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A sense of belonging can be defined as "students' sense of

being accepted, valued, included and encouraged by others (teachers and peers)". (York, 2007)

"When students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, it can increase their educational success and motivational outcomes." (Bowen, 2021)

Teachers who maintain supportive relationships with their students encourage positive emotional outcomes as well as increased academic achievements. (York, 2007)

In a 2016 study, researchers found that students whose teachers participated in training about the importance of empathy in the classroom were half as likely to be suspended by the end of the school year, compared to students whose teachers had not participated. (Blad, 2017)

There is no doubt that sense of belonging is a critical element of a student's education. Fostering sense of belonging in one's classroom is a necessity. Not only will it benefit students as individuals via higher degrees of motivation, achievement, and social emotional learning, but it will also benefit the classroom (and school) environment at large through establishing positive and welcoming environments, and diminishing occurences of disruptive behavior.

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A sense of belonging in schools in Rhode Island is a priority of the Rhode Island Department of Education. Therefore, one's promotion of it and work towards it is not only an essential component of the duties of an educator, but also reflective of an effort to align to state initiatives and standards.

Evidence of the prioritization of sense of belonging may be found in Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards, such as:

Standard 1.a: Children develop trust in and engage positively with adults who are familiar and consistently present in children’s lives.

Standard 1.b: Children engage in positive relationships and interactions with other children.

(Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards)

Additionally, the Rhode Island Department of Education administers SurveyWorks, a survey intended to "gather insights and data to improve the state’s education system and school experience". One of the identified topics addressed in the 2025 survey is students' sense of belonging. (WPRI)

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The contents of this website were developed under a Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

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RI rolls out 2025 statewide school survey

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Responses are anonymous and confidential and will be accepted until March 31.

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Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards

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Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards

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The contents of this website were developed under a Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge grant from the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

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This is part of the monthly "Ask the Expert" series in which NC State College of Education faculty answer some of the most commonly asked questions about education.
When students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, it can increase their educational success and motivational outcomes in multiple ways, and teachers can help create this feeling of belonging by building connections between classroom and community, according to DeLeon Gray, Ph.D.

Gray, an associate professor of educational psychology and equity in the NC State College of Education, studies how to help students, parents, teachers and community stakeholders unpack belonging and motivation to support students' engagement, learning and productivity.

"A sense of belonging at school means feeling a sense of acceptance, respect, inclusion and support in a learning environment," Gray said.

Gray said students who feel a sense of belonging at school are typically more energized, more likely to spend time on-task and return to activities, and more likely to choose to be in the school environment.

Students who don't feel a sense of belonging, however, often struggle to devote their full cognitive resources to tasks and experience issues with emotional wellness. These feelings could manifest in frequent visits to the nurse's office or even truancy, as students look for a way to avoid environments where they feel as though they don't belong.

"The negative impacts of not belonging can be cyclical in the sense that you can have a negative or disconfirming experience about your identity or your place within the school and that might lead you to try to make up for that in some way, which could also lead you to do things you wouldn't otherwise do if your belonging needs were met within that educational context," Gray said.

How Educators Can Help Foster Feelings of Belonging

One way teachers can help prevent students from mentally or physically checking out of the educational environment, Gray said, is to create instructional opportunity structures that help students feel a sense of continuity between home and school. This is especially important for historically underrepresented students, who benefit from seeing their ancestral heritage and community represented in the classroom.

To help build these connections between community and content, Gray recommends teachers bring in community members, artifacts or even local news stories to reinforce concepts that are covered in the curriculum. Teachers can also give students opportunities to discuss the ways in which the content connects with their outside lives, allowing them to drive connections themselves.

"This gives more meaning and life to the activities that students do and makes those activities more valuable for students to engage in," Gray said.

Gray, who works with students in Durham, North Carolina through iScholar -an ongoing, community-engaged partnership between NC State students and faculty and Durham teachers, educators, leaders and students- said he has found success incorporating things students are passionate about into lessons.

For example, sneaker culture is very important to the students iScholar serves, so they brought that into a lesson on space exploration, asking students to design shoes that would be both aesthetically appealing and protective for a mission to Mars.

"We talk about cultural relevance at a very broad level, but when we break that down to bringing culture and belonging inside of a school, it means recognizing where students are," Gray said. "Students got to express their creativity and ultimately design a shoe that honored their culture. For them, the take-home point was that going into outer space doesn't have to come at the expense of leaving your culture behind."

To understand what matters to their students, teachers need to build interpersonal relationships with youth of all backgrounds through authentic compliments, authentic praise and authentic connections, Gray said.

Teachers can self-disclose information about their own lives to build relationships with students as well as create time and space in the classroom for students to share about their lives outside of the school environment. One activity that works well, Gray said, is to pass a ball around at the beginning of class and, as each student holds the ball, they are given an opportunity to share one good thing that has happened to them that day.

"That provides so much ammo for the teacher to then weave these connections for students in and out of their lessons," he said.

Educators can also help foster a sense of belonging in their classrooms by having high standards combined with rigorous support, adopting a communal orientation and letting students know they have the safety to be wrong, because mistakes mean that they are being ambitious.

"These strategies all hinge on students understanding that they have a place inside the classroom, they have rights and the classroom is centered around their experience," Gray said.

