Letter from the PBIS Facilitator from the PBIS Facilitator: ... students attended a mini- ... Adam Sheinhorn, completed a presentation on PBIS to the Business

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Volume 1, Issue 2

Letter from the PBIS Facilitator: Greetings to all,

Our PBIS implementation is going extremely well in AACPS. As you read the KUDOS from our schools, there is great work going on in our PBIS schools.

I want to thank each and everyone on the PBIS Teams for all of your dedication, hard work and care for the students and staff of AACPS. Thanks to those who have sent in the various data forms, and to the technical support of Jerry Bloom (STATE PBIS Team), we are developing a PBIS report card for each school. Generally, AACPS has very high implementation scores which are predictive of the high SET scores that most of our schools received last year. This information will be shared with schools before the end of the year, once we have the 2006 SET scores.

• 2006 SET Evaluations are under way. Dates and times were distributed electronically. • End of the Self Assessment Surveys will be conducted online during the last few weeks of school. Stay

tuned for directions. You will use the same login number as last year, but I will resend this information to you, as well as to our new schools. The online version instantly prints out results and graphs. These documents should be taken to the summer institute for development of your annual Action Plan. The last several years have witnessed an increasing focus of national, regional and local legislation on

outcomes and accountability. Therefore, AACPS is in the process of shifting paradigms from reactive exclusion of students who deviate from the norm, behaviorally, academically and emotionally, towards a prevention and intervention approach. As we make this transition, there needs to be increasing movement towards better connections between PBIS Teams (School-wide Systems) and RST/SSP Teams (Individual Student Systems). The general rule is that students with > 8-10 referrals at the secondary level and > 5 referrals at the elementary level need to be provided with targeted interventions in order to prevent further deterioration and/or escalation of problem behaviors. As school-wide foundations are built around consistent rules, consequences and acknowledgements of positive behaviors, AACPS is seeing significant decreases in over-reliance on exclusion, such as Office Discipline Referrals, Expulsions and Extended Suspensions. There is less reliance on excluding students and more emphasis on providing a match between student needs and interventions through consistent implementation. As students behave better, they remain in their classes longer, learn more and the net gain is that student achievement increases. Over fifty years of research consistently indicates that approximately 80% of problem behaviors are grounded in academic problems. Students cannot learn if they are not in their classrooms and students cannot learn when one or more students are disrupting the learning environment. Through intervention that improves student behaviors, more students will learn.

Best practices indicate that targeted behavioral interventions should begin with an FBA and development of a BIP. Representative Secondary Assistant Principals will receive in-depth training in this area on March 27th. A more comprehensive roll out for the school system will take place during the HELP Conferences over the summer.

Thank you. Have a positive spring. Ginny Virginia L. Dolan, Ed.D., NCSP AACPS PBIS Facilitator

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Did you know?☺Old Mill Middle South What a busy few months OMMS has had! Students and staff alike have been active in our school’s second year of the PBIS program implementation, and already we have seen some dramatic results. Basically, our school works on a “recognize-and-reward” system, with each month sponsoring some sort of special activity. Over the past few months, students have participated in some great activities. Right before the holidays, students attended a mini-craft session. Students spent an afternoon after school with friends, enjoying a snack and making several different crafts. They then took home wrapped gifts for the holidays, getting a head start on their shopping! Valentine’s Day saw the grand opening of “Chez OMMS.” Our administrators and counselors prepared and then served an Italian feast in a “restaurant” setting. Students were selected from a lottery and were allowed to bring a friend. It was a wonderful way to celebrate good friends, and all enjoyed being served by their principal! In addition to our special celebrations, we have been working on fostering school pride. On the last Wednesday of each month we mark “POWER Wednesday.” All students are encouraged to wear our school colors. The homeroom in each level with the highest participation then earns a small treat. It is amazing how competitive even the teachers have become! (All in good fun, of course.) We are excited by our progress this year and hope to build upon it in the future.

☺ Van Bokkelen Elementary School’s PBIS Team is rewarding both students and staff. Students who demonstrate our 3 R’s are given Eagle Bucks. On Friday, students may redeem their Eagle Bucks, and on Friday afternoon, several Eagle Bucks are drawn from those redeemed. The teachers who handed out those selected Eagle Bucks are then given a gift certificate. Our business partners include Life Touch Photography, Bonefish Grill, Shoppers Food and Pharmacy and Timbuktu Restaurant.

