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Ohio Facilitator's Guide for Tier 1 Schoolwide PBIS Online Modules

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SWIS Major vs. Minor Referral Definitions

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SWIS Major vs. Minor Referral Definitions

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Use these calendars as a tool for planning activities and events that will keep a focus on improving attendance all year long. You can customize the attendance plan for your community. For each activity, you might specify who is responsible for leading and how to measure results of the activity.

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Year-Long Planning

Please note: The materials on this page were created prior to March 2020. Some of the recommendations or images may refer to in-person activities and have not been adapted to conform with health guidelines regulating the number of people who can meet in person or safety measures to prevent transmission of Covid-19. We recommend that you follow your local health department, district and/or state guidance related to safety and education for the 2020-2021 school year.

Use these calendars as a tool for planning activities and events that will keep a focus on improving attendance all year long. You can customize the attendance plan for your community. For each activity, you might specify who is responsible for leading and how to measure results of the activity.

PreSchool Team Yearly Attendance Activities Planning Tool

School Team Yearly Attendance Activities Planning Tool

District Team Yearly Attendance Activities Planning Tool

More from Attendance Works

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Please note: The materials on this page were created prior to March 2020. Some of the recommendations or images may refer to in-person activities and have not been adapted to conform with health guidelines regulating the number of people who can meet in person or safety measures to prevent transmission of Covid-19.

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Examples of Tiered Practices - Attendance Works

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We're excited to launch Webinar 3 of the 2022 AAC with our partners! Join the discussion on "Ensuring a Welcoming, Healthy, & Restorative Start to School"! @IELconnects @UnitedWay @leagueofcities @MENTORnational @healthyschools @FutureEdGU @AmericasPromise @readingby3rd @JHU_EGC

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Root Cause Worksheet/Survey for Students

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Root Cause Worksheet/Survey for Students

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Stay in the Game! unites partners, districts, experts, collaborators, and leaders of all kinds to leverage individual strengths to better support Ohio's schools and districts through collective impact. Our leading partners founded the network in concert with school districts to make sure our schools have teammates in this critical work. We can make more progress playing as a team - bringing all of our expertise, skills and perspectives to the field.

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Stay in the Game! - Keep Learning, Every Day

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Stay in the Game! unites partners, districts, experts, collaborators, and leaders of all kinds to leverage individual strengths to better support Ohio's schools and districts through collective impact. Our leading partners founded the network in concert with school districts to make sure our schools have teammates in this critical work.

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Home - Attendance Awareness Campaign 2025

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Home - Attendance Awareness Campaign 2023

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40 national partners are working together to promote Attendance Awareness Month 2015.

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Attendance Works, EdTrust and Nat Malkus with AEI have launched the national chronic absence challenge: reduce chronic absence by 50% in 5 years. We congratulate the state education leaders listed below who have committed to this challenge!

To support the challenge we're first developing tools for states, including The 50% Challenge: Crafting a State Road Map toolkit, designed to support their work on a statewide student engagement and attendance plan tailored to their local circumstances.

Chronic absence, or missing more than 10% of school days for any reason, spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, and rates remain elevated across the nation. It is affecting schools and districts in every state and students and families in every demographic group.

Turning this around will take all of us working together. State education leaders - governors, education agencies and policy makers - are uniquely positioned to alert everyone to the size of this challenge and to ensure they have the tools and strategies to improve engagement and attendance in school.

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States Participating in the 50% Challenge - Attendance Works

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Attendance Works, EdTrust and Nat Malkus with AEI have launched the national chronic absence challenge: reduce chronic absence by 50% in 5 years. We congratulate the state education leaders listed below who have committed to this challenge!

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The current window is too small to properly display this sheet. Consider resizing your browser window or adjusting frozen rows and columns.

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PBISApps | TFI 3.0 Tier 1: Preparing for Administration and Scoring Items

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Training Material: This presentation prepares coaches and facilitators who will be guiding administration and use of the TFI 3 Tier 1 with school teams.

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PBISApps | TFI 3.0 Action Plan Form (Fillable)

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Form: From the Center on PBIS: Use this form to help track the Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) 3.0 items your team wants to focus on for improvement. The PDF is fillable or can be printed blank for handwritten entries.

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PBISApps | TFI 3.0 Action Plan Form (Fillable)

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Form: From the Center on PBIS: Use this form to help track the Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) 3.0 items your team wants to focus on for improvement. The PDF is fillable or can be printed blank for handwritten entries.

