A recent article published on the mlive.com website-a website that covers news and events from across the state of Michigan-that covered the plans of implementing a new method of behavior and classroom management. This article, titled “Rockford schools to pilot behavior program at Meadow Ridge Elementary” written by Monica Scott, outlines the schools plan to implement a new program for student behavior at this school within the Rockford school district. The elementary school that will be participating in this pilot program is Meadow Ridge Elementary school, a school of approximately 600 general education and special education students from kindergarten up to 5th grade (Scott, 2013) . This school currently uses a variety of individual behavior plans in conjunction with school wide rules for behavior to manage the behavior of its students in and out of the classroom. Starting in the fall of 2013, this school will start using the PBIS method for improving student learning and behavior in the schools (Scott, 2013).
PBIS- or Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, is currently used in more than 16,000 schools across the United States and there are 790 schools that are implementing this program in Michigan (Scott, 2013). PBIS is a method that involves teaching behavior and sets behavioral guidelines as if they were any other core subject area taught in the school (US Department of Education, 2009). This method often includes teachers, parents, and other adults that work with students to create an environment for students to learn in a safe and productive way (Scott, 2013). By including everyone, from students to all of the teachers that interact with the students, a community is created that helps foster learning for each student. Adults that work with students in the school help students learn appropriate behaviors by teaching the appropriate behaviors, modeling these behaviors, and using positive reinforcement (Scott 2013).
The benefits of this program have been seen in schools all across the country. Many schools that use this program see a decline in the amount of negative behaviors seen in the classroom and learning is improved when students can focus on learning and not the behaviors of students around them. This also gives the schools in Michigan-and other areas-that are new to the program an advantage. Schools that are new to the PBIS program can see what strategies have worked in other schools, talk to teachers and administrators in these schools to talk about the program, and create their program based on the research that already exists on the subject. The high prevalence of this program in other schools also means that the likelihood that a new teacher entering the school has already had some level of exposure to the PBIS method is high; these new teachers with experience with PBIS will be able to help further integrate this program into their classrooms and the school overall.
PBIS allows for teachers, parents, and other adults to all be engaged in the education of students. By ensuring that the same methods are being taught in the classroom and at home, the positive behaviors that are taught in school can be reinforced at home. Often times, lessons that are taught in school by teachers is lost because the positive behaviors as not reinforced at home by the parents. By keeping the parents in the loop and making sure that they understand the expectations that are established in school, teachers can ensure that these expectations are also set at home for the students.
Using programs like PBIS in new schools is interesting to read about. Many people are already familiar with the program because it is already present in schools in their area, but for new teachers being introduced to the program it is a big change. Although this is a change for these teachers, the administrators in this-and many districts, see PBIS as an important method to prevent behavioral problems and reduce the need for intense and individual interventions (Scott, 2013). Being proactive about shaping behavior in students helps create a more positive and efficient learning environment than being reactive to problems that arise. The research surrounding PBIS shows that this program has been successful in many of the schools that use it and schools in Michigan that have already implemented the program have seen progress (Scott, 2013). The success of the program in this school will be closely monitored and it would be very interesting to see the results that they see in just a few years at this school!
References
Scott, M. (2013, June 25). Rockford schools to pilot behavior program at meadow ridge elementary. Retrieved from http://www.mlive.com/news/grand- rapids/index.ssf/2013/06/rockford_schools_to_pilot_beha.html
US Department of Education. (2009, May 24). School-wide pbis. Retrieved from http://www.pbis.org/school/default.aspx