Creating a Physical Space that Reflects Your Students

In addition to individual classrooms, Gray said that the overall school environment can also be leveraged to increase a sense of belonging among students.

In 2019, students who participated in iScholar won a national design competition by designing a school that honored students' cultures, drawing inspiration from ethnic and indigenous patterns to design the architecture of the proposed building.

Although redesigning a school building is likely not an option in most cases, Gray said educators can still give students a sense of ownership over their schools by giving them a say in the way things are done.
Video by Ryan Clancy
For example, students can be made members of an advisory board to help make decisions or can be given a budget and time to collaborate in order to lead new initiatives inside the school.

"Students choose to be in environments that make them feel a sense of fit. This is especially important during adolescence and emerging adulthood, where questions of identity are prevalent," Gray said. "If these questions are answered within a certain space that students are in, they will choose to be there mentally and physically."

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Why is it Important for Students to Feel a Sense of Belonging at School? 'Students Choose to be in Environments That Make Them Feel a Sense of Fit,' Says Associate Professor DeLeon Gray

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When students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom, it can increase their educational success and motivational outcomes in multiple ways, and teachers can help create this feeling of belonging by building connections between classroom and community, according to Associate Professor DeLeon Gray, Ph.D.

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Students’ Sense of Belonging: What the Research Says

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How students feel about their place in school affects behavior, discipline, and academic achievement, a growing body of research finds.

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Here are three activities adults can try in the classroom setting to foster a sense of belonging:

1. “Get To Know You”

2. Values Reflection

3. Morning Meetings

How is this practice evidence based?

Research has shown that morning meetings improved emotional support for students and improved classroom organization (Rimm-Kaufman, 2014)

Affirming values increased academic performance including improved GPA of marginalized students, belonging at school, and likelihood to enroll in college (Cohen et al., 2006, Layous et al., 2016)

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Why Students Need to Feel a Sense of Belonging and How To Create It

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Student sense of belonging -- what does it mean, what does the research say about it, and what strategies at the classroom, school, and district levels help to cultivate student belonging?

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In summary, there have been numerous studies conducted on student belonging. Research has discovered links between higher sense of belonging and: stronger development of social emotional learning skills, increased motivation, increased achievement, and a better overall well-being.

Research indicates the efficacy of universal supports such as: safe and inclusive practices and policies, parental contact/involvement, warm teacher presence, and teacher efforts to connect with students via activities or recognition of student achievements. Research suggests that effective Tier 2 and 3 supports for student sense of belonging include fair disciplinary practices such as restorative justice, and the availability of additional involvement opportunities such as extracurricular activities.

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Creating clear habits, structures, and routines in your classroom can help students with executive functioning and self-management. Daily routines that scaffold planning, attention, organization are all part of SEL competency self management (CASEL)

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1. Talking Circles

2. Mediation

How are these practices evidence based?

Research has found that students’ sense of belonging can be influenced by racism and biased discipline practices. (Oregon Department of Education, 2023)

Students who experienced exclusionary discipline incidents during the school year were much less likely to agree with most sense of belonging indicators...Students who did not experience exclusionary discipline were slightly more likely to report having friends at school, and substantially more likely (more than twice as likely) to report feeling welcome and feeling safe talking with adults. (Oregon Department of Education, 2023)

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Many elements contribute to whether or not students embrace their educational experience. Family support, equitable access to education, organized leadership, committed educators, and attainable educational goals play a significant role in every student's academic success.

Studies continue to show that parent involvement is one important factor in helping students engage in their learning, and parent-teacher communication is a key aspect of promoting parent involvement.

What Is Parent-Teacher Communication?

Parent-teacher communication begins at the start of a school year and lasts until students move onto the next grade. Teachers and parents will make introductions and gradually establish a relationship based on what they have in common: the student. Parent-teacher communication can take place in person, typically through parent-teacher conferences or during student drop-off or pick-up times. Teachers can also reach out to parents on the phone or by email.

Through regular communication with parents, teachers can share information about a student's good work and achievements. If a student begins to struggle with a certain subject or exhibits behavioral problems, the parent will already have a relationship with the teacher, which helps facilitate parent-teacher collaboration. This cooperative relationship empowers parents to step in and support the student at home, supplementing what the teacher is doing at school.

Benefits of Parent-Teacher Communication

When conversations are flowing, students can see that teachers and parents have their best interests at heart. Effective communication helps establish a relationship of respect between teachers, parents, and students.

Benefits for Students

Parents who are more involved in their child's education can help improve academic achievement, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. When parents take an interest in school activities, students are given an additional level of accountability.

When parents communicate with teachers to discover their children's needs, students see that their family is looking out for them and wants them to be successful. Parents who assist children with homework and remind them to study for tests can increase their chances of short-term and long-term success by helping them develop important habits. Parents can also support children and help boost their confidence by encouraging them when they do well in school.

Benefits for Parents

Effective parent-teacher communication can also benefit parents. Since parents are not always directly involved in the classroom, regular conversations with teachers can help them understand which subject areas their children are doing well in, and which ones they are struggling with. It can also help them feel valued and more confident in engaging in the learning process. Parents who want to be involved can develop a greater role in their child's education by supplementing lessons at home and explaining complicated homework problems.

