Hold on one second.
I'm a little rusty of doing it in PowerPoint
instead of Google Slides so, there we go.
All right. Does that look okay, Cassandra?
Great.
So we are here this morning for PBIS in 60 minutes.
Now it's gonna have to be PBIS in 55 minutes.
And for those of you who are less familiar,
PBIS stands for positive behavioral
interventions and supports.
And we are hosting it in Vermont for Vermont PBIS.
And today, I have with me Anne Dubie
and Cassandra Townshend.
So if you have any questions,
feel free to type them into the chat box
and they'll make sure that I see them.
I'm Amy Wheeler-Sutton.
Cassandra and I are co-directors of the BEST project.
And prior to coming to the BEST project,
I was a school counselor.
And it was great to hear all of your roles in the chat box,
and hopefully this webinar meets your needs.
We're gonna learn a little bit more
about what your experience has been with PBIS
in the past in just a second.
So we are a really small group today.
So if you do wanna unmute and ask a question,
that's totally fine, or you can type into the chat box.
And like I said, we will be recording it,
and I'll have Anne or Cassandra
just copy and paste the link to the materials
into the chat box for you,
and we'll send that out in an email afterward as well.
So if you could take a second
to just type into the chat box,
what brings you to this webinar today?
An overview, excellent. That's what we're gonna do.
We're in the right place.
Okay, Bethany's brand new and hoping to learn more.
And Kirsten, trying to learn more. Awesome.
Definitely feel free to stop me at any time to ask questions
and happy to answer them or at the end.
Julia's a new PBIS coordinator, excellent.
And Rachel's not very familiar and wants to know more
about her schools are implementing, sounds great.
So after this training,
we're hoping that you will have learned quite a bit
about universal PBIS within a multi-tiered framework.
We are gonna briefly dip our toes
into looking at targeted and intensive,
but we're gonna really start with the foundations
and universal and then learn about any next steps
if you are from a school who is in Vermont
and is looking to implement PBIS and is not already,
which I don't think is anyone on this call.
So if you are from a school
who is not currently implementing, and you're from Vermont,
feel free to type that into the chat box
and I'll make sure to cover the steps to implementation.
So I'm gonna launch a quick poll.
I think I already have the answers to this poll.
But what is your current level of familiarity with PBIS?
Either I know a lot, I know a little, or I'm just learning.
Awesome.
It's nice when we get 100% people answering the poll.
So we have one person who knows a lot,
two that know a little, and two that are just learning.
Share that for a second. Okay.
And did that go away for everybody
or is it still on your screen?
[Anne] It's still there.
It's still there.
Hold on one second. I'll make it go away.
I just X'd it out, but that didn't work, I guess.
Maybe you can X it out? is that possible?
Oh, Anne, maybe it's 'cause you're a cohost or a host.
Maybe it will...
Can participants still see the poll too?
[Anne] I just see your question. What is your-
(indistinct)
There we go. All right.
So sometimes you will hear a universal PBIS
referred to as school-wide PBIS or SWPBIS.
And the reason for that is we are really taking
a school-wide approach.
So we're hoping to get away from a system in which,
you might, if you're a parent of a student,
you might feel like you just got lucky
and you got the nice second grade teacher,
and your student is feeling supported
to a system where the entire school
is taking a proactive approach
and a positive strengths-based approach.
One of the biggest misconceptions with PBIS
is that many people really are only familiar
with the practices.
So if you can see the image on the right hand side,
PBIS is about a lot more than just the practices.
So it really is a preventative,
culturally responsive framework
for installing evidence-based practices.
So we're really looking at what systems
do we need to put in place to be able to support
all of the adults in the building,
what data are we looking at to see what's working,
what needs tweaking both in our systems
and our student outcome data,
and really keeping equity at the center.
So I'll talk a little bit about how we're helping schools
who are already implementing,
think about how they can make their implementation
more culturally responsive.
Always in PBIS, we are coaching schools
to tailor the work to their unique context.
So we have Otter Valley High School
implementing their implementation.
If you walk in their building,
it's gonna look very different than Allen Brook School
that has K-2 students only.
JFK School in Winooski is gonna look very different
than a school in the south that only has 40 students.
So we are really hoping that schools don't just take this
and of-the-shelf implement.
You really have to design what your framework
is gonna look like for your particular school.
