December 2012 PBIS Front Page Newsletter

Upcoming Statewide Events                 

Winter Leadership Conference  

Mark your calendar for the annual Illinois PBIS Network Winter Leadership Conference to be held in O'Fallon, IL, on January 23-24, 2013. Highlights include:  Day 1 Plenary session featuring how schoolwide Bullying Prevention improves school climate; and Day 2 Plenary session features a panel sharing their experiences with the Tier 3 intervention of RENEW/Wraparound.  

Exemplars from across the state will present a range of experiences from all three tiers of PBIS implementation during breakout sessions. Conference strands include:  Classroom Management, High School, Sustainability, Skill Building, Coaching, Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and School/Family/Community Partnerships, as well as Administrators' Academies.  Registerby December 21, 2012 at www.cvent.com/d/tcq35h to receive the discounted rate of $150.00.

Bullying Prevention Team Training

There are new opportunities to attend Bullying Prevention (BP) Training in the South/Central region!  Team trainings for districts interested in embedding BP curriculum within their system of PBIS are being held in Chatham on December 18 and in Mt. Vernon on January 30.  Participating districts commit to sending an External Coach and one school team, including a family representative, in order to develop an exemplar model of implementation and scale up the curriculum to the remaining schools in the district. For more details and to request participation for the December 18th Chatham event, click here, and for the January 30th Mt. Vernon event, click here.

External Coaches Network Meetings

Participate in regional monthly/quarterly External Coaches Network Meetings for excellent technical assistance opportunities and to network with other districts.  A list of meeting dates and locations is available at: www.pbisillinois.org/Coaches/coaches-network-meetings-schedule.  For meeting materials from the External Coaches Network Meetings, please click here: www.pbisillinois.org/Coaches/coaches-network-meeting-materials.

Data Action Planning / SWIS Updates

December is a good time to look at your schoolwide data for both planning of celebrations and booster teaching.  Find an area in your data, such as reductions in ODRs for disrespect or reductions in ODRs in the cafeteria, and hold a schoolwide celebration before dismissing for winter break.  While all areas need re-teaching upon return from long breaks, it is also important to look at your data and determine areas in need of more intense booster re-teaching.

Evaluation Tools 

New BoQ access for Schools:  Starting Tuesday, November 6, a change was deployed in the PBIS Assessment which allows teams to enter the Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ)using their six-digit School ID number.  The goal is to make data entry more efficient and effective for school teams by allowing schools to enter the results and access the BoQ reports as they do other assessments on the PBIS Assessment website.  Contact your Technical Assistance Coordinator or visit the resource section of PBIS Assessment by clicking here and find the Quick Guide for the BoQ for more information.

The Tier 2/Tier 3 Tracking Tool assists schools in system development by identifying areas of strength and need in Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.   The Tracking Tool helps the team record how many students are receiving a higher level intervention and how many students are responding to that intervention.   The suggested response rate is to have 70% of students in the intervention responding.  Teams are encouraged to complete the Tracking Tool on a monthly basis during their secondary/tertiary system team conversations.   For more information and to download the Tier 2/Tier3 Tracking Tool, click here.

Secondary and Tertiary Coaching

A second round of Adobe Connect Tier 3 Technical Assistance (TA) calls will be occurring in second semester.  District and building leaders will have the opportunity to learn about the components needed to create strong, sustainable implementation at Tier 2/Tier 3, and to review new Tier 2/Tier 3 Readiness Tools. Adobe Connect Tier 3 TA calls are also available monthly and focus on FBA/BIP, Wraparound, and Wrap-based RENEW.  Check the website under Tier 3 support for a list of dates for all distal learning opportunities and to find the Readiness Tools to get your district started.

Monthly Challenge 

What is your team's goal? Each month, encourage team(s) to set monthly goals for short-term planning and long-term success. Sharing the goals with students and staff will create a common focus and put everyone on the path to beginning with the end in mind.

Classroom Management 

Class-wide Peer Tutoring is one of the five evidence-based practices for actively engaging students that was reviewed and discussed during the November External Coaches Network Meetings.

The meeting Power Point and materials can be accessed on the Illinois PBIS Network website at: 

www.pbisillinois.org/Coaches/coaches-network-meeting-materials.  

Administrator Tips 

Take an opportunity to get the good word out! Encourage your administrator to include PBIS on your website, in newsletters, and any other regular communication with parents and the community. Let everyone know about the positive ways you build climate and culture in your building.

Check back next month for more suggestions on how to engage your administrator(s) in your PBIS efforts.

SFCP Network Meetings 

Family/Community Team Member Network Meetings (N300s) have been held this fall in the O'Fallon, Harvard, and Schaumburg School Districts. Dates are currently being identified for these N300s in more sites throughout the state.  External Coaches are encouraged to contact Patti Bardell atpatti.bardell@pbisillinois.org to make arrangements to host one of these important networking opportunities.  To learn more about these events and how they work, External Coaches are welcome to join any scheduled meeting, and make sure to keep an eye out for the School Family Community Partnerships (SFCP) tab at www.pbisillinois.org.

In December, look on the new SFCP tab for information for families and schools about the benefits of partnering and how to include family/community members on PBIS teams, as well as resources and links to upcoming events.

School teams wishing to send family members to the 2013 Winter Leadership Conference in O'Fallon, IL, on January 23-24, will be offered waived registration fees for the first two family or community members who register.  Please contact Patti Bardell atpatti.bardell@pbisillinois.org for further details.