Strategies for Success for In-School Suspension
Review the following statement and decide if it is a strategy or a rationale. Choose the most
appropriate answer.
1. To enhance student’s self esteem
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
2. Praise students’ ability to negotiate acceptable behavior.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
3. Respect the development level of students.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
4. Demonstrate appropriate behavior.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
5. To focus students on what they are capable of accomplishing.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
6. To give students a sense of connection with school responsibilities.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
7. To provide a safe environment to share concerns.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
8. To enhance the students’ self-esteem.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
9. Focus on the students’ strength.
A. Strategy
B. Rationale
10. Shift from the role of authoritarian to facilitator.
A.
Strategy
B. Rationale
Effective and Ineffective Strategies
Place an E if the statement is an effective strategy and I if the strategy is ineffective.
1) _______ Shared decision-making is needed in establishing the program.
2) ________A philosophy with clear rules, policies, and procedures should be
developed.
3) _______ Referring students for minor offenses can cause ISS to become a
dumping ground for any student misbehaviors.
4) _______Providing adequate resources and funding (i.e.,environment, instructional
materials, staff with fulltime teaching /or counseling certification) is a necessity.
Staffing ISS with existing teachers is effective but the primary need is the ability to
work well with all groups.
5) ________ Continuous program monitoring by the ISS teacher, counselor, and
social worker is essential.
6) ________ Consistent counseling is provided emphasizing problem solving.
7) ________ Academic work is constantly provided for continuity of learning.
8) ________ Parents are involved immediately.
9) ________ The lack of uniformity in the use of a school-wide behavior system can
create an overloaded, ineffective ISS program.
10) ________ Inconsistent counseling will have little or no impact on changing student
behavior.
Ripple Effects
Ripple Effects behavior training software makes it easier for your In-School Suspension (ISS) or
other suspension alternative program to provide students effective guidance, support and skill
building, without overloading an already burdened staff. Using the program for positive behavior
support in ISS is straightforward. Research on the program shows dramatic, positive behavior
change even from students using the program independently.
With Ripple Effects, ISS facilitators can quickly customize a learning plan based on each
student's behavior problems. Hundreds of topics allow individualized interventions for each
student. Bibb County Public Schools in Macon, GA and Seattle Public Schools use it today for
effective In School Suspension programs.
The Result: Behavior Change
At the conclusion of the In-School Suspension period, the student has had the chance to get
support, build skills, learn about themselves through printable self-profiles, and demonstrate all
this via printed reports they can take back to their teachers and parents. With so much material
built-in, Ripple Effects software enables schools to make ISS a learning experience that changes
behavior, not wasted time in an empty room.
How It Works: Individualized, Systematic Intervention
The ISS facilitator finds out why the student has been assigned to
ISS, and based on their offense, assigns them a set of topics in the
Ripple Effects program. For instance, a student who has been
skipping school might be assigned any or all of the following
topics: skipping school, predicting consequences, accepting
responsibility, bored, identifying the problem, brainstorming
solutions, grades, dealing with authority, suspended, and learning
style.
The length of the ISS period will determine how many topics a student can cover. Each takes
approximately 20 minutes. So, students could complete the 10 topics listed above in about three
hours. You can add or remove topics to fit the time frame, and the offense.
The ISS facilitator can easily verify that students have completed the assigned topics by
checking each student's progress report. Students can print their progress report, or the
facilitator can view it on the computer, via special administrator access.
The built-in, printable student profiles and progress tracking make it easy to share results with
parents, teachers, and counselors, to get them involved in the behavior change process.
For a more extensive program, say for a student who has skipped school, gotten in a fight,
repeatedly bullied another student, and disrupted his/her class, they could be required to
complete the topics fighting, bullying-you do it, talking back, dealing with authority, and
skipping school, as well as the skill building parts, controlling impulses (2 topics), managing
feelings (5 topics), group skills (7 topics), and empathy training (7 topics), for a total of 26 topics
over a longer ISS period.
On their own time, students can be encouraged to look up topics of interest to them (there are
391 in the program). This often prompts disclosure about problems that are at the root of their
misbehavior. For goal setting, students can use the program to learn to set goals, and complete
profiles to find out more about themselves--how they learn, their temperament, sports type,
resiliency, etc., then come up with a plan for building the skills they feel they need.
All Middle School and High School ISS programs in Clayton
County Public Schools should be using Ripple Effects. Please
put in a T-ticket if you do not have Ripple Effects on the
computers in ISS.