Transcript: SWPBS practice examples
1. Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support, or SWPBS, is an evidence-based, whole school
framework for supporting student behaviour so that teaching and learning can occur.
2. When considering adopting and implementing SWPBS in your school you will need to
consider three factors:
 First, why do we need SWPBS? It is important that the whole staff establishes the
need for SWPBS and that support is led by the principal.
 Second, how does SWPBS operate? What does it look like in a school, and how will
it look in ours?
 Finally, what do we need to do as a school to implement SWPBS? How do we access
training and support to do this?
3. In this presentation practice examples will be used to illustrate the 7 essential features of
SWPBS.
 When viewing these examples, remember that no two SWPBS schools look the same,
and that the developmental appropriateness of SWPBS implementation materials is
the responsibility of the SWPBS school leadership team.
 SWPBS coaches and Regional Coordinators are able to assist schools with
developmentally appropriate exemplars
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4. Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support is a region or school’s process for teaching expected
social and behavioural skills so the focus can be on teaching and learning.
5. The 7 Essential Features of SWPBS are:
 The principal is actively involved, ensures strategic support, visibility and funding for
SWPBS. [Click]
 Staff has a common purpose and approach to discipline. [Click]
 The school has 3-4 positively stated and clearly defined behavioural expectations.
[Click]
 Behavioural expectations are explicitly taught to all students. [Click]
 A continuum of procedures exists for encouraging expected behaviours. [Click]
 A continuum of procedures exists for discouraging inappropriate behaviours. [Click]
 Data collection procedures exist for measuring the implementation and
effectiveness of SWPBS.
6. The principal is not expected to lead SWPBS implementation on a day to day basis.
However, no new initiative will thrive in a school without the principal’s active support.
In SWPBS the principal’s active involvement means:
 Providing strategic support to SWPBS by explaining to the whole school community
how SWPBS works with other key priorities to improve teaching and learning
outcomes.
 Providing adequate resources to support SWPBS training, team meetings and
implementation activities.
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Ensuring there is sufficient and effective communication with teachers, students and
parents about SWPBS implementation activities, and that SWPBS is visible in the
school newsletter and on the school’s website.
7. “The principal must be at the forefront if SWPBS is to be effective and if positive outcomes
are to be sustained. There must be a conscious allocation of time and resources by the
principal to sustain the effect.”
8. A common purpose and approach to discipline involves:
 Forming a representative team to coach the school in implementing SWPBS.
 Completing an audit of initiatives, programs, projects and committees currently
running and evaluating these as shown.
 Involving all staff in the formulation of schoolwide discipline features, e.g.
o The school’s behaviour expectations and their definitions.
o The school’s procedures for encouraging positive behaviour.
o The school’s consequences for discouraging inappropriate behaviour.
o The school’s routine for active supervision in classroom and non-classroom
areas of the school.
o The school’s procedures for the collection, summary and use of behavioural
data for decision making.
9. Schoolwide expectations should be positively stated and not exceed five in number.
Formulating and selecting the expectations involves all staff in discussion and agreement
through consensus.
This primary school has 4 expectations: Be Safe, Be Friendly, Be Respectful, Be a Learner.
10. This high school has 3 expectations: Be a Learner, Be Safe, Be Respectful
11. All the specific behaviours required of students can be derived from the schoolwide
expectations.
 This is achieved by defining each expectation within specific school and classroom
routines and placing them within an expectations matrix such as the one shown for
a primary school.
 All teachers and administrators are involved in producing the matrix content. This
ensures that the unique values and culture of the school community are respected.
 The Expectations are also a teaching matrix. The routines and the specific
behaviours within each routine are then explicitly taught to all students.
12. This is an example of a high school expectations matrix.
13. Teaching the expectations is fundamental to the success of SWPBS in preventing problem
behaviour.
 Specific expectation’s lessons are taken directly from the matrix. Teaching the
school expectations as a set of specific behaviours embedded in school and
classroom routines ensures that students learn them in a directly practical and
useful way.
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Younger students are taught the routines in the settings in which they are required.
Lesson plans are provided to all teachers. The lessons are differentiated by each
teacher as required and delivered as explicit instruction: Students are shown the
rule; the teacher models examples of the rule and non-examples of the rule; the
students are given opportunities to practice and given immediate feedback on their
ability. The feedback may be corrective or positive.
 There are numerous examples of lesson plans within SWPBS resources available to
schools. Lesson plans are adapted by schools and should include school-specific
information.
14. Expectations lessons in high school settings are generally shorter and involve less modelling,
especially for older students.
Video examples are often used and all staff increase the levels of positive feedback and
reminders given to students regarding the “Rule of the Week” throughout the year.
15. Each SWPBS school has a schoolwide schedule for teaching the expectations.
 Staff are asked to decide on the specific expectations and routines to be taught
through consensus.
 Once the schedule is completed lessons are reviewed and retaught throughout the
year based on behaviour data.