Benefits for Teachers

Teachers also benefit from parent-teacher communication, as parents can serve as a valuable asset in the learning environment. Teachers who cultivate relationships with parents will gain added cooperation, as parents are more likely to work with and reach out to teachers they trust. When parents help their children with homework and behavior at home, teachers can focus on instruction in the classroom. Teachers may also see higher rates of homework completion and better grades when parents are involved.

Communication Strategies

Parent-teacher communication can look different for different teachers and parents. Some relationships may be more difficult to establish than others, but there are a number of communication strategies that can help teachers and parents increase engagement in various situations.

Discovering the best methods of communication and formulating messaging plans early in the year is important, as is maintaining consistent communication throughout the year. Teachers shouldn't be afraid to be persistent in establishing relationships with parents, and vice versa. Teachers and parents can try the following tactics for improving parent-teacher communication:

Regular in-person communication: This type of communication works great for parents who typically drop off and pick up their children from school.

Parent-teacher conferences: This type of communication is less consistent, but parents and teachers can schedule meetings to discuss a student's work and future goals.

Phone calls and emails: Parents with busy work or personal schedules may not have the opportunity to go to school or schedule conferences. These parents may be easier to reach on the phone or via email. Teachers can also use phone calls and emails to regularly communicate with parents between conferences.

Text messages. Some teachers use mass text messages or special messaging apps to communicate with parents. A number of text services cater specifically to teachers, such as Remind.

Open houses: Most schools host annual open houses where parents can visit their children's classrooms. This allows teachers to meet parents for the first time or to meet a second parent who may not be in regular communication.

Parent-teacher associations: Parents and teachers can establish ongoing relationships through board meetings or PTA meetings in which they help make decisions for the school.

Homework handouts and newsletters: Teachers can create handouts for students to take home with them containing information about homework and other tasks. Teachers can also write weekly or monthly newsletters to let parents know what is going on in the classroom and how they can participate.

Class websites: Teachers can create websites for their classes to post announcements, homework, and reminders. This helps ensure that assignments don't get lost in communication between the classroom and home. Other similar methods of communication include social media sites or learning management platforms such as ClassDojo.

Pursue a Career in Education

Current teachers and prospective teachers can help fuel student success rates by learning the benefits of parent-teacher communication early on in their careers. When teachers encourage parents to get involved in the classroom and at home, students can excel in their academic endeavors. Teachers and school administrators who are interested in advancing their careers and developing important communication skills can start by earning an advanced degree in the field, such as through American University's Online Master of Arts in Teaching program.

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Parent-Teacher Communication: Strategies for Effective Parent Inclusion & Engagement | American University

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Explore how American University's Master of Arts in Teaching can help you develop effective parent-teacher communication skills and pursue a teaching career.

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SurveyWorks data from 2024 reveals that 59% of responses on questions related to School Belonging were answered favorably by students in grades 3-5 across the state. At the secondary level, grades 6-12, only 30% of responses were favorable.

These data points are not outliers; between 2018 and 2024 the percentage of favorable responses related to School Belonging ranged between 58% and 63% in students grades 3-5. Among students grades 6-12, the range of favorable responses since 2018 was between 29% and 34%.

Analysis of Data Significance

There are three tiers within multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS). MTSS can be defined as a "whole-school, prevention-based framework that relies on data-based problem-solving to support all students within a layered continuum of evidence-based practices and systems" (Branching Minds). Tier 1 refers to universal supports, available to and targeted at all students. Tier 1 supports should prove effective for approximately 80% of students. Tiers 2 and 3 then provide targeted supports to students for whom Tier 1 alone is not effective.

Rhode Island SurveyWorks data reveals that there is a clear deficit in sense of belonging among students in the state. This indicates that there are not enough effective practices in place for students to foster a sense of belonging in their school community.

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This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data.

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills, are depicted in the table to have an effect size of 0.23 to 0.58. In the report from which the data is derived, an effect size of greater than .20 is considered to be large.

Analysis of Data Significance

Given the direct link between social emotional learning and a sense of belonging, this data from the Learning Policy Institute (2022) confirms that a sense of belonging can have a significant impact on academic, social, and emotional outcomes for students. Therefore, it is important to implement practices and supports that provide and strengthen a sense of belonging among students in their school environment.

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Week 11_ Education System, MTSS & Cognitive Principles of Learning

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To promote a sense of belonging, teachers should frequently recognize the accomplishments of students, even/especially for common achievements. This could be in the form of verbal acknowledgement and/or the receipt of an award. This allows students to feel not only seen, but celebrated.

How is this practice evidence based?

"Extrinsic rewards have been found to influence students' sense of belonging when given frequently and for more

common everyday achievements." (York, 2007)

"Participants reflected the importance of extrinsic rewards given across a broad spectrum of achievements frequently." (York, 2007)

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"Students with higher sense of belonging rated themselves lower on measures of behavior problems that could result in disciplinary action."

"Some focal groups have a school experience which differs greatly from others in the same school, especially when looking at school climate and safety."

"We also see that students who more frequently see people like themselves or their families represented in instructional

materials are more likely to agree with sense of belonging indicators related to feelings of safety and welcome at school, but are no more likely to report having friends at school, which suggests more directionality to that indicator and is a promising practice schools can pursue to increase sense of belonging."

