Reaching and Maintaining PBIS Operational Level in an Alternative Setting

“After 3 years of changing obstacles into challenges and challenges into goals, we have been able to reach and maintain operational level under PBIS. An operational school has scored 80% on school-wide benchmarks of quality; school-wide benchmarks of quality consider the critical elements of PBS team, faculty commitment, effective procedures for dealing with discipline, data analysis, and the development of rules and expectations. This journey has been a teaching experience for our staff and students at Elam Alexander Academy, GNETS program. PBIS is about creating school-wide discipline codes of conduct that align with the PBIS framework, using problem solving process to reduce office discipline referrals, acknowledgement systems, and creating an overall positive school climate. In order for our team to maintain operational level we have to continually meet to review data and provide strategies and interventions that effectively impact our school. We would like to share lessons from our journey and to share experiences with others who envision the same process. Participants will become familiar with specific strategies of implementing school-wide PBIS, learn a framework for evaluating school-wide behavior data, and understand the need for comprehensive plans for wraparound support. Participants will achieve these objectives through process analysis, in-depth case study, collaborative planning, and a question and answer session.