It provides a continuum of supports,
and we're really helping schools
to think about how this work is integrated
with everything else that they're doing
with the academic teaching that they're doing
with things like restorative practices,
mindfulness, trauma-informed practices,
really helping them see how this is not one more thing,
but allows you to have the framework
to install those best practices.
It's based on the principles of ABA,
applied behavioral analysis.
So basically, thinking about what is the function
behind behavior and how can we change the environment
to best meet the needs of the people in front of us.
And the goal of anything that's going on in a school,
including PBIS, is to improve academic
and behavioral outcomes.
And I just wanna draw your attention for one second.
On the bottom of this slide,
if you go to the materials link,
you'll have the whole slideshow with all the links.
The pbis.org website is the national PBIS website,
and has a wealth of resources
on all different kinds of topics.
The getting started page is kind of your basics
where you could get started.
And the reason that PBIS came about in the first place
was the realization that traditional approaches
to discipline are pretty ineffective.
So when we are reactive,
when responses are not constructive, not instructional,
really putting an emphasis on punishment,
when things are implemented poorly or without fidelity
or not consistently across the building,
we really are gonna see limited effects
and not get the behavior change results
that we are hoping for.
So moving away from this outdated model
of just telling students all of the things
that we don't want them to do within a school
to moving to a proactive approach
where we're really teaching students
what we are hoping to see.
And Rob Horner, who's one of the founders or creators
of PBIS many, many years ago,
has always said that the fundamental purpose of PBIS
is really to make schools more effective
and equitable learning environments.
So, especially in these times of COVID
where schools are really stretched,
there are staff shortages, we really wanna be thinking
about efficiency and effectiveness
so that we are not wasting our time
with ineffective practices
or things that are mismatched
between the level of support a student might need
and what we're providing for them,
and really thinking about how all students
can equitably access and benefit
from their learning environment.
Recently, PBIS has come up with some really strong resources
around how to implement in a culturally responsive way.
So really helping both staff and students
to think about their identity and how it impacts
how they show up at school every day,
how they interact with others,
really encouraging student and family caregiver voice
in everything that is done,
that's often one of the hardest things for schools
to really invite and use student
and family caregiver voice,
but we're really working hard
to help schools think about how they could do that,
providing a supportive environment for all,
and what that looks like for different populations,
thinking about the situational appropriateness,
and that some behaviors are adaptive
or actually pro-social in a home or community environment
that are not gonna be effective for a student at school,
and helping them think about the differences
between their home, their community, and their school,
and how those expectations may differ and why they need to,
and helping staff to think about
whether the expectations that are in place
are actually necessary for school safety
and for functioning, or if they are kind of always just,
those rules we've always had in place,
but don't really have a real strong reason behind them.
And then we've always emphasized use of data
as a strong piece of PBIS,
but really learning how we can use our data
to increase equity, thinking about disproportionality,
disaggregating our data,
so that we are looking at how different student groups
are impacted by our different practices
and whether there is disparity between them.
So when we're thinking about PBIS,
we spend a lot of time strengthening the universal level
because we know
that when our universal practices are strong,
more of our students will see success
and fewer of our students will need targeted
and intensive level supports.
So the hope is that when we have universal implementation
with fidelity, that 80% of our students
within a school building should be showing success.
And this means in all settings for all students
and those really strong, preventative, proactive approaches
that we're gonna discuss in the rest of the webinar.
However, we know that even
when those universal practices are in place,
we are still gonna see some students who struggle.
So at any given time in a school,
you may have 10 to 15% of your students
who could benefit from some targeted supports.
These are students who are at risk of challenging behaviors.
You're starting to see things kind of creeping up for them.
And the hope is that, for those of you,
your schools who have been trained at the targeted level,
that you have a menu of interventions at your fingertips
that you could put into place really quickly for students
that they don't have to wait on a referral list for months
to be able to get something put into place,
that you have some of these off the shelf interventions
that within 72 hours, a student could be accessing them.
And then we know that even
with those strong targeted supports,
there are still going to be one to 5% of your students
who might need some intensive level supports.
So those are really individualized to the student.
They involve a team approach so that everyone
who is part of that student's village
is part of the plan, and building the plan,
and checking back in frequently about how it's going,
and often, is based on functional behavioral assessments,
creating behavior support plans
so that they are really tailored to the student
versus any kind of behavior support plan
that's in place at the targeted level
is ideally more generic to see if they're successful
with just that level of support.
The challenges those intensive level supports are intense
and they require a lot of resources
and time on the part of school staff.
