| Positive behavior support is an application of a
behaviorally-based systems approach to enhance the capacity
of schools, families, and communities to design effective
environments that improve the fit or link between research-validated
practices and the environments in which teaching and
learning occurs. Attention is focused on creating and
sustaining primary (school-wide), secondary (classroom),
and tertiary (individual) systems of support that improve
lifestyle results (personal, health, social, family,
work, recreation) for all children and youth by making
problem behavior less effective, efficient, and relevant,
and desired behavior more functional.
What is
Primary Prevention?
Primary Prevention involves system-wide efforts to
prevent new cases of a condition or disorder. For example,
giving children vaccinations against common diseases
such as measles and chicken pox is done to prevent initial
occurrences of these diseases. As a system-wide Primary
Prevention effort in schools, positive behavior support
consists of rules, routines, and physical arrangements
that are developed and taught by school staff to prevent
initial occurrences of problem behavior. For example,
to prevent injuries to students caused by running in
hallways, schools may develop Primary Preventions by
1) establishing and teaching the rule, “walk in the
hallways;” 2) creating a routine in which staff station
themselves in the hallways during transition times to
supervise the movement of pupils; or 3) altering the
physical arrangement, such as making sure that an adult
is with any group of students when they are in the hallways.
What are
we trying to prevent?
It goes without saying that we want to prevent the
major “behavioral earthquakes” that we hear about in
the news: violent acts against teachers or other students,
theft, bullying behavior, drug use, and the like. However,
research has taught us that efforts to prevent these
serious problems are more successful if the “host environment”—the
school as a whole—supports the adoption and use of evidence-based
practices. Practices that meet these criteria include
teaching and rewarding students for complying with a
small set of basic rules for conduct, such as “be safe,”
be responsible,” and “be respectful.” These rules translate
into sets of expectations that differ according to various
settings in the school. Thus, on the playground “be
safe” means stay within boundaries and follow the rules
of the game. In hallways and on stairs, it means to
keep your hands and feet to yourself and to walk on
the right side. Some parents and educators believe that
students come to school knowing these rules of conduct,
and that those who don’t follow them simply should be
punished. However, research and experience has taught
us that systematically teaching behavioral expectations
and rewarding students for following them is a much
more positive approach than waiting for misbehavior
to occur before responding. It also establishes a climate
in which appropriate behavior is the norm. Finally,
the use of Primary Prevention strategies has been shown
to result in dramatic reductions in the number of students
being sent to the office for discipline in elementary
and middle schools across the United States and Canada.
In effect, by teaching and encouraging positive student
behavior (i.e., positive behavior support), we reduce
the “white noise” of common but constant student disruption
that distracts us from focusing intervention expertise
on the more serious problems mentioned above.
How is Primary
Prevention implemented in schools?
As with any effort to create change in an organization,
the first step is to gain consensus on several issues:
1) Is there a problem that we need and want to address?
2) What is the nature of this problem?
3) What are we going to do about it?
The most efficient way to establish consensus is to
arrange a meeting of the entire school staff (teachers
and aides, administrators, office and cafeteria workers,
custodians, counselors, etc.) to discuss these questions.
If the majority of staff respond proactively to these
questions (e.g., “Yes, student behavior is a problem
and we want to do something about it;” “The rates of
office disciplinary referrals from classrooms and the
cafeteria have increased 50% since the last quarter;”
“We will implement a school-wide disciplinary plan based
on positive behavior support”), the next step is to
conduct further assessments, as necessary, and then
to agree on a set of strategies to address the problem(s).
(Procedural Flow
Chart) Typically, all of this can be accomplished
in a facilitated one-day meeting of the entire school
staff. An important rule for establishing consensus
is that at least 80% of all staff must agree on the
problems and the strategies to address them, and make
a commitment to implement the strategies as planned.
Obviously, some Primary Prevention strategies will be
easier to implement than others. This is why it is important
for all staff in the school to have input and to agree
on which strategies will be implemented and commit to
use these.
What if
Primary Prevention doesn’t work?
Primary Prevention, through positive behavior support,
does work for over 80% of all students in a given school
(based on a criterion of the number of students who
have one or fewer office discipline referrals per month).
But obviously, it will not work for everyone. For a
variety of reasons, some students do not respond to
the kinds of efforts that make up Primary Prevention,
just as some children are not completely protected by
vaccinations. Putting into place systematic Primary
Prevention strategies offers two advantages: First,it
reduces the “white noise” caused by large numbers of
office discipline referrals for minor problems. As we
suggested earlier, this volume of referrals obscures
and distracts our attention from more serious problems.
Second, having a system for documenting the occurrence
of problem behaviors (e.g., office discipline referrals)
provides a way to determine which students need more
intensive intervention. For example, the criterion for
considering the need for moving into secondary prevention
for a student or group of students might be 4 or more
office discipline referrals in a month. Without Primary
Prevention, of course, the number of students meeting
this criteria and needing additional help will be much
larger.
More information on Primary Prevention can be found
in the Online Library in the menu on the top of the
website page. You will find links to demonstration sites
and resources, lists of recent Center publications,
learn about upcoming conferences, download Power Points
from past presentations, and find out whether there
are state-wide or district-wide PBS efforts occurring
in your state.
|
Sitemap
