2. Session Goals
• Describe PBS in schools.
• Discuss why it’s critical to involve parents
and the Community in PBS systems.
• Outline effective methods for
communicating with parents and
community members about PBS and
effective childrearing.
– Encourage effective communication.
– Things to avoid when working with parents.
– Seven skills for school success.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
3. The Proper Mission and
Role of Today’s Schools
• Develop the social and academic skills of all
students—including at-risk students.
• Teach academic readiness and reading skills
that support academic engagement-
achievement.
• Teach social skills that support socially effective
behavior (self control, self regulation, social
reciprocity).
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
4. Academic Systems
Behavioral Systems
1-5% 1-5%
5-10% 5-10%
80-90% 80-90%
Intensive, Individual Interventions
•Individual Students
•Assessment-based
•High Intensity
Intensive, Individual Interventions
•Individual Students
•Assessment-based
•Intense, durable procedures
Selected Group Interventions
•Some students (at-risk)
•High efficiency
•Rapid response
Selected Group Interventions
•Some students (at-risk)
•High efficiency
•Rapid response
Universal Interventions
•All students
•Preventive, proactive
Universal Interventions
•All settings, all students
•Preventive, proactive
Designing School-Wide Systems for
Student Success
5. Programs That Reduce
Disruption and Delinquency
• Shared values regarding school mission and
purpose (admin, staff, families, students).
• Clear expectations for learning and behavior.
• Multiple activities designed to promote
pro-social behavior and connection to school
traditions.
• A caring social climate involving collegial
relationships among adults and students.
• Students have valued roles and
responsibilities in the school.
• Families are actively involved in the life of the
school.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
6. Positive Behavior Support is….
What parents, teachers, peers and others do to
increase student success---the whole village!
FAILURE
SUCCESS 4 : 1
7. What is School-wide
Positive Behavior Support?
• School-wide PBIS is:
• A systems approach for establishing the social culture
and behavioral supports needed for schools to be
effective learning environments for all students.
• Evidence-based features of SW-PBIS
• Team-based planning and implementation (Systems
that support effective practices).
• Focus on prevention.
• Market and teach positive behavior expectations.
• Provide consistent consequences for positive behavior.
• Provide consistent consequences for problem behavior.
• Collect and use data for decision-making.
• Match intensity of need with intensity of support.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
8. Targeted/
Intensive
(High-risk students)
Individual Interventions
(3-5%)
Selected
(At-risk Students)
Classroom & Small
Group Strategies
(10-20% of students)
Universal
(All Students)
School wide, Culturally Adapted
Systems of Support
(75-85% of students)
• Intensive academic support
• Intensive social skills teaching
• Individual behavior management plans
• Family collaboration and support
• Multi-agency collaboration (wrap-around) services
• Alternatives to suspension and expulsion
• Community and service learning
• Increased academic support and practice
• Intensive social skills teaching
• Self-management programs
• Parent collaboration and support
• School based adult mentors
• Alternatives to out-of-school suspension
• Community and service learning
• Effective Academic Support
• Teaching school behavior expectations
• Universal social skills teaching
• Active supervision and monitoring
• Positive reinforcement systems
• Firm, fair, and corrective discipline
• Effective classroom management
• Use of data for planning and decision making
Adapted from:
Sprague & Walker, 2005
9. AIM for PBS
Success
• Adopt.
• Implement.
• Maintain.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
10. PBS: Adoption Conditions
• School/program improvement priority
• Administrator is an active leader and
involved!
• Each school has “champions”:
– Training and coaching for the adults.
• Use of standard curriculum and
procedures (for kids and adults):
– Most adults help implement the program (go
with the goers).
– All students affected and involved (even the
tough ones).
• System for performance-based feedback
(are we meeting our outcomes?)
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
11. If you want to move people,
it has to be toward a vision
that’s positive for them, that taps
important values, that gets them
something they desire, and it has
to be presented in a compelling way
that they feel inspired to follow.
- Martin Luther King
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
13. Implementation Practices
• Train and support a representative team:
– Principal actively leads and facilitates.
• Set time to plan and continuously improve:
• Set school wide expectations.
• Set a plan to teach expected behavior.
