YOU HAVE A PARENT ON
THE PBIS TEAM,
NOW WHAT?
PREPARE STAFF TO WORK WITH FAMILY
MEMBERS ON THE TEAM
Discuss hypothetical cases from different family
members’ points of view to understand different
perspectives on situations.
 Ask staff to evaluate their own assumptions and
beliefs about the families with whom they work.
 Develop staff communication skills.
 Provide staff time to process with others difficult
conversations or situations that may arise with
family members on the team.
 Finally, explain the purpose of the family
member on the team.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE FOR THE FAMILY
MEMBER ON YOUR TEAM?
Advisory
 Leadership
 Planning
 Evaluation
 Practice
 Knowledge
 Community
 Partnership

ADVISORY ROLE:
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Help the school to understand family’s values, beliefs and
practices
Help school staff to develop and implement “targeted”
interventions relative to the community culture
Share your current community’s strengths and needs in
order to develop a PBIS framework
Help the team to understand strategies that are most
acceptable to the culture of the community
Advocate for families
Provide necessary information regarding community’s
cultural values, beliefs and practices with classroom
teacher
Participate in the development and implementation of
targeted interventions within classroom
Support targeted efforts of classroom teacher with students
in classroom
LEADERSHIP ROLE:

Learn about PBIS
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Read materials offered by your child’s school related
to PBIS
Learn about the school’s PBIS model
Present to other parent groups what the PBIS
framework is in your child’s school
Present to community organizations on how they can
participate in PBIS
Initiate awareness of an emerging or systemic issue
Plan and implement strategies for making change or
meeting a need
Collective voice on an emerging issue
* Online Resources and Examples
PLANNING ROLE:

Participate in PBIS planning
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Read materials offered by your child’s school related to
PBIS
Learn about the school’s PBIS model
Go through PBIS Tier I Training with the team
Maintain a resource library and sponsor a booth at a
parent event
Help the school understand community cultural values,
beliefs and practices
Participate in discussions to build family and school
agreement on school-wide expectations for behavior
Serve as a channel for communication and feedback
between stakeholders
Plan opportunities for families to connect, network, mentor
and have fun
EVALUATION ROLE:
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Conduct the *Mini Schoolwide Evaluation for the
Universal Team to Action Plan from
Conduct *surveys with families to guide action
planning of increased family knowledge of PBIS
implementation in the school
Collecting, analyzing, action planning and displaying
data for stakeholders
Focused monitoring of family’s perception of the
school’s efforts of Family Engagement/Partnership
* Online Resources and Examples
PRACTICE ROLE:
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Use and reinforce PBIS strategies in home and
community environments
Help children understand that situational
appropriateness transfers from one setting to
another
Teach behavior expectations to all children
Enhance participation and connections
Seek and exchange information and solutions
KNOWLEDGE ROLE:

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Share ideas and resources during the implementation of
the schools PBIS framework
Help build parent participation in school-wide PBIS

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Help other families understand PBIS
Link with and support other school families
Parents of children with behavior challenges are important in a
system of school-wide positive behavior interventions and
supports because they already know that punishment does not
teach skills. Parents already know what individual strategies
may work with their own child. Parents are important
contributors in developing PBIS in their child’s school, because
parents have a great deal at stake – the lives and futures of their
children. By becoming involved, parents can have a vital role in
improving school climate, safety, and instructional time. Most
important, parents can have a role in helping their child to
develop the positive behavior skills that are the foundations for a
successful future.
KNOWLEDGE ROLE…CONTINUED:

Parents of children with behavior challenges are
important in a system of school-wide positive behavior
interventions and supports because they already know
that punishment does not teach skills. Parents already
know what individual strategies may work with their
own child. Parents are important contributors in
developing PBIS in their child’s school, because parents
have a great deal at stake – the lives and futures of
their children. By becoming involved, parents can have a
vital role in improving school climate, safety, and
instructional time. Most important, parents can have a
role in helping their child to develop the positive
behavior skills that are the foundations for a successful
future.
COMMUNITY ROLE:

