School Bus Driver Training
Unit B
Student Management and Discipline
Objectives
 At the end of this session school bus operators will
be able to:
 Describe local policy for appropriate student




behavior on the bus
Demonstrate essential components of effective
driver-student interaction
Describe local policy on serious discipline problems
Recognize typical behavior patterns for students in
different age groups
Demonstrate basic concepts of Assertive Discipline
Introduction
 School bus drivers are in the ‘people’ business
 Student behavior is a safety issue
 School bus drivers are responsible for safety
 The school principal is ultimately responsible for
discipline
School Bus Driver Responsibilities
 School Bus Driver Training Manual contains a list of
responsibilities
 Driver’s responsibilities fit into several categories:
 Employer (procedures)
 School district (procedures, regulations)
 People (students, parents, school personnel)
 Bus (neat, clean, obvious mechanical issues)
 Self (attitude, positive image, preparedness)
Characteristics of the
Successful Bus Driver
 Confident and effective
 Creates a positive environment for students
 Has clear rules for students to follow
 Uses good driving skills
 Knows and follows the route
 Provides good customer service
 Takes pride in personal appearance
 Keeps a clean bus
 Knows what makes him/her angry and remaining calm when
“buttons” are pushed
 Does not take student comments personally
Some Inappropriate
Driver Behaviors
 Being confrontational
 Being sarcastic
 Arguing
 Yelling
 Using brakes to manage students
Student Responsibilities
 Poor student behavior can distract drivers
 Clear rules must be established by the driver and
followed by the students
 Students and parents must understand that rules
contribute to the safety of the bus
 Students and parents must understand that breaking
rules brings consequences
Expectations for students
 Following all district, school, and bus rules
 Taking responsibility for their actions
 Being respectful of other students’ rights
 Being on time at bus stop locations
 Following all safety procedures at the bus stop
 Following all safety procedures on the bus
 Responding immediately and appropriately to bus
driver instructions
Some Inappropriate
Student Behaviors
 Excessive noise
 Portions of bodies out windows
 Moving about while the bus is in motion
 Throwing objects around inside the bus
 Throwing objects outside the bus
 Crowding and shoving
 Pushing, tripping, kicking
Some Inappropriate
Student Behaviors
 Refusing to share a seat
 Grabbing the property of others
 Vulgar language
 Name calling
 Bullying and harassment
 Hitting, fighting
Driver-Student Interactions
 General guidelines for interacting with students
 Remember that “Bus drivers have CLASS”
 C-L-A-S-S: A student management memory aid
A Student Management
Memory Aid
 CLASS
 C – Consistent
 L – Limits
 A – Attitude
 S – Share
 S - Support
What a Driver Can Do to
Manage Student Behavior
 Learn the names of your students
 Greet students
 Use different voice levels
 Be conscious of body language
 Be conscious of eye language
 Give positive feedback
 Be polite
 Give mature commands
Successful Techniques of Discipline
 My job/your job explanation
 Teach your students the rules
 Explain the consequences of misbehaving
 Give warnings and keep documentation
 Match the consequence to the behavior and be
consistent in both discipline and follow through
 Give positive rewards for good behavior
Teaching the Rules on Your Bus
Cumulative Increase
Automaticity
Mastery
100
80
60
40
20
No skill
0
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
Students may need to practice something 24 times or
more before they reach 80% competency on a skill
(Marzano, 1991, Classroom Instruction that Works)
Suggestions for Bus Rules
 Observable and measurable behavior
 Positively stated
 No more than 3-5 rules
Stated Negatively
Stated Positively
“Don’t argue with me!”
“Listen to your bus driver.”
“No standing in the aisle.”
“Stay in your seat.”
“Never hit anyone.”
“Keep your hands to yourself.”
“No yelling!”
“Keep your voices down.”
With thanks to Sprick & Colvin (1992)
Applying Discipline on
the School Bus
 Make initial contact by “noticing”
 “I noticed you did a great job keeping your hands to
yourself today. Keep up the good work!”
 “I noticed you were pushing Jennifer”
 “I noticed you were keeping to yourself today and
looked really unhappy”
Ask Open-ended Questions
 “What’s the problem?” (The student must explain)
 “What’s the consequence for spitting on other
people?” (The student must give an example of the
consequence)
Quick, Unthreatening Interventions
 “What is the rule? What are you supposed to do?”
 “It looks like you have a problem, how could I help you
solve it?”
 “What do you want from me?”
 “If you could make this situation better, what would
you do?”
Questions to Ask After Intervening
 “What are you doing to make this work?”