Summary

A sense of belonging is sourced from factors such as social identity, representation, safety, connection, and overall school climate. Sense of belonging may be negatively impacted by factors such as exclusionary discipline, lack of identity affirmation and/or bullying, racism, and bias, and lower socio-economic status which may prove to be a barrier to involvement, and/or due to stigma.

Having peers who are like oneself, as well as adults like oneself, and seeing the representation of those like oneself in instructional materials are among predictive factors of higher sense of belonging. There are statistically evident inequities in sense of belonging among different demographics, including gender, racial, and ethnic groups.

Schools can promote sense of belonging via evidence based inclusive practices and policies, providing supports that allow students to meaningfully engage in their education and school community, and by encouraging responsibility, curiosity, and cultural responsiveness among staff. A higher sense of belonging is positively to higher outcomes in learning.

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Calling families for positive behaviors and actions (effort based or improvement). When students see parents, and teachers want the best for them, it can develop deeper relationships and trust. Students can also see an increase in their motivation.

How is this practice evidence based?

Strong supportive contacts between [home and school] appear to be paramount in facilitating optimum developmental outcomes for the adolescent. (York, 2007)

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Teachers can guide students towards extracurricular activities in which they may be interested. Available extracurriculars should encompass a variety of interests, such as creative expression, physical activity, and identity-affirming affinity groups.

Alternatively, the school lacks an available extracurricular for a student who wishes to get more involved, teachers could assist students with creating a desired extracurricular. A teacher may connect a student to an appropriate activity sponsor/advisory, or be the activity sponsor/advisor themself.

How is this practice evidence based?

A key feature of a need to belong is 'interactions with others'. (York, 2007)

Extracurricular participation has been identified in the literature as a way in which students become connected to their school. (York, 2007)

LGBTQ2SIA+ students in schools with a GSA “felt greater belonging to their school community, performed better academically in school and were more likely to plan on

pursuing postsecondary education. (Oregon Department of Education, 2023)

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"The school environment can either facilitate or hinder the development of adolescents. Therefore the importance of having caring and supportive teachers who contribute to a sense of belonging that has been linked to the personal well-being of adolescents within the school environment, may be considered of paramount importance."

"The belongingness hypothesis proposed by Baumeister and Leary (1995) argues that a sense of belonging is a "need rather than a want, people who lack belongingness should exhibit pathological consequences beyond temporary distress" (p. 498). Maslow (1968) defined belonging as a basic human need that can only be fulfilled by other people and, as a consequence, emphasized the importance of the environment in the individual's life."

"When students perceived a low SoSB their self-esteem was also low."

"Children and adolescents who experience a sense of school belonging are less likely to exhibit behaviour problems, develop mental health issues and less likely to drop out of school."

"Various adolescent mental health issues have been found to be positively affected by the adolescent's perceived SoSB; these include anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, drug use and intentional injury."

"A longitudinal study conducted by Resnick et al. (1993) found that a SoSB was a protective factor for both male and female adolescents against drug use, school absenteeism and risk of intentional injury."

"Teachers have been identified as important facilitators in developing in students a sense of school belonging."

"Students' identified teaching processes, style and the way in which teachers managed their classrooms to be important contributors to their perception of SoSB."

Summary

Teachers have a direct and significant impact on student sense of belonging. Teachers who are warm and supportive contribute not only to higher levels of sense of belonging, but also stronger personal well-beings among students. In addition to a warm and supportive presence, the teaching style and classroom management practices of teachers have an effect on student perception of their sense of belonging.

Belonging is identified as a human need by many scholars, including Maslow, who represents it in the well-known Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It can be identified as a need due to its connection to achievement, but more importantly due it serving as a foundation for the building of student self-esteem, and it serving as either a barrier to the development of mental health issues and behavior problems, and/or a factor that reduces mental health issues and behavior problems.

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"Schools and the schooling process are hostile to underserved students due to the majority of schools being mainstream, traditionally organized classrooms that do not acknowledge or consider the cultural orientations of students."

"Minority students feel alienated from school and are less likely to be engaged in academic settings. However, the overall engagement of minority students can be improved by enhancing opportunities for students to interact with teachers and each other, which essentially will increase their sense of belonging."

"Research found that African American and Hispanic students are less engaged in school than White students due to the perception of limited opportunities and futures."

"Classroom social climate for minority students depends on how teachers organize their classroom instruction."

"As students’ sense of belonging increases, their social awareness, emotion regulation, supportive relationships, and positive feelings also increase...essentially, if the school makes it a goal to improve students’ sense of belonging, other areas of their well-being will improve as well."

Summary

Traditionally underserved students are often left feeling alienated in their school communicates due to outdated and/or hostile policies and practices. Teachers and schools can increase sense of belonging among minority students by providing and/or enhancing more opportunities for them to be involved at school, bring inclusive and representative practices into their classrooms, and making all students aware of their potential and future opportunities.

The fostering of student sense of belonging will lead to a positive effect on social awareness, emotional regulation, and supportive relationships. It is a component of a student's overall well-being.

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Safe and Inclusive Environment Practices

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Safe and Inclusive Environment Practices

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An essential Tier 1 support is establishing and enforcing policies that promote inclusion and safety in the classroom.