So the goal is to really get to this 80-15-5.
And during COVID, this triangle
might be kind of out of whack.
You might be feeling like 15% of your students
are needing intensive level supports,
30 to 40% of your students are needing targeted supports,
and schools just don't have the resources
to be able to provide that.
So what that means is those supports really need
to shift down to the universal level
so that all of your students are getting
a little bit more support around social emotional learning,
skill building so that they are not escalating
to need those more targeted or intensive level supports.
And obviously, that's easier said than done,
but I think the recent attention to SEL and mental health
is really benefiting schools to be thinking
about really all of our students could benefit
from some additional supports at that level, in those areas.
So when we're thinking about an individual student,
we really wanna get away from the language of saying,
"Dylan is an intensive student,"
or "Our targeted kids might not be able
to go to this assembly
'cause it's gonna be too overwhelming for them."
So we never wanna refer to a student or a group of students
by one of these tiers.
We want to tier or layer these supports.
So our supports are tiered, but our students are not.
And the reason for that, there's a few reasons,
but one of the reasons for that is students
have different skills and challenges in different areas.
So for a student like Dylan,
we may be thinking of them as an intensive student
because they are flipping over desks
or running out of the classroom,
or really having some big outward behaviors
because they're really struggling with emotional regulation.
However, if we were just to refer to Dylan
as an intensive student,
we're not really recognizing all of the strengths
and skills that he has.
So for instance, for reading and for peer interaction,
he really does not need any targeted
or intensive level supports.
He's doing just fine with the universal strategies
for those areas.
So we just wanna have you always keep this in mind
when you are talking about students
and thinking about students
and really steering away from that language
of targeted kids, intensive kids, red zone kids.
And if you hear others in your building using that,
thinking about almost a script you could have for yourself
of what you could say to disrupt that.
So like, hmm, should we really be referring
to them as targeted kids?
They're kids who get targeted level supports right now.
It doesn't mean that they're always
gonna access targeted supports.
So I'll pause for a second
just to see if there's any questions.
And welcome, Eliza.
Okay, so if you're typing,
feel free to keep typing a question and I'm gonna move on,
but we'll stop if anybody has any.
So in terms of the research behind PBIS,
when schools are implementing with fidelity,
they see an increase in things like academic performance,
on task behavior from students' satisfaction,
so how the parents, the caregivers,
the students and staff are feeling about their school,
and staff retention,
which in this day and age is really critical
where we are losing staff faster than ever.
So when they are in an environment
that's really focused on the positive
where systems are in place,
they feel supported when challenging behaviors
are occurring, that leads to staff retention.
I think another piece of it is also staff
feeling more confident and competent in what they do.
And when they are not feeling confident or competent,
having supports in place for them to access
to increase their skills and receive some coaching
or professional learning to help them boost their feelings
about how they're doing in their work
and their actual skills.
And then we also see a decrease in office referrals,
which in Vermont,
we call behavior observation and data forms
because we know it doesn't always involve the office
and it's not necessarily a referral, so we renamed that.
And also help staff to be thinking about,
the goal is not to write up a student
when a behavior occurs.
The goal is to write down the behavior
so that we are able to look for patterns,
be able to design interventions that are based on function,
and have better information at our fingertips.
So it's not about that the student was written up
or the student got sent to the office.
But what did we see, what did we observe
that's gonna help us learn more about the situation
both school-wide and on a student by student basis.
So it's a mouthful,
but we're using behavior observation and data forms.
And I actually have been really impressed
by how many schools have made the shift to that language,
despite it being a bit of a mouthful.
So I don't know what they're calling them
on a day to day basis.
The BOD forms, ODR kind of slipped off the tongue
a little easier,
but thank you for those of you who have made the shift.
And while I'm on that point about language shifts,
we have made several language shifts
over the past few years.
So if you are someone who's joining us
from a different state today,
this might not totally match up with how your states
are training or talking about PBIS.
But like I mentioned earlier,
PBIS is really context-specific.
So we kind of have the flexibility
to make those language changes.
There's no kind of PBIS police out there
that are saying certain things must be set a certain way.
So we also see a decrease in suspensions, detentions,
any of that exclusionary discipline,
and disruptive behavior in the classroom.
So just an example from Burke Town School in Vermont,
we ask schools to complete an application
to be acknowledged if they have completed
some of the assessments
that we ask them to do during a year.
And so we have this access to this really great information
about how schools are implementing.
