ISSUE: December 2011

Educators cannot “make” students learn or behave. Educators can create environments to increase the likelihood students learn and behave. Environments that increase the likelihood are guided by a core curriculum and implemented with consistency and fidelity. -Tim Lewis, PBIS National Technical Assistance Center.

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December is a month of changing weather, shorter days, holiday celebrations and vacation! December also held the first annual VTPBiS Science of Implementation Leadership Launch. Facilitated by national PBIS expert, Susan Barrett, thirty-four school leadership teams representing sixteen supervisory unions/districts, learned how to apply the implementation science framework to PBIS implementation and sustainability. Participants focused on their stage of implementation, leadership team infrastructure and strategies for overcoming implementation dips. As stated by one participant - “I was impressed with the training, and came away with a greater understanding of the importance of both teacher and student buy-in, as well as how important collecting data is to the fidelity of the initiatives.”

Implementation dips discussed at the VTPBiS Implementation Science Leadership Launch (also highlighted in Keeping RtI on Track by VanDerHeyden and Tilly) included:

1. The model is too loosely defined.

2. Interventions are not managed well.

3 The results are poor or are not known.

4. The implementation has lost momentum after some period of initial enthusiasm.

Are you struggling with these issues? If so, you will be pleased to know that the January VTPBiS Regional Coordinators Meetings will focus on strategies to identify, repair and prevent these challenges in PBIS implementation. For the dates and locations of the January meetings go to http://www.pbisvermont.org/events/regional-coordinators-meetings.

Here are highlights and announcements for December:

If you are a SWIS user, now is a good time to run a SWIS Data Integrity Report. This report indicates whether or not you have duplicate information or any data entry errors. To run this report login

to SWIS and go to the Main Menu and click "Data Integrity Report" found under the Tools section. Make sure all items are checked and then click "Generate Report." A report will be produced indicating any errors you may have. For further questions please contact Cassandra Townshend at

. Also, review and analyze your data to date. What problems are occurring? Where and when are they occurring? Who is involved? Why do they keep happening? Addressing these questions will help your team develop strategies for better solutions.

It’s not too late to register for the following workshops:

·  Introduction and Practice in Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Planning (BIP), a two-part workshop series with Ken Kramberg, Richard Boltax and Tiffany Cassano - January 13th and 20th, 2012, http://www.pbisvermont.org/events/list-of-events/month.calendar/2012/01/20/2|3

·  Life Space Interventions: A Relationship Building Skills Workshop, with Ken Kramberg, January 11, 2012, http://www.pbisvermont.org/events/list-of-events/cat.listevents/2011/12/20/

That’s all for now! Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season! Please enjoy our holiday card at http://www.uvm.edu/~cdci/best/pbswebsite/vtpbisholiday2011.mov

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