• Set a plan to recognize expected behavior and actively
supervise.
• Provide firm but fair behavioral corrections.
• Use data (student and staff behavior) to make
decisions and give/seek feedback to/from
staff.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
15. School-Level PBS Teams
• Team meets monthly at school:
– Continuous assessment of school progress and
problems.
– Implement discipline systems.
• Team provides staff training/coaching across
the year and is continuously available.
• Team gives status report monthly to all staff:
– Office Referral patterns and updates.
– Successes and Concerns.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
19. Directly teach and review
expected behavior
School Rule Lesson Plan Example
The Topic/Rule: Use appropriate language in conversation
What do we expect the student to do?
1. Speak appropriately in all school settings.
2. Give up use of profanity.
3. Express anger or frustration with appropriate words.
How will we teach the expected behavior?
Tell why following the rule is important: Profanity is offensive to other people and spreads negative attitudes. Using
appropriate language is an important social skill for behaving in future employment and community settings.
List examples and non examples of the expected behaviors (two to three each): Ask students to identify examples and
not-examples of each part of the rule. Ask them to identify both and tell why is a good or bad example of expected behavior.
a. A positive example: When John's locker was stuck he said "I'm going to be late!" and walked to class.
Mary saw an excellent car in the parking lot at the local store. She said, "I saw this really cool car today!"
b. A Non example: John's locker won't open and class is about to start. He says" ******" and slams the locker with his fist.
Other people in the area feel uncomfortable and afraid.
Mary wanted to tell about a car she saw at the local store. She said, "I saw this ***** cool car at the
Safeway parking lot." Her friends were embarrassed.
Provide opportunities to practice and build fluency:
1. Brainstorm a list of alternative words or terms.
2. Engage students in a frustrating activity and prompt them to use appropriate language.
3. Discuss/identify positive things about our school or other students.
4. Generate a list of words that are not acceptable/acceptable.
21. When dealing with non-compliance:
• Stop and think.
• Restate the request (won’t do it or
can’t do it).
• Matter of factly deliver the penalty or
loss of privilege if that is your plan.
• Avoid…
– Arguing with the student.
– Holding a grudge.
– Trying to make the student feel bad or
guilty for previous poor choices.
22. If you are patient in one moment of anger, you
will avoid one hundred days of sorrow.
Chinese proverb
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
23. Systems of PBIS
• School-wide.
• Common area.
• Classroom.
• Individual Student.
• We also need Family and Community
Communication System!
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
24. Families Have a Central Role
• Schools and families must be partners
in supporting and socializing
students.
• Without parent collaboration, school
behavior gains may be limited to that
setting.
• Parent and community support can
significantly increase the
effectiveness of any school
intervention.Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
25. Families Have a Central Role
• May open the door for parenting
education:
– More effective parenting practices.
– More positive parent-child interactions.
– Improved student success and self-
esteem.
• Parents have been shown to be
natural helpers, especially when
included as partners.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
26. What is the #1 way To Raise
Student Achievement?
• Lengthen the School Day.
• Decrease Class Size.
• Increase Parent Involvement.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
27. Challenges to Family Involvement
• Parents and community members are
not clearly informed.
• Parents may have had negative
school experiences themselves.
• The first contact typically happens
when there is a problem with the
student.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
28. Mean Number of Adverse Events for Families of Boys
Labeled ED, LD, and SM
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Conflict
w/ son
Change
Job
Unpaid
bills
School
Prob.
Conflict
w/ others
Changed
adults in
home
Moved Legal
prob.
Lost Joh Divorce Illness Death in
family
ED SM LD
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
29. Challenges for families at-risk
• Insufficient resources to provide effective
and appropriate interventions for every
student who would benefit.
• Parents are not included in interventions as
often or as effectively as they need to be.
Research is clear that a family-centered
approach is most effective, yet most of
what is done is child-centered only.
• Insufficient coordination among those
involved in interventions.
• Multiple sources of funding, each with
different rules and priorities make it
difficult to provide coordinated and timely
interventions.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
30. Challenges for families at-risk
• School personnel are not sufficiently
knowledgeable about local mental
health resources and intervention
approaches to determine what
intervention or provider would be
best for a particular concern, child,
or family.