To promote inclusion in the classroom, teachers can (when possible/applicable) ensure that the identities of their students are represented in instructional materials. This includes, but is not limited to, the representation of genders, diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, sexualities, and socio-economic statuses. Furthermore, it is important to represent a range of identities as capable and successful in a variety of circumstance, such as profession and status. This practice can increase how welcome and supported students of different identities feel at school, as well as influence their perception of their future opportunities.

In addition to diverse representation in instructional materials, teachers should check for and remove content from instructional materials that may be considered offensive or insensitive to students of varying identity groups.

Another inclusion practice that can be implemented in classrooms is providing students the opportunity to share their preferred name and pronouns, and using them accordingly. This will foster a culture of acceptance, and support and affirm student identities.

A practice that bridges inclusion and safety, in addition to promoting an overall environment conducive to learning, is the establishment and enforcement of community norms/agreements. This will set clear expectations and structure in classrooms. This practice has higher efficacy when students are involved in the creation of the norms/agreements, as this permits a sense of involvement and agency.

A foundational practice to promote safety is to have policies that address bullying and hate speech.

How are these practices evidence based?

These practices are supported by a significant amount of evidence presented in the literature review. Additionally:

Schools create more welcoming, supportive school climates when there is a culture of acceptance, which includes policies and interventions that affirm and support students’ identities, as well as policies that address bullying and hate speech. (Oregon Department of Education, 2023)

Research has found benefits to culturally and racially inclusive education across racial and ethnic groups, both in enhancing student self-perception and in improving measures of academic achievement. (Oregon Department of Education, 2023)

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What is the Difference Between Tier 1 and Tier 2 in MTSS?

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What’s the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 in MTSS? This blog clears up the confusion and helps teachers connect everyday instruction to student support.

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As I have consumed and analyzed literature surrounding student sense of belonging, I have discovered a new depth of knowledge with which I can promote or strengthen discussions in my work environment, as well as challenged some long-held beliefs and mindsets I have had.

I have always recognized the importance of student sense of belonging. To a certain extent, it is common knowledge/common sense. Though, I find it easy to forget what it was like to be an adolescent, and it may be for that reason that I did not realize the extent of its importance in the student development of social awareness and emotional regulation, and how it may serve as a barrier to the development of mental health issues.

I find that while I have employed most of these practices and strategies before, there is an ever-present room for refinement and improvement. For example, the first time I administered a "getting to know you" survey, I simply included a space for the student's name. Unbeknownst to me, I would have students asking if they could put nicknames they prefer or not, and a transgender student ask me if they could put the name they chose to go by rather than their deadname/government name. Now, I include a space for them to put the name I'd find on my roster as well as a space for their preferred name. While it may seem like a minor adjustment, I believe that tweak represents a positive step towards building an accepting and comfortable environment for students where they don't have to ask potentially uncomfortable questions out loud.

While I have occasionally made an effort to contact families with positive updates, I recognize that it may be a powerful tool and I am not implementing it to the extent of its possibility. It is not something I have ever considered a priority, so working towards that involves a mindset shift.

The refinement of my French curriculum to be more inclusive is something with which I've had varying degrees of consistency and success. At the beginning of the year, when I noticed the vast majority of my French students were hispanophone, I began making an effort to include not only English in my instructional materials, but Spanish as well. When covering nationalities, I make sure to center the nationalities of my students, most of which are not even mentioned in French textbooks. While I've seen some successes in this area, I've also encountered limitations in terms of time and other responsibilities.

My mindset has been evolving in terms of how I view frequent recognition and restorative justice. The way I grew up was very much a you don't get rewarded for what you're supposed to do environment. As such, that was the mindset I've carried with me through most of my life and into my teaching career. As I've received feedback that I should provide more student praise, I have made more of an effort although I will admit I did not have much of a mindset change. Conversely, the information I've found through this research has pushed me to want to actively change my mindset towards not only wanting to recognize student achievements, however common, but genuinely mean it. (That might have to be a discussion with my therapist.)

I would attribute my upbringing as the cause for the punitive mindset I've also developed and carried with me for most of my life. I have slowly been coming around on the idea that punishments should not be pushed, but rather we should be pushing for ways to involve students in the community in response to (non-violent) behavioral concerns. This project has helped me more clearly believe that and see its benefits.

Overwhelmed as I may be in my day to day life, I do pride myself on being a lifelong learner with a growth mindset. Students having a sense of belonging was already important to me in my classroom, and now I feel more equipped with an understanding of how to continually refine and improve my practices.

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Student sense of belonging might be one of the most important practices I could do when teaching. I have been focusing on this idea a lot, student belonging and inclusion especially around some of the tier 2/3 supports with restorative justice.

Students have so many parts to their identity, just as we do as adults. Things we may not think about every second of every day, but still impact how a student comes to school and class. Parts of their identity could be gender, immigration status, race, ethnicity, language, and their ability just to name a few.

I reflect on my mindset and attitude towards some students and often have to remind myself that behavior is communication. I have for lack of a better word, given up on some students. It was hard for me to get through to them between attitude, and technology usage. I eventually stopped trying- and in hindsight, that was problematic. I could have tried alternative ways to try and connect with them.

