Program aims to help students' behavior

For educators, there's nothing quite as valuable as time spent teaching students in the classroom, but sometimes disruptive students make that difficult. In recent years, local school districts have adopted a program called Positive Behavior Intervention Support to help add those minutes back into the day -- and it works, officials say.

PBIS uses positive reinforcement to get children back on track, or keep them there, by laying out expectations for all students whether it's in the classroom, on the playground or on the school bus.

The program works in a pyramid form where the base accommodates 80 to 90 percent of students who generally understand what's being taught; 5 to 10 percent may need targeted interventions; and 1 to 5 percent need intensive intervention, according to material on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

PBIS has been used in Missouri for more than 10 years, said Sherry Copeland, assistant superintendent for academic services for the Cape Girardeau School District. The first schools to use it in Cape Girardeau started about three years ago.

"We're not just teaching to a whole group setting. We are differentiating and tiering our instruction, because we are trying to get everyone to succeed and not leave them behind," Copeland said.

Sometimes, Copeland said, if a student doesn't "get" what they're being taught, it increases the risk of bad behavior, which reduces instruction time.

"They don't want the other kids to know they don't know," she said.

Cape Girardeau Central Middle School, and Clippard and Franklin elementary schools started using the program about three years ago.

Central Middle School principal Rex Crosnoe said PBIS, like the Power of ICU -- which doesn't let students take zeros in subjects and gives them extra help to achieve that goal -- is a different mindset for schools.

PBIS differentiates what teachers take care of and what administrators take care of, said Rae Ann Alpers, Central Middle School assistant principal. It's also meant to ensure that children are learning, whether it's in the classroom or in a separate environment.

"We're not going to allow one student to disrupt the learning of other students," Alpers said. She added the behavior may just be a problem for one day, or it could be chronic.

"Finding out the reason for their behavior is huge," Crosnoe said. The student could be hungry, or something could be going on at home and the student needs someone to talk to, he said.

"We have a set of expectations for children throughout the building," Crosnoe said. "Those children meeting those expectations are rewarded for it, so teachers are focusing on the positive. There are still punitive things out there, but you're able to give the praise to those children that are doing the expectations."

The schools also have mottos, such as ROAR at Central Middle School, which stands for Responsible Organized Always Safe and Respectful, Crosnoe said. With this acronym, the school can incorporate Katy Perry's song by the same name.

Rewards come through tickets students earn that can be "cashed in" monthly for things such as parties, a chance to socialize with friends or play games.

"We ask the children what would be something they'd like to have that would be a reward that would be neat to do. We've even used the swimming pool. That may be a high ticket item. We did that ... between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, a time when children are distracted," Crosnoe said.

Because the children wanted to swim, they were more focused on their class work leading up to Christmas.

From the first year of PBIS to the second, Crosnoe said office discipline referrals dropped by one third.

"I would anticipate it's going to drop even more this year," he said.

Jackson's West Lane Elementary School, which has grades three through five, is in its seventh year with what it calls School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports. Principal Cynthia Matthew said all of Jackson's elementary campuses use the program.

Matthew said that when students know what's expected and those expectations are uniform, they are willing to comply.

"We are kind of putting the ball back in their court. It helps with the overall environment of the school. It's more positive. Kids sometimes hold each other accountable," she said.

From 2008 until now, office discipline referrals have dropped from 286 to 96, adding a total of 3,800 minutes of instructional time to the day. The first year, when referrals dropped from 286 to 202, 1,680 minutes were added to the day, according to Matthew's data.

"We calculate that is takes approximately 20 [minutes] of instructional and learning time to handle each referral," Matthew wrote in an email.

Throughout the school, the language and expectations are the same.

A couple of examples are the acronym KHAFOOTY, meaning "Keep Hands and Feet and Other Objects to Yourself," which is posted around Jackson elementary schools, and the "1-2-3" rule. Under the 1-2-3 rule, if someone is bothering a student on the playground, the student should ask their peer to stop; the next step is to walk away; and the third is to tell an adult, Matthew said.

"We have lessons for every part of our matrix and every part of our building and we reteach it," Matthew said. "All of our teachers have the same lessons that we teach, reinforcing the same behavior."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

1900 Thilenius St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2880 Hopper Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

1550 Themis St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

338 North West Lane, Jackson, Mo.