According to this Star Tribune article, ISD196′s Red Pine Elementary school has joined the ranks of other Minnesota schools hoping to curtail the number of negative interactions requiring a visit with administration by setting clear expectations and rewarding students who meet them. An apparently novel concept in education which has been used just about everywhere else is being hailed as the second coming.
From the article:
Once a month, Red Pine Elementary School principal Gary Anger dons a tuxedo and breaks out fine china to eat lunch with the best-mannered class in the school.
The reward is the school’s way of emphasizing students’ good behavior and creating a positive school culture. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the number of kids sent to his office for breaking the rules.
[...]
Anger said that since PBIS was introduced at Red Pine, referrals to his office for negative behaviors have been cut in half.
[...]
The program provides students and staff with clear, consistent behavioral expectations and models them in different areas of the school, said Julie Olson, the district’s director of elementary education. Teachers and staff are encouraged to recognize kids’ good behavior with an incentive, like tickets.
This is exactly how things work in the adult world, especially in the workplace. Managers provide their staff with clear expectations and, in states other than Minnesota where no one wants to be confrontational, provides them with recurring feedback on an on-going basis about their work. While this feedback is rarely related to behavior, it translates into excellent work output and the likelihood of raises or other benefits for the employee. The fact that this is considered a novel idea in education is likely seen as a “duh” moment for everyone outside of education.
What do you think about this one? Are you surprised that education considers this a new idea? Do you believe this should have been implemented decades ago? Are you an educator? Is this something going on in your school? Is it as successful as the article makes it seem? Whatever you have to say about this go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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February 25th, 2013 at 8:59 am
While certainly not new, I’m glad they’re implementing it. Sounds like a win-win situation. Everyone does better with praise. Kudos to him!
February 25th, 2013 at 9:39 am
It says something that when I read this article, my first reaction was, “I wonder what Bill’s take will be on Lazy Lightning.”
In all seriousness, you are correct, it seems like this is a “duh” moment in education. In our district, many of our elementary schools had done some sort of PBIS before. Soon, our middle schools and high schools saw a need for these types of interventions and supports with in the school day and now our district is moving forward with the initiative that all of our buildings will be true “SW-PBIS” (School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports”.
The great gain I see, as someone who deals daily with school issues and discipline, is that it provides common language and expectations for behavior across all areas of our schools. The language is common amongst buildings and staff. This, to me is the crucial component. Students are getting the same message and the same expectations from their bus driver, to the building secretary, to the nurse, to their classroom teachers.
With expectations of behavior, there is also a component of discipline that is important to. Staff now works with common techniques when it comes to discipline, re-teaching of expectations (at my elementary school, this is a big one), and reporting to parents. I know from first hand experience, that this commonality has allowed for students, staff and parents to have similar experiences in all of our districts buildings.
For those looking for more information:
http://www.pbis.org/
http://www.pbismn.org/
February 25th, 2013 at 11:43 am
I probably should have provided my own districts info:
http://www.district112.org/news_story342.html
February 25th, 2013 at 1:37 pm
I also am an educator and we do PBIS here, too.
This is something that’s become popular within the last decade I would say in schools. The reason it’s a duh and seems so hard to grasp why it’s new now is to look at educational reform in general.
Change comes in two ways– way too fast and way too slow. While schools are very quick to jump in and implement new things, they are also very slow to really change the mindset in how they really do things. Teachers and administrators have a tough time getting out of the mindset that punishing bad behavior is the way to go. Rather, when we think about it, rewarding good behavior should be just as paramount. Then, when the reward comes, only kids who have met expectations can participate and the idea is that the kids who don’t will improve to meet them for the next reward day. That is the idea we’re struggling with here because we’re working with 7-12 graders and it’s hard to come up with worthwhile rewards for them.
As Ryan said, expectations are key. The clearer they are the better they work.
February 25th, 2013 at 3:32 pm
Long ago and far away, in a junior high school that has been since demolished, there was an “honors” lunchroom. It had…gasp…black lights, and was SO COOL. I don’t remember what the requirements were to gain access for a week, but it was highly coveted by all of the students.
February 25th, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Oh, and if you were female you had to be careful! It was not a good idea to wear a tight/thin top and a white bra during your stint in the black light lunchroom. Probably the main reason the guys worked to earn access….ha.
February 25th, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Sandy,
It is probably why the Honors Lunchroom monitors were all male.
lefty
February 26th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Some kids are motivated by avoiding negative consequences and some are motivated by gaining positive consequences. Teachers that don’t get this need to be replaced. To teach – includes to inspire. If you’re the teacher that 90% of your students hate and avoid your class – the problem is you – not the students. Tenure has to go before teachers get the respect they deserve. There are some great – amazing – teachers out there. I cannot believe they don’t support this. The bad ones just make their lives worse. Kids know who is good and who isn’t – and it isn’t always the most strict or toughest grader whom they don’t like. It’s the teacher that they know is lazy and not vested in them.
February 28th, 2013 at 7:17 pm
As a school bus driver we just had our first PBIS meeting from the school district, wow I feel so enlightened. I am looking forward to my new expectations as a greeter by smiling and geeting each student as the enter my bus with a polite and respectfull handshake and expressing a thank you as each one departs my bus. As a greeter I think I ll purchase white gloves and a top hat. Next time I have writing with magic marker on the seat I will be sure to thank that student for his or her contribution to the arts. I just don’t know how our society ever functioned before PBIS.
March 1st, 2013 at 9:00 am
Tom – as a mom of kids who ride the bus, all I can say is thanks for what you do. I was a bus monitor for many years and I can relate to what you go through on a daily basis.
I appreciate all the drivers we’ve had over the years who have gotten my kids to school and back safely, so thanks for getting your students to where they need to go, markers, gum, snot and all.
p.s. Peter, if you’re reading this, I’m still pissed at you for trying to light my hair on fire with Aqua-net and a lighter in 8th grade. My bus driver did nothing to stop it.
March 4th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Ks- I appreciate your kind words all the drivers I know take safety of the kids as priority 1. The comment was intended to point out the fact that we are not educators we are drivers and I think our time should be spent making sure the kids are seated safely on the bus and nothing else
Thanks again and I would have written up the kids who touched your hair