What else I realized is that sure, the one far and few between students I stopped trying with, overall, I know deep down I have been more consistent with my relationship building (probably because of that one student).

There is one student who has been seen as "problematic" for a majority of teachers on my grade team this semester, and yet he enters my room and there is never issues. Is it my ability to build a relationship, the routines and procedures I set in my class, or a combination of all the above? I'm not too sure. While that feels good, I also still hold the fact not all students feel that way in my room.

I have been struggling this year with differentiating instruction consistently, especially for my students who do not speak English. I have been unintentionally alienating them. After conducting more research and looking at increased student belonging, I am excited to try a few more tier 2/3 supports. One I recently tried was peer buddies. I noticed I had two students who barely spoke in class unless it was for the bathroom, and they never talked to other peers. I paired them together, and since then, I heard more engagement and communication. I was okay with them speaking Spanish with one another- because they were feeling more comfortable and doing the work.

I am excited to continue to refine and develop my practices as I grow as an educator.

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What is Tier 1 Support?

The PBIS Triangle-The green area represents Tier 1 that supports all students.

Tier 1 systems, data, and practices support everyone across all settings. They establish the foundation for delivering regular, proactive support and preventing unwanted behaviors. Tier 1 emphasizes modeling, teaching, and acknowledging positive social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills. Teams, data, consistent policies, professional development, and evaluation are essential components for these practices to work effectively.

The core principles guiding Tier 1 PBIS include the understanding that we can and should:

Foundational Systems

Tier 1 systems serve as the foundation upon which all other tiers are built. With school-wide systems in place, schools can ensure students and staff are thriving and quickly identify which students need additional support. These Tier 1 foundational systems are:

Leadership Team

The Tier 1 team represents multiple and diverse perspectives to co-create the systems and practices for Tier 1 support. This team is responsible for uncovering strengths and needs by monitoring school and community data, ensuring students receive equitable access to these supports, and evaluating overall effectiveness.

Regular Meeting Routine, Schedule, and Structure

The Tier 1 team meets at least monthly. Team members should have availability to attend at least 80% of all scheduled meetings to provide consistency around action planning and tracking progress. Meetings should include an agenda, minutes, team agreements, defined roles, and a current action plan linked to the school improvement plan.

Commitment Statement for Establishing Positive School Climate

The Tier 1 team's role is to establish the priority for improving the conditions for learning through the adoption of evidence-based practices. If it is not identified as one of the school's top three needs, it is unlikely anyone will allocate the time and effort needed to accomplish implementation. Although not a requirement, It is beneficial when a majority of school community members also agree PBIS implementation is critical to addressing issues related to SEB growth of all students.

School systems can either reflect a biased society or provide a protective buffer against it. To make it a protective place, teams should adopt a behavior framework that is preventive, instructional, and flexible enough to be tailored to the strengths, needs, and values of its students, families, and community. Tier 1 can be implemented with fidelity only when it is equitable and adapted to fit the local context, which means attending directly to aspects of culture.

On-Going Data-Based Monitoring, Evaluation, and Dissemination

Tier 1 teams review and use multiple data sources regularly to guide decisions. Reviewing fidelity data measures how closely the school implements the critical components of PBIS at Tier 1. Annually, teams evaluate the overall effectiveness of Tier 1 supports and share their findings with interested parties. School community members should see school and community data regularly and have opportunity to provide input on Tier 1 foundations.

Procedures for Selecting, Training, and Coaching New Personnel

The key to PBIS implementation is staff consistency. All staff members are involved in the development of goals, process, and measures. Tier 1 implementation may require professional development to orient all school personnel - particularly around five core practices:

Core Practices

Before schools start implementing Tier 2 and Tier 3 practices, Tier 1 practices must be in place. These include:

Schoolwide Positive Expectations and SEB Skills are Defined and Taught

Rather than establishing specifically what not to do, schools define and teach expectations and SEB skills they want to see. Schools should identify 3-5 positively stated, easy to remember expectations. These should create the conditions for a positive school climate to support teaching and learning. Anyone should be able to walk into the school at any time and ask 10 random students to name the school-wide expectations. At least 80% of the time those students should be able to say what they are and give examples of what they look like in action.

For students to know the expectations, they must be taught. The Tier 1 team should decide how students will learn expected academic and social behaviors across various school settings.

Procedures for Establishing Classroom Expectations and Routines Consistent
with Schoolwide Expectations

Students spend the majority of their day within classroom settings. It's critical the expectations in the classroom align with the broader school-wide systems. This consistency supports better behavioral outcomes for all students. Teachers and students co-design agreements and routines that align with school expectations.

Continuum of Procedures for Encouraging Expected Social, Emotional Behavior

A school's Tier 1 team determines how to acknowledge students positively for prosocial behaviors. Schools might use an acknowledgment system to support offering specific praise when students do what's expected. No matter the system, it should be:

Continuum of Procedures for Discouraging Unwanted Behavior

All discipline policies should include definitions for behaviors interfering with academic and social success. They offer clear policies and procedures for addressing office-managed versus classroom-managed problems. Defining both the behaviors and the procedures promote consistent application of Tier 1 across all students and school personnel.