☺ Eastport Elementary, “Where Excellence is a Habit” is really proud of the positive choices their students are making and the collaborative efforts of the staff to continue to reinforce proactive strategies. As of midyear, compared to last year’s data, Eastport has decreased their number of referrals by 35 and the number of suspensions by 42. The school has made a tremendous turn around. They contribute their success to positive reinforcement, ongoing proactive support systems, and consistent encouragement and behavior management techniques provided by the teachers/staff. Some of these strategies include weekly student and class raffles, monthly incentives such as a school-wide dance, and a program entitled “HUG” (Hello, Update, good-bye) that is targeted towards the red zone students. Eastport will continue to provide their students and staff with a safe, orderly, and nurturing environment to achieve success for all. Congratulations, Eastport on a job well done.

☺ Annapolis Elementary School has so far this year reduced our office discipline referrals by half from this time last year. We have only had 19 referrals compared to March of last year when we had 40. This is a significant difference and is due to all of the PBIS programs/incentives as well as the structured behavioral system that are in place.

☺ Lindale Middle School is pleased to announce that we completed a successful fundraiser. The PBIS Committee sold snacks at the weekend basketball game. The funds from this project will enable us to run various initiatives, such as Student vs. Faculty Basketball game, a grade level dance and provide incentives to teachers. The committee would like to acknowledge the contributions of Allison Crews, Laurie Kinnamon, Sandy Brusberg, and Mary Lou Clark for the countless hours they put into the good booth. Their dedication to this project led to its fantastic success.

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We also appreciate the other staff members who volunteered their time on Saturday to help with the event. The staff members included: Jackie Iarossi, Veronica Dominique, Michelle Brown, Tom Pulcinella, Amy Cunningham, Sherry Fonte, Gene Whiting, Ginger Anderson, and Lorrie Anderson.

☺ Glen Burnie Park Elementary staff works hard each and every day to build positive relationships and set high expectations for all of our students. We have reduced office referrals yet again this quarter! Way to go TEAM! Our second Awards Assembly proved, once again, to be highly successful! Students in grades 1-5 earned various awards from Honor Roll through Perfect Attendance. This quarter we expanded the types of awards to include other categories, so that MORE children could be positively acknowledged for all the wonderful things they do. We are looking forward to the next quarter to see the results of our hard work!

☺ Brock Bridge Elementary is so proud of staff and students. All TEAM members proudly distribute the “gotach” tickets to students for showing great behavior and respect! The students respond quite well with the positive recognition! The staff has recently been re-trained on the Cooperative Discipline program. The staff is finding this to be invaluable with their students! WE look to the continuation of improvement with both the increase in positive behaviors and a reduction in office referrals.

☺ MacArthur Middle School and our PBIS team has implemented many activities and interventions this year. Our team meets twice monthly and occasionally off site. Approximately 25 students are paired up with teachers in the Mentorship Program. Students are selected to be in the program based on the number of office discipline referrals from the previous year (red and

yellow zone). They meet with their mentors on a regular basis. Most students are on a daily progress sheet. Monthly mentorship activities are held with the entire group, which include: volleyball, goal setting, making Christmas ornaments and Easter Egg Hunt, along with a structured social skills component with the assistance of the school psychologist. Quarterly events are held for students which require 25 tickets to attend. Events have included a dance and a karaoke event; while an auction and carnival are planned for 3rd and 4th quarters. Weekly lottery drawings are also held. We draw 10 student names from each grade level. This year, we initiated Special MSA tickets that are given to students for specific behaviors during MSA testing. Daily drawings are held in the cafeteria for free food and other prizes. The PTSA Partnership has included fund raising events at the skating rink. Two skate nights allow students to enter free with Eagle Tickets. New for 05-06, Teachers agreed on classroom vs. office managed behaviors at the beginning of the year. They developed a Minor Incident Referral Form. Teachers must issue 3 MIR’s for the same behavior in one marking period before writing an office discipline referral. Average referrals dropped for 4 of the 6 months of school this year.

