At Lyon Academy at Blow Elementary, a high-poverty preK–8 magnet school, behavior was a big issue. In fact, a couple years ago, our school had one of the highest percentages of out-of-school suspensions in St. Louis Public Schools. We wanted to reduce the number of suspensions and find ways to deter the behaviors that were putting students out of school.
After implementing Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), we decided that we needed a way to better track how teachers responded to student behaviors. One of our teachers created a spreadsheet to track student behavior, but it was inconsistently used, so we didn't always have supporting data when we met with parents to discuss behavior. The biggest problem, however, was that teachers were using the spreadsheet to track only negative behaviors, which made it challenging to create an environment where students felt safe and supported. With PBIS, we wanted students' positive choices to be acknowledged and used as the foundation for sustaining good behavior. But in practice, we were simply applying another punitive measure that put students on the defensive.
A Positive Focus, Schoolwide
To help our teachers shift from punishing negative behaviors to rewarding positive behaviors, we decided to try something new. In fall 2014, we rolled out an instructional management solution called Kickboard in every classroom in kindergarten through 8th grade.
Although our teachers use the instructional management system to track all behaviors (Kickboard has options for tracking both positive and negative actions), our focus is on the positive. So, to promote positive behaviors and feedback, our school leadership team decided to implement a paycheck-based PBIS reward system in Kickboard by assigning a dollar value to each positive behavior. We aim to have a positivity ratio—the ratio of positive to negative behaviors that a teacher records—of at least 3:1 to help our teachers build stronger relationships with our students. This means that before teachers can enter a negative behavior in the system, we ask that they try to reward at least three positive behaviors. Then, each week, students are recognized for their positive behaviors with a "paycheck," which they can use in the school store or for incentives such as dress-down days or school dances.
The team also developed a consequence hierarchy—specific student actions would trigger specific educator responses, within the system. These automatic triggers make it easy for teachers to know when to call parents or when to send a student to the counselor or to our Reflection Room, which is our version of an in-school suspension. They also ensure that consequences are applied fairly and consistently schoolwide.
Parent Partnerships
In addition, teachers can easily print and share weekly progress reports with parents to boost their participation in their child's success at school. These reports show parents a weekly snapshot of their child's behavior, as well as academics. Parents are excited to see everything their child is doing in class—especially the positive behaviors. Having this data also makes it easier to conference with a student or a parent and paint a better picture of how the student is performing.
School Culture Transformed
Our focus on positive behaviors not only supports our PBIS model, but it has also changed the way our teachers interact with our students. As a result, we have seen a huge transformation in our school culture. Students are happier, teachers are happier, and we have fewer discipline infractions.
Four years ago, during my first year teaching here, we had more than 200 suspensions. Since then, we have dramatically reduced the number of both in-school and out-of-school suspensions. During the 2014–15 school year, we have had only 3 out-of-school suspensions, and we have drastically reduced the number of students being sent to our Reflection Room.
Positive reinforcement has been our game changer. Before, students were scared of getting in trouble for doing the wrong thing. Now, students and staff are focused on the right thing—recognizing, rewarding, and repeating those positive behaviors.