So one example that I thought
was relevant to this conversation
around what change are we seeing when we implement PBIS,
Burke Town said, "When reviewing our SWIS data."
So for those of you who don't know,
SWIS is school-wide information system,
and it's where many of our schools
house their behavioral data.
We'll talk a little bit more about it in a few minutes.
She said, "We noticed that our second grade
had a high number of," see, they call them BOD reports
or ODR during specials, so art music, library, gym, PE.
"Having this data allowed the team to support the teacher
in planning some explicit instruction and practice
of behavioral expectations during specials classes,
as well as providing interventions,
such as plan breaks for particular students
before or after specials.
And these interventions helped reduce the number
of BOD reports for second graders during specials time."
So they were able to identify a red flag area,
put some interventions into place
both for the whole class and for some particular students,
and then look back at their data and see,
did those interventions make a difference?
Are we seeing progress toward our goals?
And then, oh, sorry, this is a typo.
Jeff is not the principal.
It happened to be that Peoples Academy Middle School,
their quote fit in this place both years.
So last year was the principal, Matt Young's quote,
this year, it's Jeff Boudreau,
who I believe is the climate specialist.
But he said, "We were reminded of the importance,"
and he's talking about during COVID.
"We were reminded of the importance
of establishing school-wide PBIS
and focusing on the positives.
We had really good staff retention
compared to other schools in the area.
And I think that had a lot to do with our PBIS focus
in times that were difficult."
So it just kind of illustrated
the research coming to life in Vermont
where a school who was implementing with fidelity
was able to retain their staff
in a way that maybe some other schools were not.
Just gonna do a time check for myself. Okay.
So the National PBIS Center, when COVID,
when we were headed back into the 2020 school year
in the fall, kinda recognized schools
were in a place of crisis and really needing
to narrow down and focus on what was most important.
And so they developed this amazing guide,
which I forgot to link here,
and it may be a little bit less relevant now
that it's two years out,
but I thought that this image was still really relevant.
So how can we hone in on these pieces
that are really critical?
So how can we connect both staff to staff,
staff to student, student to student, staff to family,
and strengthen our relationships first?
How can we screen for concerns that we may be missing?
So many schools who are implementing
PBIS use universal screening to identify students
who may need some additional levels of support,
then providing that support obviously,
teaching and reteaching,
not assuming that students know what is expected of them,
but really explicitly teaching it,
and then using our data to monitor.
So I just thought that that was helpful
in that schools are still really kind of in crisis.
How can we simplify things
to really get the outcomes that we're looking for?
Like I mentioned before,
we're really helping schools to think about
how everything fits together.
So things like SEL, trauma-informed approaches,
restorative practices, PBIS,
all really have these same end goals in mind
of building schools that are safe, respectful, productive,
having positive school climates, having strong relationships
among all of those people I just mentioned,
helping students really understand
what's expected of them when they're at school.
They should all be whole school preventative approaches.
And they both contribute to
and depend on an equitable learning environment.
So if we are in an inequitable learning environment
and trying to implement any one of these,
it's just gonna perpetuate those inequities.
So we really need to be, like I said,
keeping equity at the center of all that we do.
We often find that schools feel like, okay, well,
now we're gonna be implementing restorative practices.
This is this new and different thing that we have to learn.
And our approach is thinking about all of these things
within the PBIS framework.
So many of these are kinda those practices
that I'm talking about
that we are installing within the PBIS framework.
So we're thinking about what systems are needed,
what data are we gonna look at
to know that these are successful.
[Participant] Have a good day.
And...
Sorry, what are the practices looking like?
How are staff trained to know how to do them
and feel confident to be able to do them?
So we don't wanna think
about all of these things as separate,
but really think about them as building
that positive culture that we're looking for
and different approaches to that work.
So when we're talking about universal PBIS,
we're talking about a few things.
So the first is really clearly defining
three to five positively stated expectations or agreements.
This is one of those language changes or shifts
that we're hoping schools will think about making.
So rather than expectations,
which often can be interpreted
as these are our expectations for you as students,
rather than we have come together
as a community and decided, what are our values,
what do we want our school to look like and feel like,
and come to some agreements about those.
So it's a shift in language,
but it's also a shift in practices
and how you get to those agreements or expectations.
But the first piece is really defining what those look like.
So I'll give a few examples in a second.
The second is teaching and practicing
those pro-social behaviors that will allow students
to meet the expectations or agreements
that we are talking about,
acknowledging when students are able
to meet those expectations,
and exhibit those positive pro-social behaviors.