Help get community involved
Present to community organizations on how they can
participate in PBIS
 Link with community resources and actively engage
community supports for the school’s efforts. (i.e.
Search for donations and free resources in the
community for PBIS reinforcement programs.)
 Help match community contributions to school goals;
align child and family services with learning
standards.
 Invite alumni to participate in supporting your PBIS
efforts, have the students give tours of the school and
explain the PBIS expectations in your school.
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PARTNERSHIP ROLE:
Learn about PBIS
 Read materials offered by school related to PBIS
 Attend presentations offered by school to learn
about school’s PBIS model
 Participate in PBIS planning
 Provide information on family priorities and
issues and necessary information regarding the
communities cultural values, beliefs and
practices with school
 Participate in discussions to establish congruence
between family expectations and school-wide
expectations for behavior
 Carry over PBIS initiatives into home and
community environments
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PARTNERSHIP ROLE…CONTINUED
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Learn how to teach your children the importance of PBIS
behavior expectations at home and in the community. Some
SW-PBIS programs design a teaching matrix for the home
as well as the school environment. See the example in
figure 4
Discuss and teach PBIS behavior expectations to your
children
Implement PBIS strategies at home and in the community
Reinforce PBIS strategies in the home and community
setting
Help ensure parent participation in PBIS
Help other families understand PBIS
Develop parent initiatives
Establish ongoing linkages & supports with other school
families
Help get community involved
WHAT CAN THE FAMILY
REPRESENTATIVE ON THE TEAM DO
TO INVOLVE ALL FAMILIES WITH
PBIS?
 Provide
resources so they can learn about
PBIS at your school and provide feedback
about the process.
 Invite them to participate on the state, district,
or school PBIS Leadership team.
 Design Family Engagement activities in PBIS.
 Involve families on Targeted or Intensive level
teams as they relate to your child.
*Online Link
HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS TO HELP GUIDE
CREATION OF A RESOURCE FOR PARENTS…
What is in place at the Universal level of PBIS in
the classroom and school-wide?
 What are the school-wide and classroom behavior
expectations?
 How will the school communicate with me if my
child needs extra help with behavior?
 If my child is having behavior problems, what
evidence-based interventions will be used to help
my child?
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MORE QUESTIONS…
What assessments will be used to develop a
behavior plan for my child?
 How will the school inform me about the results
of collecting information on my child?
 How will I be notified and involved if my child
needs Targeted or Intensive supports?
 What resources are available in the school and
community to help with improving my child’s
behavior
 How can I work with the school to promote PBIS
at home?
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HOW CAN FAMILIES BE INVOLVED IF THEIR
CHILD NEEDS INTENSIVE LEVEL SUPPORTS?
 Invite
them to be with their child’s
evaluation, education, and behavior plan.
 The knowledge families bring to the table
about their child’s development, medical
history, strengths, interests, and needs is
an important resource to the team in
creating an effective Behavior Support
Plan (BSP)
HOW CAN FAMILIES BE INVOLVED IF THEIR
CHILD NEEDS INTENSIVE LEVEL SUPPORTS
CONTINUED?
A
strong partnership between the family and
the school helps to create consistency across
home and school settings and to improve
results for children.
 Local community mental health agencies
often provide services that schools cannot to
offer, such as mental health counseling,
intensive family-based services, or
wraparound services.
 When a child needs services from multiple
agencies, he or she may benefit from a
Coordinated Service Plan.

The information above is taken from PACER site
and is adapted from the Matrix for Family
Involvement; New Hampshire Center for
Effective Behavioral Interventions and Support
(NH-CEBIS); and the New York State Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Support Initiative;
Team Implementation Checklist. All can be
found on PBIS.org
WABENO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
MARINETTE MIDDLE SCHOOL
APPLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Sheree Garvey
Coordinator of School Improvement for PBIS and
Parent Partnerships
garveysheree@aasd.k12.wi.us
Dr. Carrie Willer
Franklin Elementary School Principal
willercarrie@aasd.k12.wi.us
Tara Kraft
AASD Parent and Staff Member
krafttara@aasd.k12.wi.us
The more parents participate in
schooling, in a sustained way, at every
level -- in advocacy, decision-making
and oversight roles, as fund-raisers
and boosters, as volunteers and paraprofessionals, and as home teachers
-- the better for student achievement.
OUTDATED THINKING ON PARENT INVOLVEMENT:
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Parents should come to school only when
invited
Stay-at-home mothers serve as
“homeroom mothers”
Parents visit school mainly for children’s
performances and open houses
Parents help raise money for school.
EPSTEIN'S SIX TYPES OF PARENT
INVOLVEMENT
Joyce Epstein of Johns Hopkins
University has developed a framework for
defining parent involvement:
 Parenting
 Communicating
 Volunteering
 Learning at Home
 Decision Making
 Collaborating with the Community
CREATING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN
SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES IS ESSENTIAL FOR
HELPING ALL CHILDREN SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
AND IN LIFE.
AS ENGAGED, MUTUALLY
SUPPORTIVE PARTNERS, PARENTS AND
SCHOOL STAFF CREATE A CARING COMMUNITY
AROUND STUDENTS THAT PROMOTES
LEARNING AND GROWTH AT HOME AND AT
SCHOOL.
AASD Family School Partnership
Vision Statement
CREATION OF DISTRICT FAMILY
PARTNERSHIP TEAM
 Support
ROLE YEAR 1
current parent involvement
and partnerships that currently exist
within buildings
 Support School Improvement Teams
and their action plans related to Family
and Community Involvement
 Understand their current audience
 Conduct Needs Assessment for each
building utilizing a survey
 Utilize survey tools
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE APPLETON
AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT?
WELCOMING SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
LEARNING AT HOME
2014 DISTRICT SURVEY RESULTS

Welcoming School Environment
SA
NA*
A
D
I have been invited to visit my child’s
classroom.
37%
39%
15%
1%
7%
Parent/school activities are planned
at different times of the day and week
to provide all families a chance to
participate.
28%
52%
9%
2%
9%

SD
Learning At Home
I feel I can confidently assist and
discuss homework with my child in:
Math
50%
28%
10%
2%
*SA=Strongly Agree A=Agree D=Disagree SD=Strongly
Disagree
1%
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT FRANKLIN
ELEMENTARY?
COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILIES!!
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dan Seaman
seamand@wisconsinrticenter.org
Jennifer Grenke
grenkej@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org
Marlene Gross-Ackeret
grossackeretm@wisconsinpbisnetwork.org