☺ Meade Senior High School’s PBIS Team is proud of the work we have done this year. Our “Meade Bucks” program rewards students who demonstrate positive behavior and the Core Values of Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, and Concern for Others. At the beginning of the year, we rewarded five students weekly, but this has increased to eight to ten students. We have planned three “No Referral Assemblies”. First quarter, we had a Pep Rally, second quarter we sponsored a Volleyball Game with teachers and third quarter we planned our first “Meade Idol Show”. We have prepared presentations for faculty meetings and new teachers. PBIS Coach, Dr. Maureen Manning, has been at every meeting, supporting us and giving us

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needed encouragement. School administrator, Julie Catanzara, has been very supportive and working hard on their behalf.

☺North County High School was honored to have Lt. Governor Michael Steele visited us on February 23, 2006 to give the keynote speech at our Triple A Assembly. The Triple A Assembly is for students who were nominated by their homeroom teacher for showing improvement in academics, attendance and/or attitude. The students heard and saw performances from the NCHS Guitar Ensemble, the NCHS Dance Company, NCHS Chorus, and the NCHS Step Squad. Our PBIS team assists with promoting the 3 A’s from the Business Associations, middle schools and 9th grade assemblies. Assistant Principal, Adam Sheinhorn, completed a presentation on PBIS to the Business Associations. As a result, the Rotary Club adopted NCHS through “Quackers for Education.” For a $5 entry, people can race their “rubber duckies” at the Patapsco State Park - Orange Grove and the money will be given to the school. Decoys are sold to business for $100 each and are decorated to advertise their business. The best looking decoy will be recognized at the race. Each of the 5 feeder schools was also given a decoy to decorate to indicate which schools are being supported. The Great Race is April 29.

☺ Crofton Middle School has been working hard on positives for students and teachers to reduce the number of office discipline referrals. We have had a 30% reduction in office referrals with a steady decline in the number of referrals each month. This year many additions have been made to our Eagle Ticket reward system. We opened an Eagle ticket Store in mid-November staffed by our 12 student PBIS members and parents, to great enthusiasm and success. The PBIS Team also hosted Kick-a-Palooza 2006 which was attended by over 130 students, 20 faculty and 10 parents after school in February. Teachers are continually rewarded for using positives with students through drawings for

gift certificates and other prizes. We are looking forward to a positive spring.

☺ Marley Middle School has done quite a bit of work during the month of February on Respect. Dr. Vincent presented to the staff on the topic, “How to Change Student Disrespect Towards Teachers to Student Respect for all Adults.” Dr. Vincent worked with IDTs, met with teachers and observed classrooms. His consultation and visit to Marley supplemented our PBIS initiative on cooperative Discipline. In addition, Dr. Horstman has been assisting staff on Cooperative Discipline, all of which have aided the staff with strategies to manage students’ challenging behaviors.

☺ Jessup Elementary is in our second year of implementing PBIS and have made many improvements this year. PBIS Coach, Ms. Robin Satchell, presented to the staff on the positive benefits of reinforcing behavior for children that we want to see more frequently. The PBIS Team standardized the rewards and established a school store, which was well received by the students. We recruited funds from the PTA and other sources to supply the store. In January, we organized a Talent Show as a fund raiser which netted more than $500 and included 27 different acts. Over 200 people attended the show. The team also raised funds through monthly Chick-Fil-A events, which have also been successful. More importantly, the team is using our SWIS data more effectively for decision making. The school reduces office discipline referrals by 43% so far compared to this same time last year. The team meets twice a month and keeps the staff informed of the improvements that the school has made.

☺ PBIS at Bates Middle School We began the year with our Tricky Tray incentive. We targeted having materials in and being on time to homeroom during the month of September. Nine Tricky Trays (or themed Baskets)

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were created or donated by the teams. Students earned Cougar tokens to enter any or all of the raffles. Then we had our first marking period Recognition rally. This event celebrated those students who had absolutely no consequence levels or tardies during the first marking period. Students were recognized and rewarded with a free game and social time, with snacks. In all, 99 6th graders, 82 7th graders and 99 8th graders were invited to attend. The second marking period recognition rally was based on the same criteria except that we did not have a rally; instead students will receive certificates in their honor. In December we had the 3rd annual Bates Bargain Basement. It was a great success! AACC, teachers and community members donated many items. Students earned tokens over the course of a month and were able to pay an entrance fee (in Cougar Tokens) and then “buy” goods. Approximately 60% of the 6th graders, 55% of the 7th graders and 50% of the 8th graders participated. It was decided by team leaders that more grade level incentives would take place due to the fact that not all age levels enjoyed the same rewards for good behavior. Each grade level was given $100 to support their student’s needs. The incentives are as follows: 6th Cougar Cart 6th grade academy 7th Play Station Raffle Individual Teacher raffle Pizza Party Raffle 8th Thanksgiving Dance February Dane Finally, our referral count for the past three years through March has decreased by 18 referrals and since last year by 17%. Overall, by grade level, the number of referrals has decreased from year to year. In the 6th grade, over the past three years the referral numbers have decreased from 630 in 2003 to 400 in 2005. In the 7th grade, the referral numbers have decreased from 629 in 2004 significantly dropping in 2005 to 392. In the eighth grade, the referral numbers dropped from 382 in 2003 to 319 in 2005. In conclusion, our school has worked the PBIS program and has seen tremendous results. In the future, our goal is to have less than