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SPDG MTSS Team Roles_Cohort 2 - Google Docs

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Copy of ESC Training Module 6 08-02-2024 - Copy (1)

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Copy of ESC Training Module 4   08-02-2024 - Copy

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Copy of ESC Training Module 3 -07-01-2024 - Copy

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Copy of ESC Training Module 2 07-19-2024 - Copy

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Unpacking SEL, Cyber Safety for Teachers, Understanding and Using Attendance Data for Improvement, Suicide Awareness and Violence Prevention for School Staff, Understanding Multi-Tiered System of Support

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Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog

Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.
Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.
Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)
Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

Have you updated your profile? We have added a field for local ESC and need
all users to choose which ESC they are associated with. An additional field for School
district has also been added. This will help us to better support you moving forward.

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Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

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Unpacking SEL, Cyber Safety for Teachers, Understanding and Using Attendance Data for Improvement, Suicide Awareness and Violence Prevention for School Staff, Understanding Multi-Tiered System of Support

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog

Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.
Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.
Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)
Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

Have you updated your profile? We have added a field for local ESC and need
all users to choose which ESC they are associated with. An additional field for School
district has also been added. This will help us to better support you moving forward.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

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This is the comprehensive guide for early childhood programs. It includes EC tables above ("EC Responses" "EC Behaviors")

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Behaviors with Definitions- early childhood

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EC Responses to challenging behavior (with definitions) 

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EC Responses to challenging behavior (with definitions) 

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Strategies to respond to challenging behavior with definitions

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Be Kind_ 4- Respect Privacy & Take Turns 

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Be Kind_ 3- Hands and feet to self_quiet voices

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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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PBIS Tier 1 Manual-Painesville City Schools

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PBIS Tier 1 Manual-Painesville City Schools

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PCLS Elementary PBIS Tier 1 Manual (23-24) (1)

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_Supporting Families with PBIS at Home FINAL

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Strategies to Deescalate Behavior in the Classroom

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Strategies to Deescalate Behavior in the Classroom

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Creative Solutions for Minor Classroom Behaviors

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Creative Solutions for Minor Classroom Behaviors

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Consider CPI Deescalation Strategies and Trauma Sensitive Classrooms

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Consider CPI Deescalation Strategies and Trauma Sensitive Classrooms

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ODE PBIS Module 4:  Encourage Appropriate Behavior

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ODE PBIS Module 4:  Encourage Appropriate Behavior

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ESC  Training Module 4 Encouraging and Acknowledging Appropriate Behavior-8.10.19 (1)

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Encouraging Positive Behavior at Home-A Chart for Families

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Encouraging Positive Behavior at Home-A Chart for Families

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Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center

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Encouraging Positive Behaviors at Home - A Chart for Families - Ohio’s Statewide Family Engagement Center

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By downloading and filling out a blank Positive Behavior Chart, families can create their own, personalized set of expectations for how their family will care for each other at home. Though this chart could be used with children of any age, the example chart was written with elementary and middle school children in mind. This […]

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Strategies for De-escalating Student Behavior in the Classroom

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Strategies for De-escalating Student Behavior in the Classroom

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Unpacking SEL, Cyber Safety for Teachers, Understanding and Using Attendance Data for Improvement, Suicide Awareness and Violence Prevention for School Staff, Understanding Multi-Tiered System of Support

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog

Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.
Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.
Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)
Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

Have you updated your profile? We have added a field for local ESC and need
all users to choose which ESC they are associated with. An additional field for School
district has also been added. This will help us to better support you moving forward.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the OLC Online Catalog Now that you are a member you can enroll in a course with a single click.Search for courses using the search box or scroll though the list.Search by keyword or topic (e.g. Google, Assessment)Click the more button at the bottom to load more courses.

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SWIS office referral categories and definitions updated 1/17/24

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SWIS office referral categories and definitions updated 1/17/24

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Download the document from Padlet or access it directly from the website: https://www.pbisapps.org/resource/referral-category-definitions

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Explaining the Brain to Children and Adolescents

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Explaining the Brain to Children and Adolescents

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Explaining the Brain to Children and Adolescents

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EC/Elementary:  A Trauma Informed Approach to Behavior Padlet

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EC/Elementary:  A Trauma Informed Approach to Behavior Padlet

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Anatomy of PBIS Framework Part 2- Team & Operating Procedures

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Anatomy of PBIS Framework Part 2- Team & Operating Procedures

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Welcome to part 2 of our deep dive into the PBIS framework and its 15 foundational features as defined in the Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI).