 “Have you thought about how to solve it?”
 “Is it helping to solve the situation?”
 “If you continue to do what you’re doing, what will
happen?”
 “What could you do to make this successful?”
Serious Discipline Problems
 Follow school district’s procedures
 Remove the bus from traffic
 Be courteous, yet firm
 Do only what is within your power
 Never touch a student
 Document incidents as needed
 Report serious cases to supervisor or school principal
Reporting Behavior Problems
 Documenting behavior problems is an important
component in discipline procedures
 Use common language
 Write reported behaviors that are:
 Observable – What did it look like / sound like?
 Measurable – How long? How often?
 Patterns of behavior will emerge more easily when
documentation is accurate and thorough
Reporting Behavior Problems
 Details to include in behavior reports:
 What was happening at the time?
 What did the student do/say?
 What did you do as the driver / assistant?
 How did the student respond to you?
Reporting Behavior Problems
 Possible format for documenting and reporting
behavior problems
Antecedent
What was
happening at
the time?
Behavior
What did the
student do?
With thanks to Sprick & Colvin (1992)
Intervention
What was your
response?
Consequence
What
happened
immediately
after the
behavior?
Reporting Behavior Problems
 Example:
Antecedent
Behavior
Intervention
Consequence
What was
happening at
the time?
What did the
student do?
What was your
response?
Kids loading the
bus
John disrespected
me
Told him I deserve He laughed at
respect
me
With thanks to Sprick & Colvin (1992)
What
happened
immediately
after the
behavior?
Characteristics of Student Behavior
 Kindergarten and elementary (K-5)
 Middle school (6-8)
 Secondary school (9-12)
Kindergarten and Elementary (K-5)
 Tend to move about
 Tend to talk when expected to be still
 Tend to have limited attention spans
 Tend to have limited memories
 Tend to care about adult perceptions of them
 Tend to actively reject those that do not fit in
Middle School (6-8)
 Self-centered
 More focused on acceptance and popularity among
peers
 Adolescence brings mood swings
 Test limits of adult authority
 Aggression in the form of bullying and harassment
 Conformity in communication and dress develop
 Exploration of sexual relations begins
 Delinquent social activities may begin
Secondary School (9-12)
 Socially self-conscious
 Romantic relationships emerge
 Concerned with their dignity
 Concerned with conformity to group norms
 Chronic gossips
Managing Student Behavior
 Keep discipline private whenever possible
 Stay professional
 Set discipline standards
 Work with school authorities
 Don’t deal with on-bus problems when loading and
unloading
Keep Discipline Private
Whenever Possible
 Individual problem behaviors are best handled
individually
 Avoid showdowns with chronic troublemakers
 Do not threaten the entire busload for the actions of a
few
 unless the general safety of the bus is threatened
Stay Professional
 Be fair
 Do not be lenient when “good” students misbehave
 Do not be less lenient when troublemakers misbehave
 Never lose your temper
 Know that children will test your limits
 Be strict at the beginning of a school year and move to
general leniency if appropriate
Four Steps to Follow
When Giving Directions
 Make a polite statement, “Jerry, please sit down on the
seat.”
 If the student refuses to comply, state your expectations.
“Jerry, you’re expected to sit down on the seat.”
 If the student still refuses to comply, state the
consequences. “Jerry, if you do not sit down on your
seat, you will have to ride up here in the front seat.”
 If there is no compliance at this point, ask the student to
give an example of the consequence and the positive
alternative and let the student make the decision. Break eye
contact and allow them to make a choice. “Your choice is
to either sit down or ride in the front seat. Which
would you like to do?”
Interrupting Behavior
That is Just Beginning
 “Are you supposed to be throwing paper on the
bus?”
(Get students to consider the consequences of their
behavior.)
 “What happens when you throw paper on the
bus?”
(Get students to focus on a change in their behavior.)
 “So, what’s your plan?”
(“I guess I’ll just ride to school and keep my papers in
my backpack.”)
Interrupting Suspicious
Behavior That Just Happened
 You are not sure if this person is guilty, but you are
reasonably certain.
 “What’s your plan?” (“What do you mean, what’s my
plan?”)
 “What’s your plan to stop writing on the seats on
the bus?” (“I don’t need a plan.”)
 “You’re right. But if you continue to write on the
seats, you’ll have to follow my plan and ride up
here or take time after school to clean the seats.”
