Troy CCSD 30-C became a member of the growing number of schools using PBIS during the 2002-3003 school year.  PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.  PBIS is a proactive systems approach to preventing and responding to classroom and school discipline problems.  Emphasis is directed toward developing and maintaining safe learning environments where teachers can teach and students can learn.  The purpose of the PBIS approach is to provide schools with the capacity for systematic planning and problem solving when preventing and responding to problem behavior.

Parents and schools alike agree that by reducing time students spend with behavioral disruptions and increasing academic time, student achievement improves.  With the PBIS approach,  schools, through building teams, help create a culture of competence which enables students to actively participate in controlling the climate.  "When all kids know the rules, kids can use the rules with each other, because kids know other kids know the rules."

At Troy CCSD 30-C, the PBIS program has multiple levels of participation.  The District Leadership Team supplies district support for building programs through long term goals, fundraising, analydid of district data, and communication.

The district also has a District Core Team which meets quarterly.  Representatives on this team include district PBIS trainers, counselors, psychologists, social workers,  administrators, representatives from transportation and staff from each individual school.   During Core meetings, members discuss concerns or successes   they are experiencing in individual buildings or on the bus.  Suggestions by other members are shared and taken back to Building PBIS Teams.  The District Core Team also developed the district rules and gave input into the various matrixes used in each building for  hallways, dining room, bathroom, playground and buses.

Building Teams are composed of representatives from each grade level, teacher associates, parents, and administrators.  The Building PBIS Team meets monthly, completes schoolwide surveys with staff and looks at data to analyze the effectiveness of the program, creates visuals to advertise school expectations, develops behavioral matrixes, creates "cool tools" or lessons for staff to use with students, analyzes data collected during the month from the school's data management system, develops and maintains a building-level reinforcement system,  informs parents and community members about PBIS activities, assists the administration in developing a continuum for managing inappropriate behaviors and are cheerleaders for the PBIS process in the school and district.

The staff implement the plans developed by the District and Building Teams.  They actively write with the students classroom rules based on the district expectations of being respectful, responsible and peaceful.  They, further,  teach the "cool tools" to the children, monitor student behavior and acknowledge and reward appropriate behaviors with "gotchas." Download and take a look at a sample " gotcha ".

Each Building PBIS Team designs matrixes, or expectations, for appropriate behavior which are expected of all children within the classroom as well as in non-classroom situations, i.e. hallways, bathrooms, dining room, playground.  These expectations are taught to the children through "Cool Tools" which are explained by the classroom teacher.  The matrixes are to help address problem areas seen in each building.

Cool Tools are lessons that have been designed to teach children appropriate behaviors.  Schools have cool tools for expected behaviors in the classroom, dining room, hallways, bathrooms, playground, the bus, and other non-instructional areas. Click the link to download a copy of a sample lesson.

To monitor the effectiveness of our program, each school inputs into a data system called SWIS infromation regarding negative behaviors which occur throughout the school day.  This data is analyzed monthly by each Building Team.  From the analysis of the data, the Building Team makes suggetions, revises, or adjusts its own program.  If for example, a trend is seen where more students are being sent to the office for incidents occuring on the play ground, a Building Team might suggest that each teacher re-teach the Cool Tool for appropriate playground behavior.  The team might also look to see if certain behaviors are limited to a particular grade level.  If so, the Building Team might suggest that the grade level teachers hold a grade level meeting with the students and discuss concerns and work together for solutions.

Family Support

The link between families and positive behavioral interventions and supports is an important one. When families are meaningfully involved in educational activities their children do better in schools. Families play an important part in their child's education and social development. The presence of parents in schools not only provides additional academic supports but also creates community and cultural connections.  Family members are part of state, district, and school planning teams and participate in schoolwide activities in a variety of ways. Family members participate in the assessment and problem solving process to create individualized positive behavior support plans for their children.

Historically, family involvement has been seen as a key feature when developing individual positive behavior support plans for students with comprehensive needs. As the practice of Positive Behavior Support has evolved from an individually-based approach to a more schoolwide emphasis, family involvement has expanded.  Family members participate in planning teams, learn how to teach their children the importance of school-wide expectations at home and in the community.