Procedures for Ensuring School-Family Partnerships

Teams should solicit stakeholders, including families, for input on Tier 1 foundations. Opportunities to provide ongoing feedback and direction should happen at least once a year, if not more regularly. This input ensures Tier 1 is culturally responsive and reflects the values of the local community.

The Tier 1 Team

In addition to monitoring Tier 1 systems, the Tier 1 team meets regularly to refine school-wide practices and evaluate their effectiveness. The team reviews discipline data, curriculum-based measures, state tests, and other data sources related to improving school-wide outcomes. Individuals with the following positions are often included on Tier 1 teams:

In addition to these suggested roles, the team should have the following skillsets represented:

SEB expertise

Applied behavior support

Mental health and trauma

Academic instruction

Coaching expertise

Equity

Physical health and wellness (e.g., nurse)

Knowledge of student academic and behavior patterns

Knowledge about how the school operates across grade levels and programs

Assessments

The Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) assesses how closely school personnel apply the core features of PBIS. The TFI includes three separate surveys - one for assessing each tier - schools can use separately or in combination with one another. Schools at every stage of implementation may use the TFI to assess any tier.

Explore the Evidence Base for Tier 1

At its foundation, PBIS is a framework supported by research spanning decades. Study after study confirms the positive impact Tier 1 systems and practices have on improving student outcomes. The evaluation brief, " Is School-wide Positive Behavior Support an Evidence-based Practice?" and " References for the Evidence Base of PBIS" each lay out some of the research and provide additional resources to explore the topic further.

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Tier 1 systems, data, and practices impact everyone across all settings. They establish the foundation for delivering regular, proactive support and preventing unwanted behaviors. Tier 1 emphasizes prosocial skills and expectations by teaching and acknowledging appropriate student behavior. Teams, data, consistent policies, professional development, and evaluation are essential components for these practices to work effectively.

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Tier 2 practices and systems provide targeted support for students who are not successful with Tier 1 supports alone. The focus is on supporting students who are at risk for developing more serious problem behavior before they start. Essentially, the support at this level is more focused than Tier 1 and less intensive than Tier 3.

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What is Tier 3 Support?

The PBIS Triangle-The red area represents Tier 3 that supports a few students. Tiers 1 and 2 supports are still used with students engaged in Tier 3 supports.

PBIS' framework doesn't just work with school-wide and targeted supports. It's also an effective way to address sometimes dangerous, often highly disruptive behaviors creating barriers to learning and excluding students from social settings.

At most schools, there are 1-5% of students for whom Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports have not connected. At Tier 3, these students receive more intensive, individualized support to improve their behavioral and academic outcomes. Tier 3 strategies work for students with developmental disabilities, autism, emotional and behavioral disorders, and students with no diagnostic label at all.

Foundational Systems

Tier 3 practices stem from strong foundations in Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports. With both tiers in place, schools are free to organize individualized teams to support students with more intense needs.

The foundational systems involved in Tier 3 supports are:

Multi-disciplinary Team

Tier 3 team membership includes an administrator, a coach/behavior representative, others with basic knowledge of problem solving. Team members should also include personnel who actively provide Tier 3 support in the school. This gives them input on decisions about interventions they provide to students they serve. Including school personnel from different departments ensures an array of perspectives.

Behavior Support Expertise

A school's Tier 3 team must include someone who has experience providing formal behavior support. They need to have applied behavior expertise and experience developing multi-agency support.

Formal Fidelity and Outcome Data Collection

Documenting student outcomes lets teams monitor how the resources allocated and the practices adopted affect student's outcomes. These data are essential to:

Supporting data-based decision making and problem solving

Identifying needed adjustments to Tier 3 practices

Maximizing resources

Ensuring all students are supported fully and equitably

Evaluating the system's overall effectiveness

Determining student eligibility for additional resources

Evaluating individual education programs·

Assessing how closely Tier 3 supports are implemented as intended (fidelity of implementation) ensures student outcomes can be attributed to the interventions provided.

For more information on how to setup Tier 3 supports, check out our guides:

Key Practices

Tier 3 practices start with strong Tier 1 and Tier 2 foundations. In addition to these practices, the key practices involved in Tier 3 supports are:

Function-based Assessments

Functional behavior assessment (FBA) is the formal process for ensuring a student's plan centers on why a student behaves the way they do. FBA allows teams to identify which interventions are most likely to be useful for an individual student. Plans resulting from a formal FBA process will include strategies for:

Preventing unwanted behavior

Teaching appropriate behavior

Positively reinforcing appropriate behavior

Reducing rewards for unwanted behavior

Ensuring student safety

For more information, check out our FBA guides:

Wraparound

Wraparound differs from many service delivery strategies, in that it provides a comprehensive, holistic, youth and family-driven way of responding when children or youth experience serious mental health or behavioral challenges. Wraparound puts the child or youth and family at the center of the process to develop a support plan. With support from a team of professionals and natural supports, the family's ideas and perspectives about what they need and what will be helpful drive all of the work in Wraparound.

The student and their family members work with a Wraparound facilitator to build their Wraparound team, which can include the family's friends and people from the wider community, as well as providers of services and supports.

With the help of the team, the family and young person take the lead in deciding team vision and goals, and in developing creative and individualized services and supports that will help them achieve the goals and vision. Team members work together to put the plan into action, monitor how well it's working, and change it as needed.