Controlling Group Behavior
 When you deal with groups, talk to the person who
gives you verbal resistance
 Remain focused on the behavior and the person who
gives you verbal resistance
 Make a general polite directive
 Explain the consequence of the behavior to that
verbally resistive person
 Give that person the negative and positive choice, and
let him/her make the choice
Use Statements Like These to
Respond to a Verbal Attack:
 “This is not how you get what you want from me.”
 “This conversation is not helping. How can we solve
the problem?”
 “I’ll talk to you after you’ve calmed down. We can work
this out later.”
 “When you complain, I only hear how you feel. What
do you want?”
 “ ‘Everyone’s doing it!’ is an opinion. What do you
really want?”
Broken-record Method
 If a student is arguing with you or not complying with
a direct command
 Tell the student what you want
 If the student argues, calmly repeat the
command/direction up to 3 times
 If the student refuses, use a consequence
Echoing-Statements Method of
Stopping Arguments
 Repeat the statements of arguing pupils to diffuse
conflict.
 “John took my books.” “Mary says you took her
books.”
 “I did not.” “John says he didn’t take your books.”
 “Yes, he did. He took my books.” “She says you took
her books.”
 Continue this until the book is returned to its owner.
Set Discipline Standards
 Settle problems quickly
 Settle serious problems when the bus is stopped
 Seat troublemakers near you
 Drive smoothly
 Be firm, fair, impartial, consistent
 Never lose your temper
 Treat students as you would like your child treated
Work With School Authorities
 Nurture a relationship with school authorities
 Post a copy of school district rules
 Follow the school district rules
 You do not have the power to put a student off the bus –
school officials do
Don’t Deal With On-bus Problems
When Loading and Unloading
 Loading and unloading is dangerous
 All the driver’s attention must be focused on what is
happening around the bus
 If a discipline problem occurs during loading or
unloading, wait until loading or unloading is safely
completed
Assertive Discipline
 Non-assertive discipline
 Hostile discipline
 Assertive discipline
 Assertive school bus drivers
Non-assertive Discipline
 Failure to state your needs
 State your needs, but fail to back your statements up
with action
Hostile Discipline
 Stating your needs in negative ways
 May violate students’ rights
 May result in fear, causing aggression elsewhere
Assertive Discipline
 State your needs
 Back those statements up with appropriate actions
 Have a positive outlook
 Have confidence in your abilities
 Balance the rights of all parties involved
Assertive School Bus Drivers
 You are the boss of the bus
 Say what you mean and mean what you say
 Clearly and firmly tell students how to behave
 Stay calm – normal tone of voice
 Have a plan of action for misbehavior
 Reward good behavior
Assertive Discipline Plan
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Show the plan to your supervisor
Send the plan to parents
Introduce the plan to the students
Post the plan on the bus
Provide consequences immediately
Provide consequences consistently
Provide consequences in a calm manner
Praise students frequently
Positive Rewards for
Good Behavior
 Are the most important part of your assertive discipline
plan
 Should be:
 Something the kids like
 Be appropriate for age level
 Never be taken away as punishment
 Can be for an individual or group
Difficult Issues
 Gang activity
 Bullying and harassment on the school bus
 Suspected child abuse or neglect
Gang Activity
 Gang activity can be found everywhere
 Gangs are part of their communities
 Benign forms of gang dress and behavior are imitated
by non-gang children, making real gang members
difficult to identify
 Attempting to treat gang members differently will only
lead to problems
 Treat every student with respect
Bullying and Harassment
on the Bus
 Lead by demonstration
 Expect children to treat each other with respect
 Assert your need for children to treat each other with
respect
 Treat everyone on the bus with the same respect
 Document and report incidents
Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect
 Your School district has policies and procedures for
reporting suspected cases of abuse or neglect
 To report these abuses you need:
 Name, address, age of child
 Name, address of custodial parent/guardian
 Nature and extent of injury
 Nature and extent of neglect
 Nature and extent of sexual abuse
 Evidence of previous injuries
 Pertinent information supporting reasonable suspicion
 Law protects person reporting/testifying
Practice Scenario
Mary, a 1st grader, won’t stay seated. She’s usually quiet
in the morning, but in the afternoon, she’s wild. I
think they give her sugar right before she gets on the
bus. She never listens.
As a bus driver, what would you do?
Practice Scenario
 Jim, an 8th grader, won’t stay seated. He is a typical
middle school boy, and always challenges authority.
As a bus driver, what would you do?
Practice Scenario
 Teresa, a 12th grade cheerleader, is excited about
tonight’s game, and won’t stay seated.
 Normally, I don’t even know Teresa is on the bus. She’s
always so well behaved.
As a bus driver, what would you do?