Strategies: Irvine High School
Students are taught the expected behaviors during Advisement and all teachers use the expected behaviors in developing their classroom discipline systems. Students are reinforced for demonstrating the expected behaviors in various settings across the school campus. Students with misbehaviors receive an office discipline referral and detention. Should the student not meet his/her contract a referral to the targeted group intervention (In- House Program) is initiated where students identify their motivation, review data, establish replacement behavior and set a goal. The student is then placed on a weekly check-in, check-out system with the Project Success Counselor to increase self-monitoring skills for meeting the targeted outcome. Teachers are notified and reinforcement rates increased for the targeted behavior. Detentions are cleared and parents are contacted. Referrals for family counseling, parent classes, academic support, Student Study Team, and various interventions are considered. A new contract is established and the student returns to school. Those students requiring further interventions are referred to the Student Study Team and/or for an individualized assessment.
The lack of discipline is viewed as one of the most serious challenges facing public school (National Education Goals Report, 1995) and teachers report that “uncivil” behavior is increasing and is a threat to effective learning (Skiba and Perterson, 2000; Sugai and Horner, 1999). Exclusion and punishment are the most common responses to behavior problems in schools (Rose, 1988) and we know that exclusion and punishment are ineffective at producing long-term reduction in problem behavior (Costenbader & Markson, 1988). Punishing problem behaviors without a proactive support system is associated with increases in aggression, vandalism, truancy, and dropping out (Mayer, 1995). With additional challenges presented by the increase in diversity of our student populations, the increase demand for special needs students to be educated with their peers and the significant deficits in funding it remains crucial for schools to develop effective and efficient responses to these challenges.
Research findings in reviews of over 600 studies on how to reduce school discipline problems indicate the least effective response to school violence is punishment (Gottfredsc, 1997, Lipsey, 1991,1992; Tolan, Guerra, 1994; Elliott, Hambur, Williams, 1998). The same research reviews indicate that the most effective responses to school violence are social skills training, academic restructuring, and behavioral expectations. Research findings also state that 40% of classroom time is spent on transitions getting ready to learn (Gunther, 2000). Arranging environments to maximize opportunities for academic achievement and improving teaching practices will increase teacher capacity and instructional minutes (Sugai, 1992).
Positive Behavior Support teaches, models, reinforces and evaluates the outcomes of pro-social behaviors across settings while providing supports to teachers and students in a timely fashion to make the necessary changes in a positive school climate. It creates a proactive culture of competence that is able to sustain change and adapt to the needs of the constituents as effectively and efficiently as possible (Horner, R. H., & Sugai, G., 2000)
Irvine High School reports significant improvements in our outcomes of improved school attendance and increased instructional minutes. Further data indicates increases in suspensions and office disciplinereferrals per day per month. In contextualizing the data the increases are due to improved data collection and the staff’s increased use in monitoring referrals for minor behaviors (see attachment C, D, E, F, G, and H). The Instructional Council and Behavior Team reviewed the data with the staff. This year the school is beginning the process of targeting improved on-time behavior as a behavioral outcome.
Last updated: 11/14/2011