Schools look to improve discipline by going positive

The Baltimore Sun

Like most educators, Adrienne Taylor is looking for ways to improve test scores, attendance and discipline at her school. She thinks she has found a key in a program that stresses positive behavior.

Taylor, principal of Belle Grove Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, is among about 3,000 educators in the state who this month are learning new ways to improve their schools through the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.

Proponents say PBIS can have a measurable impact on a school. For example, suspension rates at some PBIS schools can drop anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent within two years of implementing the program, according to Milton F. McKenna, staff specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education.

To lower disciplinary problems, PBIS encourages positive role-modeling by adults and constant reminders of proper behavior through posters and other materials placed throughout the school.

"We look at behavior the same way we look at achievement," McKenna said. "If you want the kids to know it, show it."

Two weeks ago, educators new to PBIS - such as those from 180-student Belle Grove Elementary in Brooklyn Park - received training at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City. Last week, educators from schools where PBIS is already in place will undergo additional training at various sites throughout the state.

PBIS was started 20 years ago for special education students by professors at the University of Oregon and was expanded in 1999 to include all students. It encourages adults to give students positive feedback, and some schools offer prizes and other incentives to reward good behavior.

"We want to be proactive in discouraging negative behavior," said Taylor, who has been principal at Belle Grove for six years. "We think this is the way to go. This is research-based. We have several schools in the county that have experienced a lot of success. We wanted to check it out."

Maryland has been on board with PBIS since the program was expanded to mainstream classrooms, according to George Sugai, who helped craft PBIS at the University of Oregon. He is now a professor at the University of Connecticut and is co-director of the Center of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

"Forty-three percent of Maryland schools use PBIS," Sugai said. "I really think the progress that has been made has been phenomenal." Maryland is one of the top four states, of the 40 states the center tracks, in implementing PBIS, Sugai said.

Educators in Maryland receive the training in a partnership among the Maryland State Department of Education, Sheppard Pratt Health System, and the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.

PBIS has been embraced by many schools in Maryland because the costs are minimal and are covered by state money.

"Maryland is successful because of the state's willingness to show support," Sugai said. "You have state-level support, not just individual schools."

PBIS schools are required to track and document disciplinary problems, which makes it easier for educators to target students who need more individualized interventions.

Some students need to have proper behavior shown to them, according to McKenna.

"Kids are coming to our schools with behaviors that are successful in their home environment but not in schools," he said.

When students practice the good behavior modeled for them, they are rewarded.

Incentives for students don't have to be costly. "Having a positive interaction with kids is no cost," Sugai said. "It just takes time."

Virginia Dolan, the PBIS facilitator for Anne Arundel County public schools, suspects that a decrease in disciplinary problems resulting from implementation of PBIS has led to an increase in Maryland School Assessment scores.

"Clearly, it's linking improved behavior with improved learning," Dolan said. Fifty-five schools in Anne Arundel have used the program; staff from an additional eight schools received training last week.

Dolan calculated that PBIS schools in Anne Arundel County added the equivalent of 644 instructional days and 845 administrative days by reducing the number of students sent to the office.

"When kids are in class, they will learn," she said.

By the end of the two weeks of workshops, representatives of 600 schools will have received PBIS training, McKenna said.

During the training for those new to the program, educators listened to presentations by Sugai and others who have successfully implemented PBIS. Participants were required to draft plans to implement the program at their schools.

Teams of five to eight educators from each school attended the first week's training in Ellicott City. Each team included an administrator, McKenna said.

"It's important for the administrator of the school to implement this," he said. "They put the process in place and sustain it."

Taylor said she and her team were enthusiastic. She said that she would unveil the program to her staff during teacher orientation week before school starts.

"We'll go back with a proposed plan of action," she said. "The training has validated our belief in relationships; it validates what we feel contributed to success. This forces you to really pay attention to the good the students do."

john-john.williams@baltsun.com

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