And many people kind of think,
"Oh, PBIS is just all about the positive.
It's just about giving kids trinkets
for doing what they're supposed to do,"
is often what people will say.
We, through our universal training,
are able to give people some skills
to be able to explain what PBIS actually is
and dispel some of those myths,
but it is not true that it is all about the positive,
because we know that challenging behaviors
and concerning behaviors are still gonna happen in schools.
So we give the team some time to think through,
how are we both going to prevent
those concerning behaviors from occurring,
but how are we gonna respond when they do
and how are we gonna respond in a way
that is instructional rather than punitive?
So just like when a student makes a multiplication error,
we're not punishing them for that,
we are teaching and reteaching,
and giving feedback about when they're doing it right,
and to be able to have a continuum of support,
so something that a teacher can do in the moment to help.
And like I said, a really complex
functional behavioral assessment
on the other end of that continuum.
And lastly, I mentioned a few times,
we're really hoping that schools
are making decisions based on data.
So rather than just maybe hearing the loudest voices
about what's going wrong or using that kind of gut feeling,
we're always checking that gut feeling with the data.
Does this match up?
What areas might we wanna hone in on
that we're really seeing some challenges school-wide?
I mentioned a few times the team.
So the first step is forming
a representative leadership team
that's gonna kind of hold this work,
including a school coordinator.
So someone mentioned earlier
that they are new school coordinator,
Julia, for their building.
And so the school coordinator
is the lead of this leadership team,
but the team should be really representative of the school
so that everyone feels like their voice is represented,
including students, including family and caregivers,
and all sorts of school staff from teachers,
special educators, paraprofessionals,
people like bus drivers and cafeteria workers,
because those areas are often
where we see many of the behaviors.
If you have someone who is a permanent recess monitor,
people like that can provide really good perspective
and bring things back to the rest
so the people who work in that environment.
And we also begin with the teams
by developing a strong purpose statement
for what is this team, what is our goal,
and how are we gonna work together?
So I just wanted to show you some examples
of these components.
The first one being
the school-wide expectations or agreements.
So you can see just some examples of these,
respect, responsibility, relationships,
responsibility, kindness, respect.
And then the one to the right that's a little bit hidden
is from a high school.
So you can see, they have taken the expectations
to a different level.
The language of them is a little bit more advanced.
You probably wouldn't see those expectations
in an elementary school.
And if you did, the kids probably
wouldn't understand what they meant.
So this is what we're talking about,
kind of altering them to your context.
And then you can see the one on the bottom.
They have listed the expectations both in English
and, I wanna say, maybe Portuguese?
I'm not sure what their other language is.
I don't think it's Spanish.
So thinking about who your population is
and how they're gonna best access these expectations,
agreements, posting them,
making sure they're really well taught.
So just like you would teach academics,
practicing in all of the locations
and acknowledging when students have met those expectations.
So this is a Vermont example, Dothan Brook says,
"We are safe, we are caring, we are responsible."
Proctor Elementary has respect self, respect others,
and respect the environment.
And like I said, at the beginning of the webinar,
we're really moving away from telling students
what we are hoping they don't do
and drawing their attention to what we're striving for.
One change that we've also made recently
is really encouraging schools to think
about shifting from be,
so be safe, be responsible, be respectful, to we are.
And that really helps, I think, the school community
think about we are all being held,
so these expectation's not just kind of a top down
students must be safe,
but we are all acting in a safe way in the school.
So another step that that teams go through
during universal training is to create a matrix.
So thinking about all of the different environments
within their building along the top,
and then along the left, filling in their expectations.
And then coming up with just a few short expectations
that are location-specific.
So you see, they have one column that's for all settings.
This is what we expect everyone to do in all settings.
And then what are the expectations
in these different environments
that are particular to that environment?
And then creating lesson plans for teachers
to use in each of these environments to teach,
and helping them think about it as a lesson plan,
rather than we're gonna go to this location
and go over all the rules and then leave.
So how can we teach in a really engaging way
in that location?
How can we have students role model and practice,
and then be giving feedback
specifically tied to those expectations or agreements?
So just like I mentioned about the multiplication example,
when students don't know or children don't know
how to do these various things like read,
or swim, or multiply, or drive, we teach them how to do it.
We don't get upset when they don't know how to do it.
But when it is tied to behavior,
we often don't jump to teaching, we jump to punishing.
