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Special Situation Analysis of Lacy Elementary School Cafeteria with Recommendations
EL5033 Creating Safe and Supportive Learning Environments,
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Special Situation Analysis of Lacy Elementary School Cafeteria with Recommendations
Students are guaranteed to get into some mischief if they are not observed constantly.
This is especially true in common areas. According to Wheatley et al. (2019), the common areas
are the hallways, cafeteria, bathroom, playgrounds, bus lines, and bus. Lacy Elementary School's
Café observation revealed some areas are going well, especially during breakfast. However,
there seems to be a problem with lunch and changes need to be made for the safety of the
students and the school. These common areas, such as café, lack established routines and clear
behavioral expectations resulting in high rates of problematic behavior (Oswald et al., 2005,
p.265) This is because of the lack of direct supervision and the large number of students per
adult. Lacy Elementary café has been observed three times using five analyses. The five analyses
are Student characteristics, issues and factors; Teacher/staff characteristics, issues and factors;
Incentives and consequences; Environmental characteristics issues and factors: Physical plant
and logistics and Resources.
Student Characteristics, Issues and Factors
Lacy Elementary school is a 60-year-old school built to accommodate 500 students but is
currently serving 650 students. The school is apparently a Title 1 school since most students
qualify for free or reduced lunch. Two hundred students ride the bus due to rezoning. Breakfast
starts one hour before school begins, and teachers must be clocked in 15 minutes before school
starts. There is one school administrator and two paraprofessionals supervising breakfast.
Observation one during breakfast shows the students are demonstrating good behavior
and know what is expected of them. Within the cafeteria, there are two paraprofessionals, one
administrator. Students are observed talking quietly with their peers and completing their
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homework. Once it's time to go to class, most students take their trash and put it in the garbage,
and there are rare disruptions in traffic flow. However, this cannot be said for lunchtime.
Observations two and three occurred during lunchtime. The students are subjected to a
long lunch line which takes approximately 20 minutes to get their lunch. Students are observed
scrambling to find a seat. Some of them are moving about in the lunchroom from table to table.
Students are shoving and pushing each other because of the crowded situation and using one
door. There are two lunch periods, and each period is 45 minutes. The lunch period is supervised
by three paraprofessionals, three parents, and two administrators. However, there is still a lot of
discipline issues during lunch. During lunchtime, students are very loud, and some must use the
restroom. Some students are observed leaving the lunchroom without leaving their ID because
they do not have one. Faculty and staff are not enforcing the behavioral matrix to be responsible,
use their inside voices, and be safe by staying at their table in their seat. However, some of the
students are doing homework and exhibiting positive behavior. When lunch is over, students
rush to line up at the door before the bell rings; some tables are left with trays and trash still on
the table. When students are released from the cafeteria, they all exit through one door, which
causes a lot of pushing and shoving. Some students exhibit disrespect towards faculty members
when asked to stop running down the hall.
Teacher/Staff Characteristics, Issues, and Factors
Breakfast time seems to run smoothly with the two paraprofessionals and one
administrator. However, lunchtime needs to be revamped. Teachers walk their students to the
cafeteria for lunch; however, they leave because of their duty-free lunch period. There are eight
adults in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and some students are exhibiting inappropriate behavior in
the cafeteria. A parent or staff member nearby breaks up a skirmish, pushing and shoving, which
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could have happened because of the long wait in line. A cafeteria worker releases students all at
one time to go to class or recess, and this is a safety issue. Perhaps the teachers need to spread
around in the cafeteria to cover all areas and enforce the school's behavioral matrix. Faculty
members and staff are not consistent in following the behavioral matrix and allowing some
students to leave the café without their student ID and others not. Students are willfully
disobeying the faculty without and consequences.
Environmental Characteristics, Issues, and Factors
There are 300-fold-up tables for 325 students per lunch period; therefore, cafeteria
workers must bring in additional chairs to the cafeteria. This causes the students to rush to get
the best seating. Because there are only two lunches, the lines and the wait are long. The long
wait and lines can cause the students to misbehave or become agitated, which is why some may
push and shove. A safety issue is that 325 students must exit through one door.
Incentives and Consequences
The first thing noticed is that there are no consequences for the students shouting,
pushing, and shoving. Although the parent or staff member broke it up, no consequences were
given. Also noted is the students move around the cafeteria without consequences. Students
continued to run down the hall, and no consequences were given. A few students are working on
their homework. However, they are not given an incentive for displaying the expected behavior.
