PBIS March 2014 Coaches Front Page Newsletter

New Federal Guidance on School Discipline and Discrimination

The recent, clear message from U.S. Departments of Education and Justice against zero tolerance policies is rooted in equity for students with disabilities and students who identify as ethnic minorities. These students are typically at higher risk of receiving office referrals and out of school suspensions. More information and additional resources are available on the USDOE website.

Consistent with this guidance, the recently published Illinois PBIS Network Winter Update Newsletter posted on the Illinois PBIS Publications Page shows evidence from Illinois schools of the impact of PBIS on reducing out of school suspensions and contributing to the equitable risk of suspensions between students with and without disabilities. 

Evaluation School-wide Information System (SWIS)

Remember to modify the days per month in SWIS to account for any snow days. Log into your SWIS account, go to tools, and then school settings.  Under the school settings menu, select school days. Edit the 2013-2014 school year by clicking on the pencil and then modify the number of days in the month based on the snow days your school was closed due to weather. Please email eval@pbisillinois.org with questions.

Implementation Inventory and School Recognition Process

The PBIS Implementation Inventory will be available to all Illinois PBIS schools beginning March 21, 2014 through the PBIS Assessment test site. Information on how to complete the Inventory will be posted to the Evaluation page in mid-March. Schools who wish to be recognized for their PBIS implementation during the 2013-14 school year should complete the Implementation Inventory online by May 16, 2014.

There are four levels of recognition for the 2013-14 school year:  Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. All schools completing the Implementation Inventory by May 16, 2014, will be recognized at the Bronze or Silver level without needing to submit an application. If your school is applying for recognition at the Gold or Platinum level, Triangle Data is a required artifact for Outcome Data. SWIS 5 currently does not offer the "Triangle Data Report", but you can follow these instructions: SWIS Triangle Data Report to create the report using data exported via the drill down function in your school's SWIS account. Applications for these Gold and Platinum levels are to be postmarked by May 16, 2014. For more information about the 2013-14 School Recognition process, see the School Recognition page. 

In addition to completing the Implementation Inventory for recognition, your teams will want to complete other fidelity measures, such as the BoQ, BAT, TIC, etc. to compare their progress from last year. 

Planning Ahead

The Self-Assessment Survey (SAS) provides staff perception data on schoolwide, classroom, and non-classroom climates. Start planning now for time to complete the SAS this spring. The window will be open from April 1-30, 2014. Check out the evaluation timelines and this Quick Guide for completing the SAS in PBIS Assessments. 

SWIS Facilitator Training

District Coaches and PBIS Administrators can become SWIS Facilitators for your district! In an effort to have more District Based Coaches handling their own SWIS accounts, we are reducing the cost of SWIS facilitator training for approved Illinois participants. Save the dates for the upcoming SWIS Facilitator training on April 29-May 1, 2014, in Westmont, Illinois. Registration is limited and is available on the PBIS Apps website.

A one-day Individual Student Information System (ISIS-SWIS) Facilitator training is also available on May 2, 2014. We are reducing the cost of this training for approved Illinois participants.

Classroom Management

Effective classroom management includes a continuum of evidence-based strategies for acknowledging appropriate behavior. Specific, contingent praise is a positive statement typically provided by the teacher when a desired behavior occurs in order to inform students specifically what they did well. This basic strategy can be utilized in the classroom to enhance student academic and behavioral performance. Click here for a guide on using praise effectively in the classroom. 

Curriculum/Innovation Updates 

Thanks to all of the clinicians that joined us for the new School-Based Clinician Learning Community! If you were unable to participate in the first day, you can still join the learning community for the rest of the series. There will be an in-person training day on May 9, 2014, from 8:30am-3:00pm. For more information on registering, materials, and other resources, click here.

Coaching Focus

One important responsibility of a PBIS coach is to support the district in creating a training plan. It is best to tailor training supports based on school team readiness, and choose professional development activities that will produce measurable outcomes reflecting (a) team implementation fidelity, and (b) desirable student outcomes. Data-based decision making should also be used during training plan development. Please see the February Coaches Network Meeting materials for more detailed information about creating training plans and district examples.

