PBIS - Positive Behavior Program

What is a Behavior Matrix?

A matrix is behavioral expectations positively stated and easy to remember. In other words, rather than telling students what not to do, the school will focus on the desired behaviors. For Central, we define those desired behaviors in the acronym SOUTH.

• Stay safe
• Obey rules
• Use kindness
• Take responsibility
• Have Respect

The matrix allows for consistency from class to class and adult to adult. The matrix explains what the behavioral expectations look like, sound like, and feel like in all the non-classroom areas.

In the 2020 school year, we have all had to shift in various ways. One of the ways we had to shift was to move some classes online through Zoom, Classkick, and various other forums. With that shift, the PBIS Core Team created a behavior matrix to assist teachers with consistent behavioral expectations within a virtual environment. Below you will find that matrix.

Lesson Plans

Why do we have lesson plans for this?

The goal of the PBIS lesson plans are to create a positive, predictable, and caring school community that fosters behavior and academic growth for every child, every day. PBIS lesson plans provide a model for consistency between and among classrooms. Every child will receive the same instruction and hear the same examples.

The lessons are based on the behavior matrix. Each behavioral expectation is further defined across the different school settings such as the hallways, bus, cafeteria, classroom, and playground. The lessons are specific to the designated area in school and are all consistently mapped out with a purpose, learning target, rationale, and examples.

Training videos will assist in the teaching of expectations of the lessons as well. The videos are designed to engage students through humor, clarity, and consistency. The PBIS core team would like to thank Mr. Mike Steppe, Mr. Jimmy Girardi, and all the students for producing the videos for us. They surpassed our expectations and will be used for years to come.

The goal of the lesson plans and videos is for students to understand what is expected and why. These plans will require that we change some of our current individual or grade level practices. Remember this program was designed for student success. Thus, the result is behavioral and academic achievement for all students.

Key Points Fidelity of execution and implementation is the key to making PBIS successful. 

• Use the lesson plans as written.
• Use the videos as a visual reference for you and for students.
• Check for understanding by every student.
• Return to the lesson plans and videos for all re-teaching.

Voice Zone Charts

Why do we have zone charts for student voice?

Remember, PBIS is a model for consistency between and among classrooms. Every child will receive the same instruction and hear the same examples. Voice Zone charts are one other way to ensure clarity and consistency.

The Voice Zone charts identify types of “child talk” in different places of the building. The charts clarify how loud and for what purpose children can speak.

Voice zone charts are displayed throughout the school. In the lesson plans, voice zone levels are referenced as a guideline for students and teachers to follow. Appropriate levels are also posted in specific locations as a reminder for students.

Key Points The Voice Zone charts provide clarity and consistency.

• The zones cover levels 0-4.
• Complete charts are provided for every classroom.
• Individual zone charts are displayed in each area of the building as appropriate.
• Reinforce students’ volume by referencing the zone chart

PUNCH CARDS

What is a Punch Card?

It is an INDIVIDUAL acknowledgement of the student’s positive behavior over a short period of time. When a student is handed a new punch card, the name, teacher and grade should be completed.

Key Points What earns a punch?

• A shout-out from outside the classroom.
• Whole class positive behavior acknowledgement.
• Cafeteria and Specials Acknowledgement Charts filled.

What happens with a completed punch card?

• Students take punch card to the office.
• Principal draws 10 names daily for the Principal’s Club.
• Students will take their completed punch card home to share with family and be proud.
• Students provided a new punch card.

Shout Outs

What is a Shout-Out?

A Shout-Out is a written acknowledgement of a job well done. Shout-Outs can be given out by any staff member in the building. Shout-Outs are a way to be acknowledged for good behavior throughout the building by someone other than their classroom teacher and transfers to a punch on their card when back to the classroom.

Key Points
How does the Shout-Out Work?

• All staff are provided with their own tablet of Shout-Outs.
• When students receive a Shout-Out, they will take it back to their classroom teacher to receive a punch on their card.
• Students may then take the Shout-Out home to share their achievement with family.
• Teachers are encouraged to pass them out to any student in the school they see demonstrating the expected behaviors.

SPECIALS/CAFETERIA

Overview

All specials classes and the cafeteria will be using an incentive chart to ensure that students are displaying SOUTH behavior in all areas of the school. Classrooms have the opportunity to earn a letter each day at specials and lunch. Once all letters are earned on any of the incentive charts, the students will receive a punch on their card.

How Does It Work?
For Specials & Cafeteria

• Students will have the opportunity to earn a letter as a class when attending specials and at lunch.
• Specials teachers and cafeteria monitors will complete an incentive chart daily.
• Once a class has earned all five letters on the SOUTH chart, a classroom Shout-out will be issued for that class and the class will all receive a punch on their card.
• Each class will continually work to earn all five letters throughout the year.

Principal’s SOUTH Club

What is the Principal’s SOUTH Club?

