Engaging Staff in PBIS:
Strategies for Tough Situations
(a PBIS follow-up)
Dr. Hank Bohanon
hbohano@luc.edu
Thank you
Lucille, Steve, Marla, Candy (ISBE)
► PBIS Network Coaches
► Dr. Pamela Fenning, Kelly Carney, Myoung
Minnis, Dr. Beverly Kasper, Kira Hicks,
Kristyn Moroz, Sarrah Harriss
► Brigid Flannery and Rob Horner, U of
Oregon
► George Sugai, UCONN
►
Our Mentor!
►
Dr. Pamela Fenning
 School-wide mentor for Positive Behavioral
Interventions & Strategies (PBIS)
 Group level supports
 Policy research
Purpose
►
Encourage people to stay in the field and
not to open a boutique in a small resort
town.
 Unless this is a part of their own personal vision
for their overall quality of life.
PowerPoints
►
Participants will be able to identify what makes a
situation difficult
►
Participants will be able to articulate their vision
of what is a healthy climate or good quality of
life in a school (in general)
►
Participants will be able to identify strategies for
responding to difficult situations when they arise.
Topics
► What
makes something tough?
► What are you trying to do to me?
► K.
Rogers approach to intervention
Last Year’s Goal
► Orientation
for students
► Orientations for staff
► Developing a chair = a go-to person
► Major celebrations
► Systems for school acknowledgment
► Team meeting regularly
► Delegation of tasks
Your most difficult situation
► What
were you trying to accomplish and when you
became stuck?
► When
did this happen?
► What
happen afterward?
► Any
major events happening to teachers or
school?
For whom is the problem?
What are you trying to do to
me?
Teaching “Behavior”
► Every
one is different, and yet they are not
 Model A, Minivan, Corvette, Pickup
► What
are the principles – the big ideas
► Why
are you doing this?
Your re-enforcers and setting events matter
► What
is the goal and objective of your lesson?
What IDEA says about PBIS
►
►
►
►
►
►
►
Consider if a behavior Impedes
School-wide consistency
General education
Incidental benefit
School is a Service not a place
Differentiated School-improvement
Analyzed with an FBA/BIP
Key Principles






ALL Behavior is Purposive & Communicative
Reinforcement = Add or take away
something, behavior increases +/Punishment = You do something, behavior
does not occur again
Setting events = before behavior
Discipline = to teach
Shaping = baby steps
What is the key?
►I
am not going to give them candy for doing
what I expect of them
(Fun time!) 
 You each get a piece of candy
 Give a piece of candy to someone who is doing
something you like, or has on something you like
 Give them the candy, but do not tell them why
 They have to guess why they got the candy
 Now, tell them what you liked and give them candy,
praise, high five, hug, etc.
Welcome to the School-wide
Free Operant Conditioning
Program
Be who you are!
Our motto: “We sure hope you know what
you are doing, ‘cause we sure don’t!”
Goal: at the School-wide level –
aim to get 80% of your staff
teaching behavior!
Illinois research – when schools get to 80/80




Fewer risk factors
More protective factors
More likely to have tried interventions beyond SW
More students with fewer discipline problems
Previous School-wide Evaluation
►
►
Teaching = 40%
Overall
= 78%
“Know when to hold ‘em,
know when to fold ‘em, know
when to walk away, know
when to run…”
Kenny Rogers
You have to start somewhere
► What
do you do when working with
individual students?
 Start with one behavior
 Start with one school
►Who
asks whom to the dance?
Kansas City
Kansas City
► We have ways
► We were ready for you
► We started with individual students
► We presented to one school first
► Now
how many schools? 
Data on Beginning PBS Practices
12
# of Months
10
8
School # 1
6
School #2
4
2
0
Meeting with administration Meeting with administration
to first overview to staff
to first team meeting
Staff Who Attended First Team Meeting
25
# of Staff
20
15
School # 1
10
School #2
5
0
Number of School Staff at First Meeting
Battles
► Choosing
battle
battles – or choosing to not make it a
► When
do you become most frustrated with your
child, students, staff, or team?
► You
cannot stand between people and their
consequences
► Battle
only when you have to or when you think
you can win
Resolutions
►I
knew what was happening
► How
I felt – similar to what to struggle over
as a teacher,
► for
a brief moment…
Orientation for staff –
Could not get time, made guidebook
► Professional development tool
► Best thing since sliced bread
► Presentation for LRE came at end of the
year
 Great, please do this at the beginning
SET/Referrals
►
New “Scores”
 Teacher
 Overall
=
=
60
82
(vs. 40)
(vs. 78)
► ODR’s
 August to March - two years of reduction
 November onward was great!
PBIS Team
► Assign
►
Tasks and Chairs
SET - Recommendations




Post expectations in classrooms
Fast access to tickets
Have go-to person
Teach and remind (particularly freshmen)
► Turned
out to be good modeling for
professional development
PBIS Team: (con’t.)
► Look
at the outcomes from data review
► Create hypothesis for behavior
► Create differentiated intervention(s)
► More teaching – fewer referrals
► Documentation for why orientation was
useful
► Practice in the classroom
Defining Next Steps
Top 3 Minor Infractions by Grade Level Per 100 Students
3.5
1-3 Dress code
3
# of Referrals Per 100 Students
1-4 Classroom Disruption
2.5
2
1-3 Dress code
1.5
1-3 Dress code
1
1-4 Classroom Disruption
1-6 Tardy to class
1-4 Classroom Disruption
1-6 Tardy to class
1-3 Dress code
0.5
1-6 Tardy to class
1-4 Classroom Disruption
1-2 Leaving Class
0
Fresh
Soph
Juniors
Grade Level
Seniors
Top 3 Reasons for Major Referrals Per Every 100 Students
1.8
2-6 Profanity
1.6
2-5 Failing to Abide Rules
2-6 Profanity
# of Referrals Per 100 Students
1.4
2-5 Failing to Abide Rules
1.2
1
2-8 Defy Authority
2-6 Profanity
2-8 Defy Authority
0.8
2-5 Failing to Abide Rules
2-8 Defy Authority
0.6
2-5 Failing to Abide Rules
2-6 Profanity
0.4
2-8 Defy Authority
0.2
0
Fresh
Soph
Juniors
Grade Level
Seniors
Next action plan already set
► Turned
them loose with data and get out of
their way – going to address uniforms
► Orientations are being scheduled
► Chair – go-to person elected
► Handbook is being updated
► Teachers will be supported for training
► Professional development is being
scheduled
Conclusion
► Stay
true to the PBIS model – the scientific
exploration of behavior – i.e., …
► Save
room for falling down, we learn through
example and non-example – it took 10,000 tries to
create the light bulb
► Be
prepared to be the only one who believes, for a
period of time. This is true for students, true for
schools – Einstein did not develop the theory of
relativity by committee
► If
you are using your data, then you never have to
list struggles as failure, they become “next steps.”