Establishing an Effective Network of
PB4L: School wide Coaches
Tim Lewis, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports
pbis.org
Build parallel systemic processes
1. Provide school/district teams with a process
to address the presenting challenge
(SWPBS)
2. Develop a parallel process for
districts/regions to support school
implementation and continue to expand with
integrity (District /National Leadership Team)
Funding
Visibility
Political
Support
Policy
LEADERSHIP TEAM
(Coordination)
Training
Coaching
Evaluation
Local School/District Implementation
Demonstrations
Behavioral
Expertise
District Initiative
District
Coordinator / Trainer
PBS Coaches/
Trainers
School Teams
Most Training
Guskey (1986, 2000)
• Nearly every major work on the topic of staff
development has emphasized the failings of
these efforts.
• Majority of staff development fail to consider
two factors: "What motivates teachers to
engage in staff development, and the process
by which change in teachers typically takes
place" (p. 6).
• Considerations:
– Change is a slow, difficult, gradual process;
– Teachers need to receive regular feedback on
student learning outcomes; and
– Continued support and follow-up are necessary
after initial training.
“Train & Hope”
REACT to
Problem
Behavior
WAIT for
New
Problem
Expect, But
HOPE for
Implementation
Select &
ADD
Practice
Hire EXPERT
to Train
Practice
PD to Change Staff Behavior
Staff
Development
Change in
Teacher
Practice
Change in
Student
Outcomes
Change in
Teacher
Beliefs
Guskey, 1986
Blueprint Logic - Training
• Assess and map training to school team
“readiness”
• Training targets focus on specific steps in
building a continuum of behavioral supports
• All training should be outcome based with
measurable goals (along with tool to measure)
• Trainers must master and demonstrate
competency on essential features
Most Technical Assistance
• Relies on expert model
• Case by case
• Contingent upon funding streams and/or
student eligibility
• Often poor fit within an instructional model
Rethinking Technical Assistance
• Moving from a case by case expert model to building
expertise in the school
• Focus of all TA is on teaching the school team to solve
problems or address challenges for themselves
• Shift from providing answers to asking questions
• Shift from developing plans to prompting plan
development
• Shift from being viewed as the expert to being viewed
as a facilitator
• Will not replace need for specialist, re-focus all to
building capacity
Blueprint Logic – Technical Assistance
• Key competencies and skill sets of TA
providers provided
• Basic logic of SW-PBS problem solving
adhered to across all related activities (datapractices –systems)
• Tools and measures to assist in process
• School Team(s) are target of all TA
Building the Blue Print
Phases of Implementation
Exploration
 Installation
 Initial Implementation
 Full Implementation
 Innovation
 Sustainability

Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005
2 – 4 Years
Coaching within SWPBS Implementation
• Defining the Role
• Internal vs External
• Selecting Coaches
• Training and support for coaches
• Assessing Impact
Coaching Defined
• Coaching is the active and iterative delivery of:
– (a) prompts that increase successful behavior, and
– (b) corrections that decrease unsuccessful behavior.
– Coaching is done by someone with credibility and
experience with the target skill(s)
– Coaching is done on-site, in real time
– Coaching is done after initial training
– Coaching is done repeatedly (e.g. monthly)
– Coaching intensity is adjusted to need
Communications
network
Prompting &
reminding
Guidance for
team startup
Technical
assistance
COACHING
FUNCTIONS
(enabling)
Positive
reinforcement
Resource access
Problem solving
Data-based
decision making
Outcomes of Coaching
• Fluency with trained skills
• Adaptation of trained concepts/skills to local
contexts and challenges
• And new challenges that arise
• Rapid redirection from miss-applications
• Increased fidelity of overall implementation
• Improved sustainability
• Most often due to ability to increase coaching intensity
at critical points in time.
Who should be a coach
Coaching Competencies
Necessary
Preferred
Participate in team training
Knowledge about SWPBS
Able to attend team meetings at
least monthly
Knowledge about behavior support
practices (targeted, individual)
Effective working with adults
Skilled in collection and use of data
for decision-making.
Knowledgeable about school
operating systems
Professional Commitment
Coach Competencies
“Coaching Considerations”
Direct to
Indirect
Specialized to
General
Formal to
Informal
Frequent to
Infrequent
Predictable to
Unpredictable
Internal to
External
Individual to
Group
Trainers
• Train more than you think you need
• Levels of skill development
• Organized around Phases of Implementation
– Team Member
– Team Leader
– Coach
– Trainer
– Coach Coordinator
– Regional/State Coordinator
Illinois Network 2009
Tools To Assist
• Identify Progress Monitoring Tool
– Tier I
•
•
•
•
•
Team Implementation Checklist
Benchmarks of Quality
School-wide Evaluation Tool
School Assessment Survey
SWIS
– Tier II/III
• CICO Progress Monitoring Tool
• Benchmark for Advance Tiers (BAT)
SW-PBS Lessons Learned
Invest in 1-3 yrs of on-going professional development
Provide annual boosters
Establish school & district/regional COACHING
Annual self-assessment of integrity & outcomes
Integrate initiatives with similar outcomes
Establish local content & implementation expertise
Establishing an Effective Network of
PB4L: School wide Coaches
Tim Lewis, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports
pbis.org