers who remained are committedto this approach because ihej' see goodresults and they believe their hard workis worth it.

The time we spent building a proac-tive, schoolwide behavior managementprogram has paid off tenfold. Today atT. (;. Cherr)', we are doing the job wewant to do most—educating ourstudents. Most important, we have builta safe and civil school culture whereour students feel valued and respected,empowered and confident—and wherethey know that the future is theirs. 13

ReferencesKentucky Department of Education.

(2(M)3). 2(m Ctm/5 report. Frankfort,IO'; Author.

Sprick, R. S., Garrison, M., & Howard,L. M. (20()2). Foumialiotis: Estab-lishing positii v discipline policies(Rev. ed.). Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

Copyright © 2005 Susan McCJoud.

Susan McCloud is Principal of T. C.Cherry Elementary School in BowlingGreen, Kentucky; 270-746-2230;smccloud@b-g.kl2.ky.us.

ASSOCIATION FOR SI.PF.RVISION CI.'8RICI;LI:M DRVEI.OPMENT 49