Respectful Responsible Ready

Westwood Middle School

Overview of Today’s Presentation

Today we are going to share with you some of the

struggles that we have had in our five years of Tier I

Positive Behavior Support. We are also going to share

some solutions that we have found and provide an

opportunity for us all to work together on some of your own

struggles.

A Timeline of PBIS at Westwood

• Westwood traditionally had been a Junior High School with grades 7 – 9.

• The 2012 School Year was the firstt year we housed only grades 6-8. The

9th Graders were moved to the Coffee County Raider Academy.

• We focus on how to make incentives and initiatives appealing and

effective for 11 to 14 year-olds.

• We have seen positive trends in discipline data as well as academic

achievement.

Westwood Middle School is a Title 1 school located in southern Middle Tennessee. There are

360 students in grades 6-8. About 20% of our student body falls into the SPED category.

Although we are primarily comprised of economically disadvantaged Caucasian students we

have a substantial Hispanic population of about 15%. Nearly 64% of our students are

economically disadvantaged.

In the summer of 2009, staff from Westwood Middle agreed upon the need for improving

discipline in the school. Westwood staff formed a team of grade level teachers (one each from

grades 6-8), a special education teacher and the building administrator. They developed a plan

for reducing problem behaviors in the school and classrooms and implemented the plan in the

2009-2010 school year.

The school team met monthly and developed a set of school rules. They decided on behaviors

that were important to the school staff: Respectful, Responsible, and Ready. They developed

lessons for teaching these school rules and agreed as a staff to consistently enforce the rules.

A Successful School-wide PBIS School(1 of 2)

A Successful School-wide PBIS School(2 of 2)

The school also implemented a school-wide system called “Blast Passes.” The Blast

Passes listed all of the school rules and teachers were given stacks of the tickets.

Teachers and other staff agreed to “catch kids being good” by giving them a Blast

Pass and indicating the school rule that they were demonstrating. Students could

place the ticket in a bucket in the school cafeteria for a door-prize drawing at the end

of the week. The staff monitored how many tickets were distributed and who was

receiving them. The staff designed several other ways to recognize and reward good

behavior in the school.

Finally, parents and the community were involved as much as possible. Parents were

given information about the new program and expectations for students. Local

businesses gave incentives such as coupons and small items to use in the weekly

drawings.

Fostering and Developing Staff Buy-In: Focusing on the Positive!

• At the beginning of the school year, a “PBIS refresher” is held reviewing key beliefs of the PBIS program. A “first time” training is held for new staff members.

• Throughout the school year, data is shared frequently in order to foster buy-in and “problem solving” in order to develop and maintain staff efficacy.

• “Celebrations” are shared at the beginning of each staff meeting to foster the positive attitude necessary for PBIS success; staff are encourage to share positive events as well as positive encounters with students.

Adapting and Overcoming

Some of the Westwood staff were resistant to change because they did not see

compelling reasons for change, and they didn’t understand the why they needed to

reward students for doing what they were supposed to be doing in the classroom.

Some of the older students resisted the system as well and were slower to come

around than the younger students.

As of now the majority of teachers here at Westwood support the system. Either

through seeing how the system has cut down behavior problems or just the brute

force and ignorance of the PBIS Team, the teachers are on board with the system.

The kids are seeing that there are tangible rewards for their behavior. The school

store has done wonders for getting the kids on board with the system.

BUY-IN

Incentive SystemWhen the PBIS system was first implemented, Blast Passes were given to students for

engaging in pro-social behavior at the school. Students would turn these tickets in to a

drawing for prizes (usually for soda or snacks). According to school personnel the

system was not working well, as students were not receiving the tickets consistently and

students were not turning the tickets in for the drawing of prizes. By the end of the

school year, Blast Passes were not being handed out and no drawings were taking

place.

We now have a school store up and running. It is operational every other week. It sells

everything from candy to ear buds. We also have a popsicle reward that can be earned

with Blast Passes.

Nine Week CelebrationAt the end of every nine weeks we have a school wide celebration that the

students may attend if they have five Blast Passes. We show movies, allow

electronic devices to be used, the computer lab is open for games, etc.. This is

where we ran into the problem of recognizing the students who always do the

right thing. They were not being recognized for their behavior because they were

always good! Teachers then began “bumping up” their good students so they

could attend the celebration. That led the students to believe that they would be

“bumped up” no matter what and the celebration lost it’s meaning.

Now we make the students more accountable for earning Blast Passes. There is

no more “Bumping up” of students. We have made the celebration something

special. We have more to do. We sell popcorn and soda that can only be

purchased with Blast Passes. The students that don’t attend the celebration go to

study hall where they must do school work.

A few items “sold” at the PBIS store

Popsicles are passed out to students

Administration’s Role

• Our administrators attend all PBIS meetings. At the meetings, “open and

honest” talk about school climate and data is supported and encouraged.

• Administrators privately “drill down” data (especially referral data) to particular

students in order to refer to interventions.

• Administration works together to address concerns raised by the PBIS team.

Support the use of incentives like Blast Passes and end of quarter incentive

events.

• Support staff by enforcing consistent discipline using the behavior matrix and a

developed discipline matrix.

• Constant self (and team) and program re-evaluation!

