home

=Welcome to Positive Behavior in Elementary Schools!= TE 870 Final Project by: Alison Cargill, Rebecca King, & Chelsea Montague

//How can teaching students the importance of positive behavior help students stay engaged in their learning and help teachers stay focused on teaching curriculum?//

In light of many educational changes and the diverse groups of students we work with each day, it is important to find ways to **teach and reinforce positive behavior** in our schools. Many school districts are implementing PBIS, or **Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports**, to support positive behavior at school. This school-wide framework was originally developed over 14 years ago at the University of Oregon to, "help improve the social and learning behaviors of students and decrease disruptions that interfere with instruction" (Dunlap et al., 2010, p. iii). In 2006, the State of Michigan's Board of Education created a new policy that dictates, "it is the policy of the State Board of Education that each school district in Michigan implement a system of school-wide positive behavior support strategies" (Dunlap et al., 2010, p. vii). Rather than mandating the implementation of PBIS, which would require the State to support this initiative monetarily, the Department of Education has decided to simply change the policy to include this framework. Dunlap et al. (2010) defines PBIS as:

//...a proactive, team-based framework for creating and sustaining safe and effective schools. Emphasis is placed on prevention of problem behavior, development of pro-social skills, and the use of data-based problem solving for addressing existing behavior concerns. School-wide PBIS increases the capacity of schools to educate all students utilizing research-based school-wide, classroom, and individualized interventions. (p. vii)//

This is closely linked to curriculum and teaching because when we have students exhibit disruptive behavior, we have to stop teaching to help the student get back on track and correct their behavior. This interferes with the learning of all the students in the classroom. By giving students direct instruction on how to behave positively in school, we hope to decrease the negative behavior that can interrupt our teaching. We can't expect our students to know how to do something if we don't teach them how.

We hope that this wiki can serve as a tool for other teachers and districts trying to implement PBIS programs in their school!

.