First, a quick review of what we've covered so far...

In part 1, we defined the three essential elements of the framework:

Systems: the policies, procedures, processes, and priorities to keep your efforts going over the long haul.

Practices: the evidence-based, culturally-relevant things you DO WITH your students.

Data: the information to help you choose your next steps, evaluate how things have been going, and sound the alarm when something needs to change.

You can think of these three elements as headers in an outline. The subheads underneath them are the 15 foundational features. Every school implementing PBIS starts out with the same outline. Another way to think about is like this: three concentric circles - labeled systems, data, and practices- with the word equity in the middle where the circles connect, and each of the 15 features spidering out from its associated element...like this:

Today we're taking a closer look at the first two foundational features of any PBIS implementation: Team Composition and Team Operating Procedures (see on graph above). They're systems-level features and they're all about your schoolwide team, specifically who's on it and how it operates. Before we get to the specifics, let's take a look at what the research says about school-level teams and team-based decision making.

Problem-solving teams make it possible to address and support an increasingly diverse student body, collaborate across the spectrum of specialists available within schools, and increase communication across a schoolwide community.[1] Study after study demonstrates that teams are an effective practice in schools; what's less clear is why. So much about what makes a team work relies on how it's able to fit within a school's organizational structure and culture. That finding was confirmed in a meta-analysis looking at multiple school-based teams across 14 studies. [2] Researchers found team-based decision making is a solid practice AND none of the teams they looked at seemed to use consistent structures and practices.

Some had a formal decision-making process. Others didn't.

Some had two members and others had 14.

Some documented a purpose. Others didn't.

All this variability makes researching teams super challenging; it's also what makes teams so great. The people and processes that work in one place may not work well in another, but somehow both are successful within their unique context.

What is a Schoolwide PBIS Team?

According to The Center on PBIS, within a PBIS framework your schoolwide team is responsible for working together to create the systems and practices related to the Tier 1 supports you provide. You use data to monitor and improve those systems and practices and the whole time you ensure every student has equitable access to those supports to reach their full potential. Centering equity in this work means "reimagining the system and its conditions so that all students, families, and communities can thrive - especially those who have not historically done so."[3]

When it comes to the features of a schoolwide team required to implement PBIS successfully, the TFI tells us there are two things you can't skip out on.

TFI Item 1.1 Team Composition

PBIS implementation isn't a solo mission. It requires a team and to have a team, you're going to need to invite some help. The TFI tells us who to include around your meeting table.
The Who

‍Tier 1 Systems Coordinator: Someone who understands the systems, practices, and data for schoolwide PBIS implementation.

‍Administrator: Someone in your school with the authority to allocate resources and support the decisions your team makes.

‍Liaisons: Team members representing the various groups within your schoolwide community - family members, students, teachers, and staff.[4]

The Skills

‍Applied Behavioral Expertise: Experience with the science behind behavior and behavior support so the action plans you create are based on evidence.

‍Coaching Expertise: Experience implementing PBIS to guide your team's work and decision-making process.

‍Data Analysis: Access to academic and behavior data and the ability to analyze and share the patterns they notice. (The SWIS Suite, anyone?)

‍Understanding of How Your School Works: Knowledge of the basic operations at your school - the resources available, the schedule, the specialists, the student and family groups, etc.

TFI Item 1.2 Team Operating Procedures

The second feature of your schoolwide team is how you conduct your meetings. These operating procedures establish the foundation for how you'll do the work as a team. You'll need:

‍An Agenda: The agenda format you use creates the predictable way your team will make its way through each meeting.‍

Minutes: These are the collective notes from your meeting outlining each decision, next steps, who is responsible for completing those steps, and by when.‍

Meeting Roles: Each member of your team needs to know expectations for their participation in the meeting. These expectations get wrapped up in a defined role. The roles in your team can include: a meeting facilitator, a notetaker, a data analyst, and general team members.‍

Current Action Plan: The work you do as a team is an on-going process. Your action plan documents where you are in the process and where you're headed.

These two features - team membership and operating procedures - are your two must haves. Here is a list of 15 tips and tricks to help you organize your schoolwide team to be its most effective ever.

