May 2013 PBIS Front Page Newsletter

Upcoming Statewide Events 

External Coaches Forum

On June 4-5, 2013, External Coaches (ECs) will once again come together at Northern Illinois University in Naperville, Illinois. ECs are positioned to support PBIS implementation as well as collaborative efforts for school improvement.  Forums are an opportunity to meet and network with other PBIS ECs to share strategies and best practices at all three tiers.  Day 1 of the Forum will focus on coaching for capacity building including sessions on coaching classroom management, coaching in differentiated settings, and more. Day 2 will provide hands-on experience using Educational Environment (EE) data and a model for Tier 3 technical assistance and coaching. Click here to register.

Summer Leadership Conference

Registration is now open!  The 2013 Summer Leadership Conference will be held July 31- August 1, 2013, at a new location, the Tinley Park Convention Center in Tinley Park, Illinois.  PBIS leaders and implementers will share information on a wide range of topics including classroom management, bullying prevention, braiding integrated initiatives, and many more. Keynote presenters will include Dorothy Espelage of the University of Illinois on bullying prevention and a student-led RENEW Tier 3 Intervention Panel.  Click here to register.

National Leadership Forum

The two-day 2013 National PBIS Forum will be held on October 10-11, 2013 at a new venue - the 2nd level of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center inRosemont, Illinois. This forum is organized for state, district, or regional leadership teams adopting and implementing school-wide PBIS.  Participants may include leadership team members, implementing coaches and coordinators, district- and school-based behavior specialists (e.g., school counselors, school psychologists, special educators, coaches), school-wide PBIS trainers, program evaluators, school and district administrators, or district and state policy makers and leaders. Participants should register as a team. This forum is not recommended for school/building-level implementers unless they are part of a district leadership team.

Sessions have been developed for all levels of implementation and have been organized into 10 specialized strands. Click here for more information.

Data-based Decision Making 

SWIS users can take advantage of a helpful report by clicking on the SWIS Year End Report. Results quickly illustrate minor and major level behavior data across the entire school year. Utilize the data to articulate your planning and training needs for next school year.

Evaluation Tools  Earn the recognition your teams deserve! Now is the time to submit all necessary documents for the School Recognition process.  For the 2012-13 school year, clarifications were made to the Tier 2/Tier 3 components of the recognition requirements, and an additional level of recognition, Implementing Plus, was added based on feedback from schools. Click here to visit our website for complete details. Recognition applications should be received by the Illinois PBIS Network no later than May 17, 2013.

Tier 2/Tier 3 Coaching

Now is the time for coaches to facilitate district-level conversations regarding training and technical assistance for next year.   Building and district leaders are encouraged to use multiple data sources to determine training needs and readiness.  Aggregate student outcome, BOQ, and BAT data are good indicators of implementation strengths and needs. The district and building Tier 2/Tier 3 Readiness documents may also be helpful.

The Illinois PBIS Network will be providing more online Tier 2/Tier 3 trainings and technical assistance webinars next school year.  Distal learning makes accessing support during the school-day more convenient and fosters networking across districts.  Come to the June External Coaches Forum to learn more about creating a Tier 3 technical assistance plan for next year. 

Monthly Challenge As the school year comes to a close, take time to review Evaluation tools, such as the BoQ, SAS, PoI, and BAT, to make decisions on training needs.  Then develop a district training plan by building to ensure needs are known and can be incorporated in planning discussions for next school year. 

Classroom Management 

Now is a good time to begin action planning for next school year. Try completing this quick Classroom Management Self-Assessment for ideas on the extent to which effective general classroom management practices are in place in your buildings and develop an action plan based on this information. 

School Family Community Partnerships (SFCP)  

Family/Community Team Membership Survey

In April, the Illinois PBIS Network sent an email with a survey link to all External Coaches to learn more about school, family, community partnerships, and team membership. This survey can also be accessed on the  Partnerships tab of www.pbisillinois.org by clicking on the "Family/Community Team Membership Survey" in the yellow box at the top of the main page.  All districts that report family/community team membership for one or more schools by May 24, 2013 will be acknowledged on the Partnerships tab under Successful School Partnerships. 

SFCP at the Summer Leadership Conference

Now is a good time to recruit family/community members to participate in the2013 Summer Leadership Conference on July 31-August 1, 2013.  Remember, the first two family and community representatives that register per district are free, and two additional family and community representatives can register at a 50% reduced rate.  Check out information on the  Summer Conference to find the SFCP strand designed for these important team members.

Upcoming Family Network Meetings

Join us at the next Family and Community Network Meeting to be held on May 15, 2013, from 6:00-7:30pm at Batavia High School, 1201 Main Street in Batavia.  For more information on Family and Community Network meetings and future dates, please click here.

High School Corner  

Academic Seminar is a Tier 2 intervention for high school students that explicitly teaches academic access skills to increase engagement and work completion.  This daily class intervention from  the Kansas University Learning Strategies (Deshler & Lenz) and the Behavior Education Program (Crone, Horner & Hawken), has clear links to dropout prevention strategies. An overview webinar is posted on the High School Section of the Illinois PBIS Network website.  Click here to access.

Academic Seminar developer, Jessica Swain-Bradway, is hosting four online question and answer sessions. Click on any of the dates below to register.

May 2, 3013 10:30-11:30am

May 14, 2013 10:30-11:30am

May 16, 2013 10:30-11:30am

May 30, 2013 10:30-11:30am

Attendance?  Tardies?  Disrespect?  Multi-plan approaches can be used to successfully address these concerns in high schools.  Please join us on May 15, 2013, from 9-10:15am in a Webinar with Sandy Washburn, Ph.D., Statewide PBIS Coordinator from Indiana.  Sandy will present her experience working with a high school that successfully created a multi-component plan to increase attendance.   Participants in the webinar will be able to take the concept of creating a multi-component plan and apply it to their work for next year when targeting areas like attendance and tardies.  To register, click here.

Administrator Tip of the Month 

A building administrator should take time at the end of the school year to thank all stakeholders for contributions they have made to improve the culture and climate of community schools. These stakeholders may include anyone who has volunteered in the buildings or donated items to support the continual positive acknowledgement process. Teachers, too, need thanks for all the intentional effort they have put forth on behalf of their school.  A brief verbal or written message of thanks will go a long way in maintaining staff participation for the upcoming school year.

Cyber Bullying Prevention 

Schools in Illinois are encouraged to address cyber bullying by applying the same principles found to be effective in PBIS.  Scott Ross, co-author of the National Center on PBIS' bullying prevention curriculum, recommends the following tips:

• • Engage positive student leaders in the planning, implementation, and progress-monitoring of bullying prevention

  • Teach schoolwide expectations for respectful online behavior

  • Teach a response procedure for recipients and bystanders to address disrespectful online behavior (asking someone to stop)

  • Teach students how to stop their own behavior when they are asked to do so

  • Teach students how to get help

  • Provide opportunities for anonymous reporting and establish systems to nominate peers for standing up to disrespectful behavior.

For more information on bullying prevention within the PBIS framework, visitwww.pbisillinois.org/curriculum/bullying.

In the News 

The www.PBISApps.org website has launched!  This new site hosts log-ins for the SWIS Suite, PBIS Assessment, and PBIS Evaluation websites to provide a one-stop, easy to use site for all of your application needs.