And so just kind of helping staff question, why is that?
Why do we do that?
Why does it feel so personal when it's behavior,
rather than these other areas?
And how can we shift that mindset to be thinking,
"Nope, this is just a mistake, this is just an error,
and I'm gonna teach the student how to have the skills
to be able to do this better the next time?"
Like I mentioned earlier,
we're really thinking about tying our acknowledgements
back to those expectations or agreements
and letting them know,
"Yeah, that's what we meant when we said respect others.
I noticed that you were,"
it's always hard to keep speak of an example in the moment.
I should come up with them ahead of time.
But using that language of, I noticed,
telling them what it is that you noticed
and what expectation or agreement
that's helping the class to meet.
So this is an example where they checked off,
which of the agreements or expectations were met.
And then those went into a school-wide container.
And when the container was filled,
they earned a school-wide celebration.
One note about the school-wide celebrations
is that they never should be used to exclude a student.
So all students are working toward the goal
of helping their school community function better.
Different students have different levels
of ability to do that.
But by excluding a student
from something called a school-wide celebration,
makes them feel that they are not actually part
of the school community and may actually serve to increase
their challenging behaviors going forward.
So the reason and the research behind
why are we acknowledging students for positive behavior
is that we know behavior is learned,
we know it's facilitated by guided feedback,
and that positive feedback actually has a greater likelihood
of shaping their behavior than negative,
oh, sorry, that's a typo too, than negative feedback.
So we want to be shifting the adults' focus
to be looking for the positive
because we know that when positive feedback is given,
it is much more effective
than when we give negative feedback.
And I think one of the reasons behind that
is because it's really more specific.
So if we're only telling students what to stop doing,
they may not know what to start doing.
It's not always a clear opposite of what they were doing.
So allowing teachers to gain practice and skill
with giving that really positive, specific feedback.
And PBIS is really mostly about changing adult behavior.
So we're really looking to turn this ratio on its head.
So right now, if you were to go walk through your building,
you may notice that the negative adult student interactions
outweigh the positive,
but we're really looking for a ratio of somewhere between,
usually some research says four, some research says eight,
basically just more than what staff are currently giving
positive interactions between adults and students,
and really helping the adults to do that
because our attention is naturally drawn
to what's going wrong in an environment,
and so it really is retraining your brain
to look for that positive.
And that's one of the biggest reasons
behind having some kind of visual, tangible
to be giving to the students,
because it really helps the adults
to remember to give that positive.
And just like with kids, learning a new skill takes time.
So for the adults learning that new skill
of looking for the positive really takes some practice.
We wanna think about how we're linking
individual acknowledgements to the benefit of others.
So how is that behavior that the student just exhibited
that you are acknowledging them for?
How does that contribute
to building a stronger school community?
How does that contribute to goals
that your classroom is working toward?
We also wanna have some scripts available to help
when staff push back, saying that reinforcement
is ineffective or that it's detrimental
to student intrinsic motivation.
The research behind that,
where there are some research studies saying
that it is detrimental,
were really focused around behaviors
that a student already wanted to exhibit.
So it was actually the one that is most famous
was around coloring.
So they were giving students reinforcement
for continuing to color,
which is something that they already liked doing.
So we're thinking about, what's hard for kids,
for instance, raising their hand, instead of calling out.
It's much more reinforcing to just call out
and get your opinion out there rather than having to wait,
raise your hand, wait for the teacher to to call on you,
maybe not get called on, sometimes that happens.
So like that's not very reinforcing for kids naturally.
It's important in a school environment
for kids to raise their hand most of the time,
but we wanna think about those behaviors that are tricky,
that providing some tangible reinforcement
can help shift that behavior.
And like I mentioned, we really wanna think
about how we can make everything context-specific,
including reinforcers.
So trying to give soft pompoms to high schoolers
is gonna fail.
So what is reinforcing to high schoolers?
How can you make that praise a little less public?
Because praise from an adult
is probably not very reinforcing
to a middle schooler or a high schooler.
So how can you adapt your practices to make sense
for the people that are in front of you?
And then, like I mentioned,
we're not just thinking about the proactive,
we're also thinking about what happens when things go wrong.
So while we are putting those consistent practices
into place at the universal level
to prevent concerns from occurring,
when they do occur, we want staff to know what to do.
So we create a flow chart that allows staff to think about,
is this a minor or a major behavior?
How should I respond in a way
that's not gonna escalate this behavior?
