this chapter along the four key elements within the context of Tier One of SWPBIS, beginning with identifying outcomes. We then present the practices for Tier One before discussing the systems essential to it. We then discuss commonly used data within Tier One, and we end the chapter by discussing the application of the PSM at Tier One for systems and students. Throughout the chapter, we provide examples of the elements in practice for Tier One and provide extensive case summaries of an elementary school and of a secondary school in chapter 6 to illustrate clear examples of SWPBIS across all three tiers.
Outcomes
Within this section, we share outcomes that schools may identify for Tier One when using SWPBIS. Educators can identify outcomes for fidelity of implementation and for impact of Tier One. Outcomes provide the overall purpose of Tier One for the school and represent what the school wants to achieve with implementation of the model.
The school should ensure that the Tier One elements are implemented with fidelity. After all, if Tier One isn’t being implemented, it’s difficult to expect to obtain any outcomes of impact. Schools will regularly check their implementation of Tier One to ensure they are implementing its key elements well. We commonly measure these elements by using a published fidelity measure with a designated fidelity criterion. (We discuss these measures later in the Data section, page 52.)
When considering the impact of Tier One, it is difficult to identify common outcomes across schools because each school will contextualize SWPBIS for its sites and identify outcomes that are specific to it. However, one common goal is to create a healthy system in which most students’ needs are met through universal instructional supports alone. As such, schools using SWPBIS will examine their disciplinary data and determine if their SWPBIS system is healthy and effective in meeting the needs of most of the students. One marker of a healthy SWPBIS system is one in which at least 80 percent of students have zero to one office discipline referrals for major behaviors, no more than 15 percent have between two and five referrals, and no more than 5 percent have six or more referrals (Horner, Sugai, et al., 2005). If a school’s data do not approximate these percentages, then efforts go toward improving the system as a whole to achieve such percentages.
Schools using SWPBIS are not limited to disciplinary data for outcomes. They can also review various data such as truancy, attendance, academic achievement, perceptions of safety, and the number of suspensions and expulsions, particularly between student subgroups (such as racial or ethnic groups, gender, or students with disabilities) and decide what outcomes or goals make sense for its site. For example, a school may discover that students with disabilities are suspended twice as often as students without disabilities, leading to a goal of creating more equity with suspension practices. Additionally, schools using SWPBIS may survey their staff or community members (such as parents or guardians) to gather information on concerns about school climate and discipline as well as identifying relevant outcomes.
Schools using SWPBIS will identify long-term and short-term outcomes for Tier One. Long-term outcomes are significant and distal outcomes regarding the use of SWPBIS that take time to achieve (for example, over the course of one or more school years), such as improvement in school climate. Short-term outcomes are immediate outcomes that are often achieved within the context of the school year, such as a reduction in referrals during lunchtime. Long-term outcomes (like improving school climate) are decided early on, but various short-term outcomes (like reducing office referrals from the hallway) will arise as the school implements and monitors the model.
Having determined the outcomes they wish to achieve with SWPBIS, schools can then turn to the exact practices they’ll implement for Tier One in order to reach those outcomes.
Practices
The practices for Tier One include identifying and teaching three to five common school-wide expectations to students, along with implementing methods to reward students for displaying the expectations and to decrease problem behavior (we also refer to problem behavior as undesired or unwanted behavior; George et al., 2009; Horner, Sugai, et al., 2005). We discuss each of the following practices of Tier One next.
1. Identifying schoolwide expectations
2. Teaching expectations
3. Reinforcing expectations
4. Responding to undesired behavior
Identifying Schoolwide Expectations
At the foundation of Tier One are a handful of schoolwide expectations that are taught to all students (George et al., 2009; Horner et al., 2005). Expectations are general descriptions of desired behavior that apply to all students and all settings (George et al., 2009). The expectations are positively stated (that is, tell students what to do instead of what not to do), involve action words, and use developmentally and culturally appropriate language. They are limited to no more than five because additional expectations become redundant and burdensome for students and staff to remember (McKevitt & Braaksma, 2008).
Perhaps the most common expectations schools use are Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible because safety, respect, and responsibility cover a wide range of desired behavior in schools (Lynass, Tsai, Richman, & Cheney, 2012). Teams can organize their expectations into acronyms (PAWS: be Prompt, Accept responsibility, Work hard, Show respect) or mnemonics (The 3 Bs: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible; Lynass et al., 2012), which help students remember the expectations. Visuals can also prompt and remind students, such as Gimme Five and holding up one’s hand open to signify the five expectations—Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Follow Directions, Keep Hands and Feet to Yourself, Be There and Be Ready (Taylor-Greene et al., 1997). We have included sample expectations here.
▴ Respect Ourselves, Respect Others, Respect Property (Netzel & Eber, 2003)
▴ Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Academically Engaged, Be Caring (Bohanon et al., 2006)
▴ GRIT: Goals, Respect, Integrity, and Teamwork (Houghton-Portage Township Schools, n.d.)
▴ RISE: Respect Individuals, Self, and the Environment (PBIS Maryland, n.d.)
▴ Be REAL: Responsible, Engaged, Appropriate, Learner (Fenton Community High School, n.d.)
▴ STAR: Safe, Teachable, Accept Responsibility, Respect (McKevitt & Braaksma, 2008)
Once educators have identified expectations, the educators concretely define common settings in the school (George et al., 2009; McKevitt & Braaksma, 2008). This is depicted in a matrix with the expectations listed across the columns (or rows) and the common settings listed in the rows (or columns). Table 2.2 has a sample matrix. Within each cell of the matrix, each expectation is explicitly defined as a set of rules for that particular setting. Whereas expectations are broad descriptions of behavior, rules are explicit, specific descriptions of behavior (George, 2009; Lynass et al., 2012). Rules are positively stated, expressed in simple language, limited to five per setting, more detailed than expectations, and applicable only to certain settings (George et al., 2009).
Table 2.2: Sample Matrix of Expectations and Rules for Common Settings
Each school using SWPBIS will have a schoolwide matrix for the entire school, and some sites may choose to include a classroom setting within their matrix so that universal rules are established for classrooms. However, some schools may wish to have individual classroom matrices (George et al., 2009; Simonsen & Myers, 2015).