Contact Updates

The Illinois PBIS Network strives to keep correct contact information in our database to provide your PBIS Teams with the most recent PBIS news, upcoming events, prompts to support your fidelity of implementation, Recognition notification, and special reports. If there have been changes to your District/Building Administration and/or PBIS teams and you would like to update the contacts we have on record, please visit the Coaches section on our website and follow directions on the Contact Information Update Form.

Tier 2/Tier 3 Coaching 

The focus of February's Coaches Network Meeting was on Tier 3 Interventions. Please see the February materials for a more detailed overview of the interventions and data systems.

As the intensity of interventions increases, data tools for tracking individual student progress also need to become more individualized and specific to the data being monitored. The Tier 3 application of SWIS, ISIS-SWIS, allows for individual data tracking and decision making for a student receiving intensive supports.

The use of data tools to gather perception data is one way to incorporate youth and family voice into Tier 3 intervention plans. The perception tools used depend on the age of the youth. Learn more about the Student Disposition Checklist, the Education Information Tool, and the Home, School, Community Checklist under the Evaluation tab. The information from these tools can then be entered into the Systematic Information Management of Educational Outcomes (SIMEO) data system for analyzing and reporting the data.

In addition to monitoring student outcome data, it is important to review the fidelity intervention implementation. The Wraparound Integrity Tool is available for facilitators to ensure interventions are implemented with integrity. 

School Family Community Partnerships (SFCP) 

Remember that students are key stakeholders too! Having youth join PBIS teams is a good way to get student voice at the table and to help with issues related to equity for ALL students. If you haven't already done so, consider various ways to engage these young stakeholders by inviting youth from multiple grade levels to join your PBIS systems teams, complete student surveys, or act as student mentors.

Save the Date - Forum on Community Integration of PBIS

On March 21, 2014, select districts will participate in a Forum on integrating PBIS and the community. If you represent a district who has already started this important work, and would like more information or to request an invitation, please contact Brian Meyer at brian.meyer@pbisillinois.org. The Forum will be held at the Northern Illinois University campus in Naperville, Illinois.

High School Corner 

The High School Tier 2 Webinar Series is currently underway. Please view training dates, times, and topics and don't forget to register!

If you missed the Thinking Outside the Box February virtual chat, visit the High School Coaches Network Meetings page for the PowerPoint and recording. The next High School virtual chat will be March 20, 2014, from 9:00-10:30am. Blending Academics and Behavior will be the topic and you can register here. Also, save the date for our final virtual chat of the year on May 14, 2014, at 1:00pm. Future Action Planning (assessment tools are your friend) will be the discussion topic.

Administrator Tip of the Month

The administrator is critical to supporting and making changes to the systems needed to implement and sustain all three tiers of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. Are you aware of what support or systems changes your Universal and Secondary teams need to implement interventions with fidelity? Since clinicians typically facilitate Tertiary interventions, consider what has been taken off their plates to allow time to implement the most intensive interventions for the students with highest needs. View a recording of Administrators Leading the Changing Role of Clinicians from the Illinois PBIS Winter Leadership Conference.

Upcoming Events 

The Training Schedule for March and April 2014 is outlined below. Registration is now available. All registrants please review your confirmation emails for information about training materials and event logistics.  If you do not receive a confirmation email directly in your inbox, please be sure to check your spam or junk folder as our emails are sometimes identified by servers incorrectly.

To help your team think about systems necessary to maximize the skills taught in the Tier 3 trainings, access the Tier 3 Readiness documents here.

Click links for more details and registration: 

The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission "Re-Connecting the Pathways Conference" will now be held on  June 2-4, 2014,  at the Crowne Plaza Hotel inSpringfield, Illinois. The conference will focus on the role of local leadership for juvenile justice improvement. For more information, click here.

Save the date for the Summer Leadership Conference on August 6-7, 2014, at the Tinley Park Convention Center. Continue to read the Front Page News for more information about strands and sessions in the next few months as we shape the conference around implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, including continued integration of ISTAC focus areas.