16. Research tells us that students do the right thing 80% of the time but are recognised for
positive behaviour less than 2% of the time.
 In SWPBS “Encouragement,” “Performance Feedback,” “Acknowledgement” and
“Recognition” are synonymous with positive reinforcement.
 Positive reinforcement refers to something being said or given following a behaviour
which increases the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again in similar conditions
in the future.
 “Encouragement,” “Performance Feedback,” “Acknowledgement” “Reward” and
“Recognition” are only potential positive reinforcers. If they do not result in a
strengthening of the positive behaviour in the future then they have not by
definition reinforced the behaviour.
 Positive reinforcement delivered to students can be verbal or material or a
combination of both.
 Schools have always given prizes for top performing students. The aim of
schoolwide positive reinforcement is to extend this system to all students observed
doing the right thing.
 “Gotchas” or small educational prizes are an easy way to catch students being good,
and these can be tied in to more powerful reinforcers, such as Student of the Week
or Student of the Month.
 SWPBS schools are encouraged to aim high. If 80% of students get a Student of the
Week certificate or 70% get a Student of the Month award, schools can be certain
they are acknowledging positive behaviour at the correct rate.
17. The key to managing problem behaviour is to intervene effectively to correct minor problem
behaviour, and to prevent its escalation.
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Problem behaviours are defined and staff in each SWPBS school agree on local
examples.
Schools distinguish which behaviours are minors (with an expectation that these will
be teacher managed) and which behaviours are majors (which will be office
managed, or managed at a school administrative level.
For minor behaviours schools develop a continuum of procedures, beginning with a
correction and a request by the teacher that the student demonstrates the correct
behaviour. Teachers may refer minor behaviour to a colleague or a buddy classroom,
depending on agreed procedures within the school.
For major behaviours schools develop a continuum of procedures, beginning with
the student being sent or escorted to the office or other administrative level.
18. Consistency is important for ensuring that problem behaviour is dealt with effectively and
efficiently.
All SWPBS schools develop a general procedure for dealing with problem behaviour. Staff
are given training in its use.
19. SWPBS is data driven.
Schools collect SWPBS implementation data (to track their progress with measurable
implementation) and behaviour data (for decision making and to see if their efforts are
making a difference)
20. These data measure seven features of SWPBS implementation across three years.
An implementation average is produced in the right-hand column.
In SWPBS “Achieved” status requires an 80% score on each feature measured.
21. These data show the average number of discipline referrals per day per month across 3
years of SWPBS implementation. 2009 (blue columns) is baseline.
 Calculating referrals per day per month takes into account the number of school
days in each month, thus producing more reliable data.
 Yearly averages can be seen on the far right.
 Behaviour referral reduction data can be correlated with academic outcomes data;
suspensions and exclusions data; and attendance data, as well as with school
opinion surveys.
 These data can also be sliced to show behaviour (what specific behaviours occurred),
location (where the behaviours occurred), time (when the behaviours occurred), and
student (who was involved in the behaviours). Data are used by the SWPBS
implementation team for decision-making, and are regularly shared with staff,
students and parents.
22. Investing in SWPBS with integrity results in:
 Change in school discipline systems.
 Reduction in problem behaviour.
 Improved academic performance.
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Savings in staff and student time.
Improved effectiveness of individual interventions.
Improved perception of school safety, mental health
23. On the left side of this graph is the number of recorded behaviour incidents in the year prior
to the school implementing SWPBS.
Although reductions in recorded behaviour incidents can be dramatic it will never reduce to
zero. However, large amounts of saving in teacher, administrator and student time have
been achieved.
24. Using its behaviour data this school has achieved a higher than average percentage of
students receiving Tier 1 supports, and a lower than average percentage of students
receiving Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports.
25. Cost benefit analyses are calculated using office discipline referrals (majors), with each
referral costing on average 15 minutes of school administrator time and 30 minutes of
student time out of class.
 By reducing the number of behaviour incidents this school recovered 21 days of
student time in 2011 (based on a 5-hour day) and 11 days of school administrator
time (based on an 8-hour day).
 In 2012, 36 days of student time and 18 days of administrator time were recovered.
26. These are NAPLAN data from the same school, showing relative gains (in green) in NAPLAN
across 3 cohorts of students of 87%, 97% and 79% of total students in each cohort.
27. These data indicate big percentages of students coming off behaviour management plans as
SWPBS implementation increases.
28. This SWPBS school compares its Parent Opinion Survey results with a like school in the
region and with the state average.
29. These school behaviour data indicate reductions in behaviour incident referrals and an
increase in the number of positive behaviour referrals received by students.
30. These State High School data reflect decreases in suspensions over the two years since
beginning to implement SWPBS.
31. More information about SWPBS and support materials can be found on:
 Education Queensland’s SWPBS OnePortal intranet website.
 Education Queensland’s SWPBS web pages.
 The Positive Behavioural Interventions and Support (United States Department of
Education) main website.