October 2012 PBIS Front Page Newsletter

Visibility for Implementing Schools: Legislator Visits

Congratulations to the schools that have been nominated for legislator visits due to their implementation of PBIS.  A number of schools across the state have already had senators visit their buildings!  For a list of schools, please visit http://www.pbisillinois.org/schools/selected-schools.

Evaluation Tools

Two evaluation tools your teams should be focusing on in the fall are the Team Implementation Checklist (TIC) and the Phases of Implementation (PoI). 

The TIC helps your team assess if the foundational elements of PBIS are in place.  After a school scores a 70% or higher on the Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ), teams typically consider their foundations to be in place and stop using the TIC to assess.  However, if you have had any major changes in your building (i.e.: administration changes, internal coach changes), revisiting the TIC may be beneficial.  The TIC should be used in October, January, and March.

The Illinois Phases of Implementation (PoI) tool provides an itemized rubric to guide action planning at all three tiers.  The PoI has been improved for the 2012-13 school year, to clarify the benchmarks around family engagement, Tier 2 and Tier 3, and ensure benchmarks are aligned with effective implementation in each phase.  We recommend all External Coaches (ECs) facilitate the fall PoI by November 30, 2012, for TACs to then access the data and support ECs through action planning and technical assistance.  Watch your email and the website this week for more details on the updated tool, the supporting rubric, and the link for ECs to enter their schools’ completed PoIs online: http://www.pbisillinois.org/evaluation/tier-1-tools.

Coaching Tips for Using Evaluation Tools

Use the supporting Phases of Implementation (PoI) rubric to help guide your team’s discussion to determine if each item is in place on the PoI.  This rubric can be found at http://www.pbisillinois.org/evaluation/tier-1-tools.  If there are items that are not in place, develop action steps to make these features stronger in your building.  Then you can review the PoI again in the spring to gauge progress from those action steps.  Remember the PoI is guiding your implementation with fidelity, so assessing your building accurately and with strong expectations leads to higher implementation with fidelity.

Another reminder is to use your Multi-Tier Action Plan (MAP) to capture all action steps in one place!  The MAP can be accessed at http://www.pbisillinois.org/evaluation/tier-1-tools.  Also, do not forget about the action steps you identified on your MAP last school year to ensure those were accomplished or consider additional planning.  For steps that were accomplished, review your outcome data to determine success and share that data with your staff.  Looking at longitudinal data across multiple school years is important to check implementation.  The Year End Report on SWIS is a good way to look at longitudinal data.

Monthly Challenge

Have you set your group norms for your team meetings? From the September External Coaches Network Meeting and Front Page Newsletter we learned that establishing group norms is important to build team capacity and keep meetings focused.  If you have not done so, take time at the beginning of your next meeting to establish these agreed upon expectations for your team.

Staff acknowledgment is an important component to your implementation process. Keep your staff engaged by regularly sharing data and recognizing their consistent participation in using a common language.  Include this action step on your Multi-tiered Action Plan (MAP) and revisit monthly.

What tool is completed by mid-November to guide action planning at all three tiers? Click http://www.pbisillinois.org/evaluation to see if you know the right answer!

Classroom Management

Active supervision is a method of behavior support that can help decrease problem behavior, promote pro-social behavior, and increase positive adult/student interactions.  Active supervision is an evidence based practice that is effective in both classroom and non-classroom (e.g., playground or cafeteria) settings.  Active supervision consists of three key adult behaviors:  1) moving around; 2) looking around (scanning); and 3) interacting frequently with students.  Access a great resource on active supervision in non-structured settings at:   http://youtube/LNNu81faisQ.

Secondary and Tertiary Coaching

As we enter October, it is important to consider the sensitivity of your data decision rules for students needing Tier 2 supports.  To ensure students are receiving supports before they move beyond at-risk, teams should be identifying the majority of students in need of higher supports prior to Halloween.  Lower level interventions (CICO and SAIG) should be supporting at least 7 to 10% of your student population by October 31st.  If your tracking tool is not showing this percentage, then your team should consider revisiting your data decision rules for Tier 2 interventions to identify lower risk students to meet the 7 to 10% mark.  Response to intervention (RtI) is about early identification and intervention.

Tier 2/Tier 3 Readiness Checklist

Also, your teams should be aware of the new process of self-assessing readiness for Tier 2/Tier 3 for both school buildings and districts.  Check our website for these readiness tools that will help district and building teams, along with their leaders, reflect on critical features necessary for strong, sustainable Tier 2/Tier 3 implementation:http://www.pbisillinois.org/trainings/tier-2-3-readiness.  The results of the readiness checklist will be used to help determine when districts and schools are ready to proceed to brief FBA/BIP, complex FBA/BIP, wraparound and RENEW training.

School Family Community Partnerships (SFCP)

Be sure to visit the Illinois PBIS Network website's new SFCP tab, http://www.pbisillinois.org/sfcp, for ideas and tips on how to improve collaboration with family and community members, and increase team membership.  This tab also contains information for families and schools on upcoming Family/Community Team Member Network meetings, and how districts can sign up to host one of these unique networking opportunities.

We have had one SFCP meeting this year and we want to offer these network meeting opportunities throughout the state at least quarterly.  Please contact Patti Bardell (patti.bardell@pbisillinois.org) if your district would like to host a network meeting this semester.  The Illinois PBIS Network provides support for these meetings including facilitation, ppt/training material and a light meal. Host districts are asked to provide the meeting site and child care.  The next SFCP meeting is at Harvard School District 50 on October 24th from 5:30pm – 7:00pm.

In an effort to help schools increase family/community membership on PBIS teams, these valuable team members can register for any PBIS training at a discounted half-off price.  Districts should register these family/community team members in the same way as other participants and note their role in the registration system as "family or community member".   Please share this information with all district/school leaders.  We hope this will contribute to encouraging schools to invite several family/community members per school team for all trainings and support these members on teams. 

Coaching Corner/Tips

During our October External Coaches Network Meetings the topic of Asking Thoughtful and Reflective Questions as a coaching strategy will be explored. Some of the highlights include:

What is Thoughtful and Reflective Questioning?

• A skill set of questioning used to inform the coach of a team’s knowledge and intentions, which allows a coach to probe for deeper complexity

• A strategy used by coaches to encourage further reflection by the team to clarify its thinking and uncover possibilities and solutions

Why is Thoughtful and Reflective Questioning Important?

• Thoughtful questioning can guide teams to be reflective of their practice

• Thoughtful questioning helps build team capacity through evaluation of current status and determination of next steps

How does Thoughtful and Reflective Questioning help a coach enable a team to develop skills and competencies to function independently?

• Carefully chosen thoughtful and specific questions help a team move forward with intent and focus

• Asking the right kinds of questions reflect respect and empower a team to progress confidently by using their own problem-solving skills

• Helps team create short-term solutions to problems at hand while enabling team to gain confidence to handle long-term situations independently

For further information on Thoughtful and Reflective Questioning and to find some question starters, click on the link below: http://www.schoolimprovementcoach.org/manual/3%20Asking%20Questions.pdf

A District Leadership Team’s (DLT) role in developing Evaluation Capacity will also be addressed during October’s External Coaches Network Meeting.  One of a DLT’s functions is to support and sustain the accurate implementation of evidence-based practices across the district.  The DLT establishes measurable outcomes used to determine if implementation efforts are effective or if modifications to the action plan are necessary.  To find out more about facilitating data-based decision making using district-wide data, participate in a network meeting in your area during the month of October.