West Lane program focuses on good behavior

Some exceptional students at West Lane Elementary have a lunch date today with some Jackson High School celebrities.

Two students per classroom will eat lunch with members of the high school basketball team. After the meal, they'll shoot some hoops with the big guys.

It's a reward for exceptional behavior, one of the many forms of positive behavior reinforcement that has become a part of the climate at West Lane. And administrators hope its success will spread to other schools in the district.

Several West Lane staff members on Tuesday updated the Jackson School Board on the school's Positive Behavior Intervention Support Program. The initiative, now in its third year, is aimed at creating safer and more effective schools by structuring the learning environment to support the academic and social success of all students.

In other words, it's not about sending naughty Jimmy to the corner or handing out detention slips to chatty Cathy.

"It's not, 'You can't do this,' it's, 'We want you to do this,'" said Lance McClard, fourth-grade teacher at the elementary school. "For every negative remark we should be making four positives."

That's not to say that consequences and discipline go out the door, but the approach hearkens back to a basic principle: Lead by example. Or as one West Lane educator put it, "Children see positive behavior, children do positive behavior."

"It's a different mindset. We don't have rules and consequences as much as we have ways to teach what is expected," said Cynthia Matthew, West Lane principal.

Over the past decade, more than 500 schools in Missouri have adopted the program.

Discipline referrals are down, students with behavioral problems are being reached faster and attitudes in general are changing, teachers say.

West Lane's behavioral program has two levels or tiers. Tier 1 encompasses the general schoolwide systems of teaching and reinforcing appropriate social and behavior skills. At its core is the school's code of conduct, which becomes inculcated in the students and the culture. It's heavy on positive reinforcement. At West Lane, students are subject to "gotcha tickets," issued when they are caught being good. If they get enough tickets, they earn rewards, like time in the principal's chair, or a day to kick off their shoes and relax. The VIP program is part of the rewards system, where positive behavior earns lunch with the mayor or the police chief or other Jackson celebrities.

Tier 2 is for students who need more intervention for behavioral issues, generally students who need more adult attention. The level includes a "check in/check out" program, in which an adviser meets with the child first thing in the morning and again in the afternoon to track behavioral goals. Students are responsible for rating their progress.

Rita Fisher, assistant superintendent for the Jackson School District, said South Elementary School is just beginning to implement the program, and the intent is to take it to other schools in the district.

"It's making a difference," she said.

mkittle@semissourian.com

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