The Principal’s Club is a positive way for us to show our students how proud we are of how they make a positive influence at Central Elementary. The Principal’s Club is an acknowledgement system in which students are rewarded at the highest level in the school for following the SOUTH school- wide expectations.

How does the Principal’s Club Work?

• Once the student has all the spaces on the “SOUTH” ticket punched, the student takes the ticket to the office.
• The completed stub will be placed in the “SOUTH STRONG” Prize Box for a chance to win a prize. The ticket portion will be taken home to share with parents.
• Daily the principal will pick 10 names from the completed cards and, those students will receive a Mystery Reward and their names announced.
• At the end of the month, 5 names are drawn for students who have displayed positive behaviors. These students earn a bigger reward.

Trimester Incentives

• Each trimester a celebration of positive behavior is held to celebrate all students’ success in the positive behavior
• program.
• Students are rewarded with different events such as tie-dye events, kindness rocks, minute-to-win-it game days, and other fun schoolwide activities.
• Students who earn more punch cards will have opportunities to add extra to their incentives.
• At the end of the year, the PTO sponsors a schoolwide celebration with fun events outside.

Classroom Incentives

• Each classroom will have a method of measuring whole class success.
• They will be used to reinforce positive behaviors for the whole class, both in the classroom and while traveling throughout the building.
• Each teacher will use their preferred method of reward such as fluff, paperclips, marbles and/or other methods.
• When the class reaches the threshold for reward, they earn the Pink trophy and a chosen class reward.

Monthly Individual Incentives

• Some months, students with zero discipline referrals will be recognized with additional acknowledgement. (i.e. special snack, awards, extra recess)

Principal’s Positive Office Referral

• A positive office referral is written by the classroom teacher or another staff member, sent to the principal’s office and then taken by the principal to acknowledge the student in front of his or her peers for exceptional positive behavior.

Student of the Month

• Each month, classroom teachers nominate a student in the classroom who is doing an exceptional job of following the SOUTH expectations.
• These students are rewarded by having a short description of their outstanding behavior read over the announcements.
• These students also receive a small reward and a certificate from the principal.

How will consequences work?

Despite teaching, modeling, and reinforcing expected behaviors within the school setting, students will make mistakes and demonstrate poor choices. Great teaching is about guiding students to make better choices for their personal growth.

When inappropriate behaviors are displayed, students are redirected and reminded of appropriate behaviors. However, when students continue to display inappropriate behaviors, despite redirection, or when students demonstrate behaviors that put others at risk, consequences for those behaviors are available as a deterrent.

Consequences are progressive and predictable for students, staff, and families. As with incentives, the consequence system is as effective as its implementation. Program fidelity is essential. The following sections outline the components of the consequence system and how it is used to teach children to make better choices.

Key Points:

Office Discipline Referral:

Behaviors that do not respond to minimal refocus techniques are documented on an Office Referral Form. The referral forms must be complete and submitted to the main office the same day. The referring or supervising professional employee who completes the referral form must contact the parent by phone (voice conversation only) to discuss the incident and the referral. In order to promote transparency and openness between the school and families, voice messages and other forms of communication such as emails, are not acceptable.

Flow Chart:

The flow chart provides a pathway for decisions. Use the flow chart to answer basic procedural questions of who handles what types of incidents at what point.

Minor Consequence Bank:

Classroom teachers are responsible for managing minor behaviors within the scope of the school day. There are some optional follow-ups for minor behaviors.

Options for teachers:

Give a break, conference with student, re-teaching, modification of environment, note of apology, set up parent conference, additional student call home

Office Disciplinary Matrix:

The discipline matrix provides transparency to all parties. The matrix also establishes appropriate progressive interventions to extinguish undesirable behaviors.

Overview

The building principal completes a consequence report for each major infraction submitted. This form documents the consequence for major behaviors. A copy of each report is provided to the student’s classroom teacher and individual inputting data into SWIS.

Key Points

• Completed by building principal once an Office Referral Form for a major infraction is received.
• Consequences intensify within each category with each major infraction recorded.
• Re-teaching the expected behavior must be part of each level of consequences.

Major Consequence Communication Form

The Major Consequence Communication Form is used to communicate consequences for major behaviors to the students’ teachers. It is a bank used at the principal’s discretion to follow-up with major behaviors.

SWIS (School Wide Information System)

What is SWIS?

The SWIS Suite is a reliable, confidential, web-based information system to collect, summarize, and use student behavior data for decision-making. Research tells us educators can make more effective and efficient decisions when they have the right data, in the right form, at the right time. SWIS provides school personnel with the information they need to be successful decision makers.

Through SWIS, school staff enter office discipline referrals online. The data are summarized to provide information about individual students, groups of students, or the entire student body over any time period.

