Information About the Tonasket School District

Information about the Tonasket School District:

We are a rural school district in north central Washington. Our demographics are not terribly unique for this area: 63% Free and reduced meals, 66.6% Caucasian, 27% Hispanic with an ELL / Migrant population of 11.9 and .9% respectively. Of the nearly 1,100 students in our district (1,078 to be precise) approximately 45% attend the elementary school.

We have a problem solving / positive reinforcement room. Currently it is staffed by one para educator. In the past it was supported by both a certificated and classified staff member. We came to realize that while the Cub Den was effective, it had generated some unexpected negative consequences. It was over used and we were generating over 900 referrals a year, thus peaking our interest in a solution.

Our interest in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports led us (Tonasket Elementary) to become one of the pilot schools in the state. We attended initial training in the late summer of 2007 and began implementation during the 07/08 school year.

In September 2008 as part of our PBIS program, we began usingthe School Wide Information System to collect and collate data. A brief look at some of our information:

Above are the cumulative referrals (major and minor) across the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 school years. Notice the decrease in the number of referrals after only two years of implementation. Currently we are reteaching expectations in August, January and after spring break. We were somewhat amazed to see this so clearly reflected in our data.

So we started asking other questions like what exactly are our kids being referred for?

It became pretty clear that we had some common problems. Using the PBIS model of error correction instead of "punishing"or correcting the mismatch between setting and behavior, we started on the road to reteaching the appropriate expectations. Some cues that we developed and are still using -

By incorporating these cues into our daily routines, we were effectively pre-teaching what we wanted our kids to do INSTEAD or constantly doing error corrections.

We also started asking some questions about who was writing all of these referrals. And the answer is......

We found that one reason we had far too many referrals is that we had a number of staff members who's only toolwas to send kids to the Cub Den. We continue to address this issue and are trying to provide the entire staff with interventions, ideas and resources so we can stay out of this repeating cycle. To date, we have sent three teams of teachers to the PBIS training.

Looking back:

Through "our"process of developing a PBIS model, we have accomplished a number of our intended goals as well as making progress towards several benchmarks we weren't even focused on. On the plus side -

Our staff is far more aware of how we as adults can effect, change or cause a behavioral situation.

We are breaking free of the "wait for the misbehavior and then punish" program.

We are accepting that no all kids "know" or have learned all of the behavioral skills we would want. This doesn't make us bad or them a problem - it means that we need to re-teach.

We are accepting that not all of our staff is wild about this program, and that is OK. WEas a schoolare moving forward, these are OURschool expectations and this is the way OURschool is going to work.

We accept that it is not reasonable to try and hold children accountable unless we clearly, explicitly and repeatedlyteach them what they are going to be held accountable for.

Looking forward:

As we prepare for another wave of budget bad newsand staff reassignments, we are taking stock of the some of the challenges with our PBIS program.

On the "not so much a plus" side -

It takes a large amount of resources to develop, implement and maintain an effective PBIS program. (And we are still working on Tier 3). Is it worth it? It has been for us but I wonder if everyone would agree.

A strong PBIS program will help support the staff to the degree that they believe in it or "work the system".It does not stop poor classroom management or prevent not doing what we know we should be doing.

A strong PBIS system requires administrative support (in a big way).

It starts from the ground up. If you are having a re-emergence of some problem behaviors that you thought you had handled; go back to beginning. Your school wide or Tier 1 interventions are the MOST IMPORTANT.

We hope that this information has been helpful. If we can be of further help or if you have specific questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

This brief summary has been prepared by:

Jeff Cravy / Elementary Principal

Jim Huckaby / School Psychologist