300 referrals per grade level, for any given school year. Our students, faculty and administrative staff have worked extremely hard to get the results we have had, in the past three years.

☺J. Albert Adams Academy is an alternative educational school. Referrals this year have declined by 51% relative to the same time last year. The PBIS Team has created new incentives to earn. Teachers feel that students are still interested, excited and buying into the Monarch Way and what it has to offer. Parents report that their students are excited about earning “money” at school for Friday Market. This year the school motto was amended to include: The Monarch Way: Where Change is Positive, Climate is Growth, Change is Expected, Change Happens. The Monarch Way- where students are: C hoosing to H ave A nother N ew G reat E xperience

☺Arundel students continue to show their PRIDE in the classroom! The PBIS team of students, faculty, staff , and parents are happy to report a decrease in referrals across the board. Based on data entered by caring parents and staff members, referrals on disruption are down by 12% and referrals on insubordination are down by 16%. Thanks to Arundel’s PRIDE, we are also happy to report that class cutting referrals are down 21% and those for disrespect are down 33%. Way to go Arundel! PRIDE is certainly in the air as we approach spring break and the HSAs.

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☺MARY E. MOSS ACADEMY Mary E. Moss Academy is an alternative high school. One mission of our school is to “provide high quality academic and behavioral support services to students who have not met with success in their previous academic setting”. PBIS plays an important role in supporting our mission. A major change this year was in modifying our behavioral expectations. In previous years, the school adopted the DREAM: D iscipline R espect E ducate A chieve M otivate. While the concept was catchy, the behavioral expectations were not. Only 50% of the students could remember 3 or more of these expectations as measured by last years’ SET. As such, we changed our behavioral expectations to be consistent with the count’s Code of Conduct (Respect for myself, others, learning and property). It has made it easier for the teachers to reinforce students appropriately and for the students to link their behaviors to the code of conduct. To teach these expectations, we

initiated a daily “Advisory” period where the students are taught skills related to RESPECT. Our administrator highlights one part of the behavioral matrix during announcements each day. We catch students showing RESPECT and give them a MEMA (school dollar). Our students get to deposit their “MEMAS” in their school accounts Monday through Thursday. On Friday they can spend their school money at the school store. In December we had a Holiday Shopping event. All 50 students had an opportunity to participate and they spent approximately 12, 000 MEMAS on gifts for families and friends. Interestingly, our behavioral referrals for the week of the shopping went from 25 the week before the Holiday Shopping to only 2 the week of the event. Our attendance for the week was the highest it had been all year. KUDOS to Mary E. Moss Academy for embracing PBIS and making a difference.

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EVENTS

AACPS PBIS Regional Meeting

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 Anne Arundel Community College

Center for Applied Learning/Technology Room 100

Secondary Teams: 8-11 Elementary Teams 12-3

Registration through ERO: Secondary Teams: STSV8009 Elementary Teams: STSV8008

PBIS Annual Spring Forum (For administrators and their designees new to PBIS, only)

Thursday, April 6 Holiday Inn Express - Timonium, MD • Registration through Ginny Dolan

by March 22, 2006

Summer Institute New Coaches Training (and any coach who wants retooling)

Monday, July 10 Turf Valley - Ellicott City, MD

New Team Training

Tuesday & Wednesday, July 11-12 Turf Valley

Returning Team Training

Two days during the week of July 17-TBA

Location; TBA

All participants for each of the Coaches, New Team and Returning Team training will receive MSDE Professional Development Credit. All AACPS 10 month participants will receive a daily stipend. Registration information will be available soon online through the www.pbismaryland.org website. DO NOT register through ERO for the Summer Institute events.