Key Points

The reports available within SWIS allow teams to:

Review school-wide referral patterns:

The five basic reports in SWIS frame the context within which problem behaviors occur at school helping teams to answer these questions:

• How often do referrals occur?
• What problem behaviors occur most frequently in our building?
• Where are problem behaviors most likely to occur?
• When are problem behaviors most likely to occur?
• Which students are involved in referrals?

Define behavior patterns in greater detail:

Eight other reports allow teams to dive into the data, getting more detailed information about specific questions related to the overall school-wide patterns. Using these reports, teams can look at disproportionality by ethnicity, detailed information about individual students’ referral patterns and year-end reports to guide action planning for the upcoming school year.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is PBIS?

• PBIS is a framework designed to assist school personnel in utilizing evidenced-based behavioral interventions to enhance academic and behavioral outcomes for all students.
• PBIS is NOT a packaged curriculum, scripted intervention, or manualized strategy.
• PBIS IS a prevention-oriented way for school personnel to (a) organize evidence-based practices, (b) improve their implementation of those practices, and (c) maximize academic and social behavior outcomes for ALL students.

Why is Central Elementary implementing the School wide Positive Interventions System?
Poor behavior in school can be costly in regards to:

• Lost teaching time
• Disrespect, discouragement, and frustration
• Low student and staff morale
• Lower academic outcomes
• Division and lack of communication between school and parents

The goals of a School wide Positive Behavior Inventions Systems is to:

• Increase instructional time
• Spend less time on setting limits
• Create a better school climate
• Create ownership of school-wide system
• Use data for decision making

What has research shown about behavioral outcomes?

• SWPBIS has primarily focused its effect on decreasing student referrals to the office, decreasing suspensions and expulsions, and improving school climate with emerging evidence suggesting positive effects on academics (Bradshaw, Mitchell, & Leaf, 2010; Eber, Lewandowski, Hyde, & Bohanon, 2008).
• Research in other states has documented that SWPBIS implementation decreases the use of exclusionary disciplinary practices such as out-of-school suspensions and expulsions (Bradshaw, Mitchell, & Leaf, 2010; Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005; Muscott, Mann, LeBron, 2008).

What has research shown about academic outcomes?

• Research also shows that schools fully implementing school-wide PBIS had significantly fewer students performing at Basic and Below Basic levels on PSSA Reading compared to schools that only partially implemented school-wide PBIS. Schools fully implementing school-wide PBIS had significantly more students performing at Proficient and Advanced levels on PSSA Math compared to schools that only partially implemented school-wide PBIS.

How does PBIS relate to school discipline and curriculum?

• Effective classroom management and proactive school discipline are essential for supporting teaching and student learning. PBIS goes further by emphasizing that classroom management and proactive school discipline must be integrated with effective academic instruction in a positive and safe school climate to maximize success for all students.

Will this program take away from my child’s instructional time?

• Teachers will invest time teaching expectations early in the school year to save instructional time spent on management of repeated misbehaviors throughout the year.
• Daily options for recognition of positive behaviors have been designed with the intent to minimize classroom disturbances.
• Monthly individual incentives could take some instructional time, but it will be minimal.
• Every trimester, Central Elementary will hold a trimester incentive event for all students who have consistently demonstrated appropriate behaviors as outlined by the PBIS Matrix. These events will occur during the school day, with minimal instruction being lost.

How can my child earn recognition?

• When students follow the expectations set forth within the PBIS program, they will receive punches in an incentive punch-card, and receive shout-outs as immediate recognition of the appropriate behavior. Completed incentive punch-cards will be submitted for school-wide drawings and the opportunity to be in the Principal’s SOUTH Club.
• Additionally, all students who consistently demonstrate appropriate behaviors, as outlined by the PBIS behavior matrix, earn a monthly incentive event.
• All students display positive behavior, so each trimester a celebration will be held to reinforce those positive behaviors.

If my child gets into trouble, is he/she losing anything?

• No. All incentives are extra reinforcers earned by a student for demonstrating appropriate behavior. Therefore, they cannot lose something they have not earned.
• Once students have earned a reinforcer, it is his or hers to keep. A subsequent infraction does not eliminate a student from the weekly drawing; however, disciplinary consequences may result. For example, a student may receive an ODR, but he/she will not have their ticket removed from the principal’s SOUTH club.

Can students earn privileges back?

• No, but there are multiple opportunities for recognition throughout the year on a daily (punch cards and shout outs), daily (principal SOUTH club drawing), monthly and trimester basis.

What are examples of logical consequences?

• Consequences of office-referred behaviors are based upon the consequences within the administrator conduct flow-chart.

How can I be involved?

• Parents have an opportunity to provide input and feedback, and work with the PBIS team as part of a parent advisory committee. At the beginning of each academic year, parents will be asked to volunteer to sit on the advisory committee. Parents can be part of helping with the monthly and/or trimester incentives.

How can my child provide input?

• Students have an opportunity to provide feedback via an end-of-year survey with intermediate students. Students will complete the surveys with their classroom teacher.