California Department of Education, Special Education Division’s special project, California Services for Technical Assistance and Training (CalSTAT) is funded through a contract with the Napa County Office of Education. CalSTAT is partially funded from federal funds, State Grants #H027A080116A. Additional federal funds are provided from a federal competitively awarded State Personnel Development Grant to California (#H323A070011) provided from the U.S. Department of Education Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education act (IDEA). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U. S. Department of Education.
CalSTAT supports sites who are implementing BEST by supplying several data tools that are designed to be useful to BEST Site Teams, spurring discussion and planning while supporting data-based decision-making. Working with these tools is part of the action planning process and is integral to BEST and schoolwide PBS. The tools described below, as well as a few others, are available to download at http://calstat.org/caCadre.html.
In order to report on implementation and outcomes to stakeholders and grantors, CalSTAT conducts an ongoing evaluation of BEST which accesses some of the information recorded in these tools. BEST sites are compensated for participating in evaluation activities with a $500 annual stipend. Two items, the Program Implementation Rubric and School Profile Report, must be completed annually to receive the stipend. Once each item has been completed, submit it to your Cadre Coach/Trainer who will pass it on to CalSTAT.
This rubric describes 5 levels of implementation, from partial to exemplary, for each of 10 BEST program elements. The Site Team uses the rubric each fall and spring to assess and document which elements of BEST are being implemented while drawing attention to those needing further development. This informs the planning process as the Site Team leads the way to full implementation.
The School Profile Report gathers Behavior Incidence Data (BID) and Behavior Analysis conducted by the BEST Site Team. Data for the previous school year should be recorded and submitted by November 30th (so, 2009‐10 data is reported by November 2010). The first part is a summary of required information, totaling office discipline referrals (ODRs), suspensions, and expulsions. The second part captures some of the ODR and suspension details which have been observed by the BEST Site Team as part of their implementation and planning processes.
Self-Assessment Survey CalSTAT recommends that all BEST sites complete the EBS Self‐Assessment Survey in the first year of implementing PBS. This instrument identifies elements at your site which will present opportunities and challenges in implementing an effective positive behavior support plan.