Bruns and Walker (2008) identified ten principles of the wraparound process that included:

1. Family voice and choice

2. Team Based

3. Natural Supports

4. Collaboration

5. Community based

6. Culturally Competent

7. Individualized

8. Strengths-based

9. Unconditional

10. Outcome based

All of these principles are consistent with a PBIS approach and can result in a seamless connection between PBIS practices at Tier3, that include Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans,and wraparound supports.

For more information about wraparound, please visit the National Wraparound Initiative. The Midwest PBIS Network also has an abundance of materials for both the wraparound and person-centered planning process.

Person Centered Planning

Person-Centered Planning (PCP) is a way for diverse people, who share a common need to align:

Their vision, purposes, and goals,

Their understanding of the student's past,present and future life, and

Their actions for change, mutual support,personal and team development, and learning.

PCP makes a commitment and takes action to ensure that changes will be accomplished for the student. The PCP philosophy aims to 1) build support based on a capacity-based perspective of the student, 2) use natural school, family and community resources to fulfill a vision of a positive future for the student, and 3)build a circle of support for the student that includes friends, family, school personnel and service providers. The PCP team coordinates supports around the life of the individual rather than around the needs of the system and existing services. The team also recognizes that abilities of ordinary citizens, neighbors, fellow students, and school personnel, can teach students skills, help them participate, model appropriate behaviors, and foster interdependent relationships.

PCP is a planning process that involves long-term commitment to an action plan and a positive vision for the future of the student. This plan is not intended to replace an IEP or a Behavior Intervention Plan, but can be seen to supplement and extend those plans by addressing broader quality of life and community, personal, and life goals of the student. PCP has much in common with wraparound, with wraparound being a broader umbrella under which PCP can be used as an effective planning process. Both approaches, as well as PBIS, share a commitment to five essential goals of PCP that include:

Being present and participating in community life,

Gaining and maintaining satisfying relationships,

Expressing preferences and making choices in everyday life,

Having opportunities to fulfill respected roles and live with dignity, and

Continuing to develop personal competencies.

There are several Person-Centered Planning processes that have been developed using group facilitation techniques and graphic planning supports including:

Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH),

Making Action Plans (MAP),

Essential Lifestyle Planning (ELP),

Personal Profile,

Futures Plan,

Circle of Support, and

A combination of the above approaches into hybrid models.

For more information about Person Centered Planning visit the Administration for Community Living and the National Parent Center on Transition and Employment.

Cultural and Contextual Fit

With every practice, the student's and the school's culture and context must be considered. Each of these element influences and adds value to a school's Tier 3 practices:

Local environments such as neighborhoods and cities

Personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, and nationality

Learning histories such as family, social routines, customs, and experiences

Language such as dialect and vocabulary

Tier 3 Teams

There are two types of teams associated with Tier 3 supports: the Tier 3 leadership team and individual student support teams.

Tier 3 Leadership Team

Tier 3 teams won't look the same in every school. Whether you have one team looking at Tier 3 specifically, or one team monitoring Tier 2 and 3 systems together, this leadership team meets regularly to be sure:

Students who need additional support have access to those systems

Students who receive Tier 3 supports are successful

Tier 3 leadership teams are led by someone with applied behavior expertise, administrative authority, multi-agency support experience, knowledge of students, and knowledge about how the school operates across grade levels and programs.

Tier 3 Student Support Team

In addition to a team committed to monitoring Tier 3 systems, there must be a problem-solving team for each student receiving Tier 3 supports.These teams meet regularly to design and refine strategies specific to one student. The team's goal is always to transition a student to fewer intensive supports.

Tier 3 student support teams typically include people from the student's school, home, and community. Students and their families input and approval on who is on the team. The school's administrator must have enough involvement to allocate resources as needed for a student's plan.

Assessments

The Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) assess how closely school personnel apply the core features of PBIS. The TFI includes three separate surveys - one for assessing each tier - schools can use separately or in combination with one another. Schools at every stage of implementation may use the TFI to assess any tier.

Explore the Evidence Base for Tier 3

At its foundation, PBIS is a framework supported by research spanning decades. Study after study confirms the positive impact Tier 3 systems and practices have on improving student outcomes. The evaluation brief, " Is School-wide Positive Behavior Support an Evidence-based Practice?" and " References for the Evidence Base of PBIS" each lay out some of the research and provide additional resources to explore the topic further.

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At most schools, there are 1-5% of students for whom Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports have not connected. At Tier 3, these students receive more intensive, individualized support to improve their behavioral and academic outcomes. Tier 3 strategies work for students with developmental disabilities, autism, emotional and behavioral disorders, and students with no diagnostic label at all.

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“...restorative justice techniques have decreased student delinquency, resulted in better academic outcomes, and improved school climate.” (Payne and Welch, 2013)

In circles staff and or students sit in a circle and discuss conflict or feelings. The goal of the circle has two possible purposes, to one build trust in a relationship or to resolve conflicts. The point is to understand who has been harmed, what are their needs, and how to move forward and repair

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Payne, A. A., & Welch, K. (2013). Restorative Justice in Schools: The Influence of Race on Restorative Discipline. Youth & Society, 47(4), 539-564. https://doi-org.ric.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0044118X12473125 (Original work published 2015)