If it's a safety concern, what are the procedures?
How do I get help from outside of the classroom?
So really making that clear for staff in the building,
rather than leaving it up to chance.
Giving them some skills to be able
to respond instructionally to behavior concerns
that they are seeing.
And again, having that continuum of supports
so that they have that in the moment,
but then they're also able to access supports
for that student outside of that time.
I mentioned SWIS earlier.
So this is what the dashboard of SWIS looks like.
Some schools have other softwares
that allow them to get this information,
which is totally fine.
We don't sell SWIS,
we don't make any money from schools using SWIS,
but it is a really user-friendly and simple way
to look at your behavioral data
and allows you the opportunity to drill down.
So you can see this broad overview of,
this is from September to June,
what their average referrals per day per month were,
what time of day did they happen,
their location, day of the week.
But then it also allows you to look for some red flags
and get some more information.
So for instance, in the grade level,
you might notice that the eighth graders
have almost double the number of referrals
that year than the other grade levels.
So you could use the drill down tool
to be able to look at what's going on in eighth grade.
What are the days of week, time, location,
problem behavior for eighth graders in particular?
So that's one of the really big benefits of SWIS.
So schools are using their SWIS data
to be able to design like a mini action plan
to address a particular concern.
So after they've gotten that precise problem statement,
sorry, I didn't know that was gonna come up on its own,
I have to talk faster.
So once they've gotten a precise problem statement,
for instance, the eighth graders
are using inappropriate language in the hallway at 8:00 AM
in order to gain peer attention.
So they have that particular goal
that they're looking to move the needle on,
and then using this process to be able
to see what are we gonna do to prevent,
what are we gonna do to teach, to acknowledge?
How are we gonna know that this plan is working or not?
Who's responsible for doing what?
So rather than just walking away from a meeting and saying,
"Yeah, the hallway's been a disaster.
We should make sure more adults are in the hallway."
That may or may not work.
But if it's kind of this multi-pronged approach,
the chances that you're gonna see success and growth
in that area are greater.
So this example came from Allen Brook,
which I mentioned was K-2 school.
And they were noticing that they had many referrals per day.
Oh, I don't know why it's going on its own all of a sudden.
Many referrals per day at recess,
and that students were missing out
because they were having to take a break.
And so they actually specifically chose behavior team staff
to be out at recess.
So not only did that provide an extra adult,
it provided somebody who was able to intervene
and remedy situations in a more quick
and effective manner than maybe the staff
who were out at recess traditionally.
And so students were able to move on, go back to recess,
play, and manage the behaviors in the moment.
So they really felt like that was a positive
for helping recess feel more successful.
So when schools are implementing PBIS
at the universal level,
if someone were to walk into the building,
80% of your students should be able to tell you
what the expectations or agreements are,
and that they've been acknowledged for following them.
Staff should be able to tell you
those expectations or agreements,
and that they've been acknowledged,
or sorry, that they have provided acknowledgement
for students following them,
and that they have explicitly taught
those expectations to students.
So not just a response of,
"Oh yeah, we remind them all the time."
How are you actually teaching
those expectations or agreements?
And that those positive adult-to-student interactions
exceed the negative?
So more toward that four to one, five to one,
six to one ratio, rather than the reverse.
Like I said, schools who are implementing
have developed a flow chart for staff
to know what to do when, and to understand which behaviors
might involve a student needing to leave the room,
and what behaviors are expected that a teacher
or staff member should be able to handle
in their environment.
Again, having a representative leadership team,
having the administrator be a part of that team
is really crucial,
thinking about behavior in a function-based way
that were not gonna just throw solutions at behaviors
that we're seeing,
but we're gonna think about the why behind them,
and then really using that team to look at data
and create action plans.
So I said, I was gonna very briefly
go over targeted and intensive.
Those targeted interventions are for students
who need some additional support.
A trigger for when you might know that a student
needs additional support is when they have received two
or more behavior observation data forms
or when any number of people suggest them or request them
from the student to the family, to a teacher.
We wanna be able to put those interventions
into place as soon as possible.
We're gonna match the intervention to the function.
So for instance, if a student is really seeking out
additional connection with adults,
we wanna think about what interventions
might be helpful for that.
So something like check and checkout,
where a student is checking in with a preferred adult
in the morning, getting more frequent rates
of feedback throughout the day,
checking out with preferred adult in the afternoon
would be a really helpful intervention
for someone who's looking for more connection with adults,
same thing with mentoring, things like that,
versus a student who's maybe avoiding tasks
or avoiding adult attention.