– School personnel rarely able to follow up
to ensure that help was received.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
31. Challenges for families at-risk
• Impediments to involving families in
intervention include:
– Lack of funding for substantial additional
work required to involve families.
• Parents have no insurance.
• Parents have private insurance, which does not
cover therapists doing school or home visits.
• OHP [unsure whether there are obstacles for OHP
funding.]
– Not all professionals agree on the
importance of family involvement.
– Some families avoid contacts with the
schools.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
32. Possible Solutions
• Establish a person at each school who:
– Can screen for need, provide parent support, and
coordinate interventions planning and implementation.
• However, this person would not simply intervene with
families when problems arose. They would have a
prevention focus.
• Establish funding for interventions for every
student who needs them by:
– Fully funding OHP and recruiting every eligible family.
– Requiring private insurers to pay for the service that
evidence indicates are most likely to be effective.
• Continue to develop positive peer cultures, such
that social rejection and harassment are replaced
by helping behaviors that support the success of
individually focused interventions.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
33. What Is the Goal?
Student Success!
– Every parent wants their child to be
successful at school.
– Every teacher wants each student to
be successful.
– Communities need successful
children and youth.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
34. Why do parents become involved?
• What the research suggests at this point:
– Psychological motivators encourage involvement :
• Parent has an active role construction (believes he or she should be
involved).
• Parent has a positive sense of efficacy for helping the child succeed in
school (believes his/her involvement will make a difference for the child).
– Parent perceives invitations to involvement from others:
• General school invitations (e.g., welcoming school climate) .
• Specific invitations from the child.
• Specific invitations from the teacher.
– Parent perceives that life context variables allow and enable
involvement:
• Parent believes he/she has knowledge and skills that will help the child
succeed in school .
• Parent believes that she/he has time and energy for involvement .
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
35. A Multilevel Model for Parenting Interventions
Within a PBS Framework
Size of population affected
Direct Support for Change
Family Intervention (Indicated)
Family Resource Center (Universal)
Family Check-Up (Selected)
School-wide Positive Behavior Support
with Parent Involvement & Peer Monitoring
Parent Appraisal and
Motivation for Change
36. What do Families Need from School?
• To hear from the teacher at the beginning
of the year (and regularly thereafter).
• To know specific expectations for the
student.
• To learn about problems before they get
out of hand.
• To have general information about what is
going on at school.
• To hear good things about their child!
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
37. Examples of Family Involvement
at the School wide Level
• Include a parent on the PBS team.
• Include parent volunteers in classroom
activities.
• Include parent volunteers in whole
school activities.
• School- or parent-sponsored support or
advisory groups.
• ?????
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
38. Positive Family
Communication Practices
• Letter of introduction
– Provide parents with copies of:
• School & classroom expectations.
• Routines and schedules.
• Individual student expectations.
• Invite parents to classroom/school.
• Classroom calendar or newsletter.
• Good news notes.
• Phone calls home.
• Home-school communication sheet.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
41. Home-School Notes:
How to Establish a Home-
School Daily Report Card
or Note System
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
42. Tier 1 Universal Interventions:
Communication
• Positive School-Home Notes with
Reinforcement.
• Evidence Based Practice Reference.
Blechman, E. A., Taylor, C. J., & Schrader, S. M.
(1981). Family problem-solving versus home
notes as early intervention with high-risk
children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 49, 919-926.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
43. Research Base
• Goal
– Promote 2nd to 6th grade children’s math
performance using home notes and a problem-
solving board game.
• Description
– Good News Notes are sent home for improvements
in math performance compared to baseline mean;
rewards are earned at home when the child receives
a note.
– The family problem-solving board game “Solutions,”
which consists of contingency contracts, the Good
News Note, and rewards earned by the child, is
played.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
44. Intervention Procedures
– Upon initiation of home-notes, teachers send
parents a personal letter regarding the
process and possible data collection of their
child’s results along with possible reward
ideas.
– Parents are instructed to deliver positive
consequences when their child receives a
“Good News Note.”
– If the student does not exceed his/her
baseline mean, no note is sent home and no
rewards are earned.
– Families are instructed on how to play
“Solutions.”