Referral Form Data

First Nine Weeks:2009 - 942010 - 752011 - 292013 - 12

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Second Nine Weeks:2009 - 942010 - 1292011 - 422013 - 10

Decreasing office referrals and Increasing instructional time

In 2009, 10 minutes per referral results in 940 minutes of missing instructional time.

Compared to:

2013 where 120 minutes of missing instructional time, which was a gain of 820 minutes of instructional time across the board

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During the summers of 2013 and 2014 the PBIS team met at a team members

house to share ideas and create a vision for the middle school. The objective for

these meetings was to ensure that all teachers had the opportunity to participate in

building a common vision and collaborative framework to help youth to be

successful at the school and community. The team also described positive roles for

students to facilitate skill development and gave feedback on the target behavior

expectations developed by the PBIS team and on ideas for rewarding worthwhile

behavior among students. The ideas from these summer sessions were

summarized and presented and discussed during a staff in-service at the onset of

the school year.

PBIS Summer Meetings

PBIS Summer Conference Area

Blast Passes• Students who consistently do the right thing will be recognized with

Blast Passes.

• Blast Passes were invented to reward students who have shown positive

behavior,

• These can be earned each quarter.

• Students can use their Blast Passes for drawings, entry to games and

activities, dance tickets, cafeteria items and more.

• Student names become part of a pool from which names are drawn for

special rewards.

The School-wide PBIS team reviewed discipline referral summaries to help

determine the areas in which student behavior could be improved. The

predominate discipline difficulties the team wanted to address were: verbal and

physical harassment of students, fighting, and class disruption. Student behavior

was most troublesome in the hallways during passing times between classes. Based

on these targeted behaviors, the team defined the student behaviors that they

would like to see increase at the school. These behavior expectations were further

refined into separate rules. A small set of topics under each rule were established

and lesson plans to teach students the behavioral expectations were developed for

each topic.

Defining and Teaching Behavioral Expectations

RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE READY

Restroom

• Flush the toilet.• Keep walls free of writing.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.• Keep hands, feet, and objects to self.

• Clean up after yourself.• Carry a hall pass when

using the restroom during class time.

• Use bathroom for intended purposes only.

• Report trouble to an adult.

• Exit quickly & quietly.

• Use bathroom between classes only when needed and when time allows.

Hallway

• Walk on the “right” side of the hallway.

• Use an indoor voice.• Keep hands, feet and objects to self.• Follow directions.• Maintain personal space.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.

• Put trash in trashcans.• Report trouble to an adult.• Have a hall pass if out of

assigned area.• Walk directly to next

assigned area.

• Get necessary materials from locker.

• Help someone if they need it.

• Keep your locker organized.

Gym

(Including Assemblies)

• Keep hands, feet, and objects to self.• Follow directions.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.

• Report trouble to an adult.• Take care of equipment

and return it as directed.• Secure all personal items.

• Arrive to the gym in a timely manner.

• Move to assigned spot quickly.

Bus

• Keep hands, feet, and objects to self and inside bus.

• Follow bus driver directions.• Remain quiet during directions.• Use an indoor voice.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.

• Stay in designated seat/space.

• Have a note from parent if change in transportation.

• Be on time.• Gather all materials

before boarding or exiting the bus.

RESPECTFUL RESPONSIBLE READY

Cafeteria

• Keep hands, feet, and objects to self.• Use an indoor voice.• Keep all food/drinks in cafeteria.• Say “Please” and “Thank you” to the

staff.• Chew with your mouth closed.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.• Follow directions.

• Keep your area clean.• Be a helper to those

who need it.• Obtain all items first

time through the line.

• Face forward and be ready to pay or give number.

• Line up calmly and quietly.

• Arrive to the café in a timely manner.

Arrival/ Dismissal

• Give cars and buses the right of way by using sidewalks and crosswalks.

• Avoid blocking the doors.• Use language that is not offensive to

others.• Keep hands, feet and objects to self.• Follow directions.

• Go directly to bus or car.• Remain off campus once

you have left.• Proceed to grade level

waiting area upon entering the building and wait for the bell to dismiss you.

• Enter/Exit through the designated doors in an orderly fashion.

• Arrive on time.• Arrive and exit

with all materials needed.

• Follow the dress code.

Classroom • Keep hands, feet, and objects to self.• Listen to person speaking.• Answer appropriately.• Be kind.• Follow directions.

• Complete and turn in assigned work.

• Keep classroom and area clean.

• Participate in class.

• Be on time to class.

• Have ALL materials ready.

Lesson Plan Example

For each rule and topic, the lessons outlined what students were expected to do,

how to teach the expected behavior, how to prevent the problem behaviors from

occurring, how to give both positive and corrective feedback to students, and how to

review the behavioral expectations with students regularly. The teaching strategies

incorporated into each lesson included an explanation of why the rule is important,

examples and non-examples of the expected behaviors, and practice for the students

via brainstorming, games, discussions, and role playing. To prevent problem behavior

each lesson outlined how to supervise students in the school settings and during

times which were most troublesome, as well as how and when to provide reminders

of the expected behaviors to students. These teaching strategies utilize effective

teaching practices based on instructional design for teaching concepts, as well as a

proactive approach for teaching social behavior.

Teaching Behavioral Expectations

Questions?

Thanks for Listening!• Feel free to contact us at Westwood if you’d like to

know more: Karen Wainright - wainrightk@k12tn.net Jonathan Graf - jgraf@k12tn.net Jim Dobson - jdobson@k12tn.net