Resources
Although students use the restroom during lunchtime, there are only one adult checking
IDs for restroom usage. For a large number of students present for each lunch period, there are
only eight adults. That is approximately 41 students per adult, which is a large number for the
special setting.
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Action Plan and Recommendations
Based on the observation of Lucy Elementary, teachers need to be consistent in following
the school's behavioral matrix. If students do not see consistency, they will not follow the matrix
and will display hostile behavior. An intervention team shall be created. The team consisting of
school faculty, staff, community, and parent volunteers will focus on the layout of the cafeteria,
seating, exit procedures, and improving the café experience. Research has shown that
interventions can achieve multiple positive outcomes for students, reducing negative behavior
(Rafa., 2019). The current PBIS behavioral matrix will need to be re-evaluated and enforced
across all areas of the school's including common areas. At the beginning of school, teachers
should be reminded about being consistent when following the behavior matrix. Faculty and
staff will model and demonstrate active supervision in common areas, which has been shown to
decrease problem behaviors in the common areas (Wheatly et al., 2009, p.555). Teachers should
also walk their students to lunch and, for the first week, sit with them to enforce what is expected
behavior for the cafeteria. Students will sit at assigned tables when they enter the cafeteria.
Tables will be called to line students up to get their lunch, and they must immediately return to
their table once they have obtained their lunch. Once it's time to leave the cafeteria, students will
only begin cleaning when a supervising adult calls on their table. They will stand up, empty their
tray, put it on the cart, clean up any trash on the floor or table of their seating area and sit back
down and wait for their teacher. It is also recommended that staggering lunches can help with the
overcrowding and movement within the cafeteria. Currently, there are two 45-minute lunches,
starting at 11:15 and ending at noon. Also, from noon to 12:45. Lunch A and Lunch B. You can
add a Lunch C starting at 11:30 and ending at 12:15. The lunches will reduce the number of
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students in the cafeteria line at once. Also, having three lunches will ease the crowdedness when
the students are released to recess or back to class.
Another advantage of adding a third lunch is the number of students to lunchroom adult
supervisors will be sufficient. The adults should be stationed at a specific location to monitor the
student's actions. However, if one faculty member must tend to an urgent matter, the adult
closest to him should take the station. Have a plan written out in advance of who will cover what
areas of the cafeteria and who will take over if someone must leave their duty station for an
urgent matter. Environmental issues can be cleared up by having a third lunch. Three hundred
twenty-five students will not try to rush out of the cafeteria at once. The exit process will flow
smoothly by dismissing students from their table when their teacher shows up to pick them up.
This will eliminate all students trying to exit at once. The teacher will supervise their students in
the hallway to control the running and enforce walking inside a building.
Students exhibiting the expected behavior during lunchtime should be rewarded with an
incentive. This will encourage the other students to follow the behavioral matrix and display the
expected behavior. Students not exhibiting the expected behavior should receive consequences.
According to Knoff (2020) provides stronger incentives or consequences. If the students are
making a mess, re-educate them on how to clean a table and have them clean the table for several
days. For instance, students yelling across tables should receive a warning if the yelling doesn't
stop; that student or table should receive silent lunch. This will enforce being respectful and
using your inside voice. All teachers must be consistent in consequences for not following the
matrix's expected behavior and providing incentives for expected behavior.
Therefore, in conclusion, students will get into mischief if they are not closely
supervised. Lacy Elementary School needs to implement an action team to focus on the logistics
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and layout. The team should also redo the behavioral matrix and re-educate the faculty and staff
to be consistent with the plan. Lunchtime should run smoother by having three lunches instead of
two. Teachers will need to supervise their students for the first week of school in the cafeteria
and pick them up from lunch. Consistently following the behavioral matrix and holding students
accountable for their actions with consequences or rewards is essential.
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References
Knoff, H. (2020) Creating safe and supportive learning environments, Special Situations
Interventions [Module 4 video], Ace productions.
https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1842507/external_tools/118428
Oswald, K., Safran, S., & Johanson, G. (2005). Preventing Trouble: Making Schools Safer
Places Using Positive Behavior Supports. EDUCATION AND TREATMENT OF
CHILDREN, 3, 265.
Rafa, A., & Education Commission of the States. (2019). Policy Analysis: The Status of School
Discipline in State Policy. In Education Commission of the States. Education
Commission of the States.
Wheatley, R. K., West, R. P., Charlton, C. T., Sanders, R. B., Smith, T. G., & Taylor, M. J.
(2009). Improving Behavior through Differential Reinforcement: A Praise Note System
for Elementary School Students. Education & Treatment of Children (West Virginia
University Press), 32(4), 551–571. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.0.0071