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
45. Results
– The interventions significantly improved consistency in math
performance (i.e., decrease class work scatter, or the standard
deviation of daily scores) as compared to the control group.
– Children in family problem-solving group maintained their
accuracy.
– Children in family problem-solving showed generalization to
non-reinforced probes, while those in the school-home note
only condition did not.
– Teachers’ opinion of children as “underachievers” did not
change despite involvement in the intervention.
– Students who were part of the two intervention groups did
not show improvement in their math performance during
timed tests.
– Overall, the results from family problem-solving intervention
(including home-note, contingency contracting, and
reinforcement) resulted in a broader effectiveness of students
maintaining their math accuracy, producing less variability in
their math scores, and exhibiting generalization of math
probes.
46. How to Establish a Home-
school note system
• Select the Behaviors and Skills for
Improvement.
• Determine How the Goals will be Defined.
• Decide on Behaviors and Criteria for the
System.
• Explain the note system to the Child.
• Establish a Home-Based Reward System.
• Monitor and Modify the Program
– Progress monitoring.
• Assess Fidelity and Consistency of the
Program.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
47. How to Establish a Home-School
Note System:
Select the Behaviors for Improvement
• Involve all school staff members who
work with the child in a discussion of the
child’s behavior.
• Determine the child’s greatest areas of
need.
• Define the goals toward which the child
should be working.
Used with permission of William F. Pelham, Jr, @ CTADD.
Available for downloading at no cost in expanded format at
http://summertreatmentprogram.com.
48. How to Establish a Home-School
Note System: Determine How the
Goals will be Defined
• Identify specific behaviors, called “target
behaviors” (TBs), that can be monitored and
changed to facilitate progress toward the goals.
• When establishing TBs, remember:
– TBs must be meaningful behaviors that will help
the child reach her/his goals.
– TBs must be very clearly defined in a way that
the child, teacher, & parents all understand.
– TBs must be able to be observed and counted by
the teacher and child.
– A good Note will contain between 3 and 8 TBs,
depending on the child’s age and ability.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
49. How to Establish a Home-School
Note: Decide on Behaviors and
Criteria for the Home School Note
• Estimate about how often a child is doing
the target behaviors.
• Only include behaviors that are significant
to the child’s improvement.
• Set a reasonable criterion for each target
behavior. A criterion is a target level the
child will have to meet in order to receive a
positive mark for that behavior.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
50. Sample Target Behaviors
• Academic Productivity:
•Completes X assignments within the specified time.
•Starts work X or fewer reminders.
• Behavior Outside the Classroom:
•Follows rules of the bus with X or fewer violations.
•Walks in line appropriately.
• Following Classroom Rules:
•Follows directions with X or fever repetitions.
•Raises hand to speak with X or fewer reminders.
• Homework:
•Brings completed homework to class.
•System is returned signed the next day by parent.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
51. Sample Target Behaviors
• Peer Relationships:
•Shares/helps peers when appropriate with X or fewer
reminders.
•Fewer than X fights with peers.
• Responsibility for Belongings:
•Has materials necessary for class/subject area.
•Brings System to teacher for feedback before leaving for next
class/activity.
• Teacher Relationships:
•Appropriately asks an adult for help when needed.
•Respects adults (talks back fewer than X times per period).
• Time Out Behavior:
•Serves time outs appropriately.
•Child serves time out w/o engaging in inappropriate behaviors.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
52. How to Establish a Home-School
Note System: Explain the system
to the Child
• Meet with the teacher, parents and
child.
• Explain all aspects of the system to the
child in a positive manner.
•Explain that the system will be used to help
him/her focus on important things during the day.
•Explain that he/she will be earning rewards for
behavior and performance at school.
•Explain the procedure that will be used with the
report card.
55. Sample Home-School Note
(Newark Public Schools & the Newark Teachers
Union (NTU), n.d.)
DAILY CHART FOR MONITORING CLASSROOM RULES
Date:
Student’s Name:
Teacher’s Name:
Classroom Rules AM PM
Do What Your Teacher Asks
Talk and Leave Seat only with Permission
Keep Your Hands And Feet To Yourself
Have All Necessary Supplies and Materials (Books, Pencils, Papers)
Complete and Hand In All Homework and Class Work
Key – Specify the maximum number of points that can be earned and how to earn them.*
*Teachers assign each student a designated number of points for compliance with each
rule in the AM and PM. For younger students, 1 point for each may be the most
appropriate. As students get older and understand concepts such as degree of compliance,
the teacher may want to establish a rubric, which reflects these ranges.