We're gonna come up with a different intervention
for that student.
Check-in/check-out is the most common intervention
and is the one that we primarily train schools in.
And we wanna think about how those interventions
are occurring not in place of your universal supports,
but on top of and in conjunction with.
And then intensive level supports are available
for students who are really struggling,
who have really complex and ongoing behaviors,
thinking about why is the behavior occurring,
what's its function,
creating a function-based behavior plan,
and thinking really carefully
about how we're gonna prevent the behavior
from occurring in the first place,
what replacement behaviors need to be taught,
and how are the adults gonna respond differently
to reduce the intensity of those behaviors?
And then, like I mentioned,
really frequently checking in on the progress
and adapting the plan based on how things are going.
So we currently have 168 schools in Vermont
who are implementing in 48 supervisory unions or districts.
All of the mergers are messing with our numbers
so we're gonna have to see what the numbers look like
when we do our annual report in a few days.
The numbers may actually go down,
but it's not that fewer schools are implementing,
it's that they have merged, so we'll figure that part out.
And just wanted to draw your attention to our website,
which is pbisvermont.org.
And nobody chimed in that they are in a school
who's not yet implementing in Vermont
and looking to get started,
so I'm not going to spend any time on that.
But if you were, and even if you're not,
for those of you who are implementing,
we have the Vermont PBIS oh, sorry,
that should say annual forum
on October 3rd, this year at Killington.
And maybe Anne or Cassandra could put the link
to all the information about the forum in the chat,
but have a lot of great sessions available on that day.
We also have an "Intro to PBIS Microlearning,"
which is similar content to what I just provided,
but done in a really cute, interactive way
with some great visuals and might say things
just slightly different than I did,
which might resonate for you.
So there's a link to that "Intro to PBIS Microlearning"
in the PowerPoint, and that's a really great thing
to send people who are new.
So if you get new staff midyear
and they're wondering what PBIS is,
that's a great thing to provide.
You will still have to provide information
about what does PBIS look like at your school in particular,
but that's a great overview of PBIS in general.
The two websites, which I've already mentioned.
And then every school that's implementing
has a state TA person.
So I am the state TA for,
it used to be the Champlain region,
now it's a little bit messier
than just the Champlain region.
But we are available to provide supports.
And if you were a school that is not implementing yet,
the first step is to contact your TA person,
and they will guide you through these next steps,
which I'm not gonna go through,
'cause they're not relevant to the people on the call.
But those are the readiness activities
for schools who are not yet implementing.
And I just briefly started talking about the system
of support that we have in place in Vermont.
So at the state level, we have TAs,
technical assistance providers, trainers, coaches,
so schools can access coaching,
which is often paid for by the BEST/Act 230 grant,
which your district grants person should know about.
We recommend, strongly encourage and recommend
that districts have an SU or SD level PBIS coordinator.
And in the districts where that is in place,
they see a lot of success with their school coordinators
being able to come together and learn from one another,
and at the school level, having the school coordinators.
So we provide support down and then get feedback up.
So we're really always learning from the schools
and SUs about what's working, what's not working,
what the needs are, so that we can provide
really relevant professional learning and coaching.
And we have leadership teams at all levels.
So there's a state level leadership team for PBIS.
You should have an SU or SD level team
and then school level team.
These are our TAs, and I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail
about what we can provide.
But if you go on our website or go back to this PowerPoint,
you can see the supports we can provide
around systems, data, and practices.
And like I mentioned, if you're looking for someone
to provide some ongoing support, that would be a coach
and your state TA can connect you with a coach.
We have a Facebook page and a Twitter page,
so please follow those.
A lot of schools will post what they're doing around PBIS
and share ideas or ask questions.
And if you do tweet and you wanna tag us in those posts,
either with a hashtag or with the @VermontPBIS,
that allows us to see what's going on.
So I'm gonna stop sharing my screen
and let's see how many minutes we have.
We have one minute, PBIS in 54 minutes. (laughs)
Happy to answer any questions that anyone might have.
All right, well, feel free to stay on
if you do have questions
if you wanna unmute and ask them
or type them into the chat box.
If you've gotten everything you need,
you can feel free to sign off.
You'll get an email from Anne following this webinar
with a link to an evaluation survey to fill out
to let us know how this went for you
and to download a certificate of attendance.
And thanks so much for being here.