57. Self Management Checklist or School Home Note Sample
Student Name: _________________________ Date:
______________________
Behavior Goals:
1. Arrive on time
2. Complete work
3. Stop and Listen
Allow student to rate her behavior first. Then initial if you agree.
Arrive on
Time
Complete
work
Stop and
Listen
Teacher
Initial
Morning Check In Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Math Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Reading Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Social Studies Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Lunch Yes/No n/a Yes/No
Language arts Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Music Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Science Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Afternoon Check Out Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No
Total for Goal /9 /9 /9 /9
Reward:
Parent Signature and Date:
__________________________________________________
58. How to Establish a Home-School
System: Establish a Home-Based
Rewards System
• The rewards provide motivation for the
child to work towards a good System, and
they are thus a necessary component.
• Rewards must be selected by the child (in
consultation with the parents).
• Rewards should be arranged such that less
preferred rewards can be earned for fewer
positive marks, and more desired rewards
are earned for better performance.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
59. Sample Home Rewards
• Daily Rewards
• Snacks.
• Choosing radio station in car.
• Daily or Weekly Rewards
• Allowance.
• Going over to a friend’s house to play.
• Weekly Rewards
• Renting movie video.
• Going shopping/going to the mall.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
60. Sample School Rewards
• Children should be given a menu of
rewards from which to choose. The
following rewards can be added to the
home-based rewards system:
– Free time for X minutes.
– Eat lunch outside on a nice day.
– Be teacher’s helper.
– Grade papers.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
61. How to Establish a Home-School
Note System:
Monitor and Modify the Program
• Keep daily records of how often the
child is receiving “Yes” or more points
on each target.
• Gradually shape the child into
increasingly appropriate behavior by
making the criterion harder once the
child has begun to meet the criterion
regularly.
• Remember to combine the System with
appropriate social reinforcement.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
62. How to Establish a Home-School
Note System: Trouble-shooting
• If the system is not working to change the
child’s behavior, examine the program and
make changes where appropriate.
– Assess the fidelity/quality/consistency of the
program.
– Change the criterion.
– Change the number of behaviors.
– Change the behaviors you monitor (slice back and
make them smaller).
– Increase reinforcement.
– Consider mild “punishers” such as a loss of
privilege.
• But don’t put the child in “debt”!
63. Final Thought…
Engaging parents and/or caregivers in a
positive school/home relationship can be
extremely rewarding and very beneficial
for the student.
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
64. Family Resources
• National Network of Partnership Schools
– www.partnershipschools.org
• UO Child and Family Center
– http://cfc.uoregon.edu/
• The Family-school partnership lab
– http://www.vanderbilt.edu/Peabody/family-
school/index.html
• Triple P Parenting
– http://www.triplep.net/
• Incredible Years
– http://www.incredibleyears.com/Program/paren
t.asp
Communicating and Collaborating with
Families and the Community about PBS
Editor's Notes
This is a sampling of continuous practices that should occur through out the year. The school based discipline team is the cornerstone of the Best Behavior process. They must establish an on-going schedule of meetings and a plan for keeping staff involved and supported.
CASE LAW:
Pierce v Sisters of Holy Names, etc - US Supreme Court declared parental determination in upbringing and education belong among Constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, due process, and prohibition of slavery.
LEGISLATION:
PL 94-142 Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1974
PL 99-457 EAHCA Amendments of 1986
PL 105-17 IDEA
PL 93-380 Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act
CASE LAW:
Pierce v Sisters of Holy Names, etc - US Supreme Court declared parental determination in upbringing and education belong among Constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, due process, and prohibition of slavery.
LEGISLATION:
PL 94-142 Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1974
PL 99-457 EAHCA Amendments of 1986
PL 105-17 IDEA
PL 93-380 Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act
Used with permission of Mark C. Edwards, @ CEP. Available for downloading at no cost in expanded format at
http://www.parenting-ed.org.