1. Consider Options for Family and Student Representation

Getting family and student voices as regular parts of your schoolwide team efforts is critical. It's also impossible for one family member and one student to represent every student and family in your school. Having a family member and a student serve as standing members of your team is one way to ensure these voices are included in your decisions. There are others. Might we suggest regular focus groups, or conducting a School Climate Survey or a Feedback and Input Survey.

2. State Your Purpose

Your purpose defines why you do the work you do. Why are you sitting around the meeting table? Why do we look at data each time? The answers to these questions help define your purpose; they compel, motivate, and unify your team to complete the goals you set out to achieve. If you're looking for a place to start defining your why, the Great Lakes Equity Center offers the charge to make educational equity your ultimate purpose. They define this to be:
"When educational policies, practices, interactions, and resources are representative of, constructed by, and responsive to all people such that each individual has access to, can meaningfully participate, and make progress in high-quality learning experiences that empowers them toward self-determination and reduces disparities in outcomes regardless of individual characteristics and cultural identities."
3. Co-create Your Norms

It's possible when your team comes together, you immediately have a comfortable way of communicating with each other. However, it's more likely, especially on teams with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and lived experiences, that you'll need to establish some norms. Norms to establish might include:

How will you handle differences of opinion?

How will you bring up new issues or questions?

What process will you use to make decisions?

What are our processes and expectations for before, during, and after meetings?

4. Even the Playing Field

When you look around the table, you'll see everyone in your schoolwide community represented. That means your administrator might sit next to a student; a librarian sits next to a 10 th grade history teacher. It's important to recognize not everyone seated around the table has the same authority within your school's organizational structure, but everyone shares the same responsibility and commitment within the team. If you're someone who comes to the table with more power in your school context, look for more opportunities to listen and uplift the voices around you.

5. Include All Voices, Especially the Contrary Ones

Making decisions with people who share perspectives similar to your own is easy, but hardly anything revolutionary ever happened easily. When you add the voices of those impacted by your decisions, particularly those who have been negatively impacted by existing systems, the solutions you implement are more vibrant, considered, and complete. These dynamic conversations build on schoolwide strengths and create a school culture that's more inclusive and representative of everyone inside it.

To do all of this, might we also recommend you...

6. Invest in Outside Help to Facilitate Conversations

We love coaches. They make all the difference between implementing PBIS versus sustaining it over the long haul. A critical aspect of your team's objective is to achieve equitable outcomes for all students. That work must start by uncovering why the systems are inequitable in the first place and changing any deeply held beliefs and assumptions you might have. 6 That work is personal, emotional, and complex. We'd recommend investing in an experienced coach who can help your team create the safe space necessary to navigate those conversations.

7. Save the Date and Time...

Once you know who will be on your team, the next tricky step is coming up with a dedicated, regular date and time for your meeting. Everyone on your team has their own schedule and set of logistics. Finding a common time where everyone can attend at least 80% of the meetings is challenging, but not impossible. Get that recurring meeting on everyone's calendar and by the third meeting everyone should be around. Save that date and time now...

8. ...And Make Sure Your Administrator Can Be There

The administrator's role on teams is the role most frequently cited in research impacting a team's performance. 7 As you make decisions and look to implement changes to the way your school operates, you need to have someone on your team with the authority to approve those ideas. If your team meets at a time your administrator regularly cannot attend, or your meeting isn't at the top of their priority list, you will have gone through your entire decision-making process only to find yourself at a dead end when there isn't someone there to clearing a path to implement it.

9. Gauge the Interest Level

The TFI tells us who needs to be on your team and the knowledge you need represented. What it doesn't tell you is: Sometimes a person can check all the boxes, but they just don't want to be part of the group. That's ok, as long as you know that up front. Some questions to ask potential team members are:

Do you have time in your schedule to participate?

How many other teams or committees are you already on? How would this team fit in with that work?

Have you made team-based decisions before and are you interested in that type of collaboration?

You want team members who bring diversity of thought and experience, who work well as collaborative teammates, and who really want to be there.

10. Make It Interdisciplinary

The decisions you make as a schoolwide team will affect your schoolwide community. Because of that, you want the team you assemble to represent your school. Combinations of general education and special education teachers, administrators, specialists, support staff, and others are all great examples of people to consider as part of your schoolwide team.

11. Use a Table

No, not a literal table in the room...although make sure you have one of those. We're talking about your agenda. We've learned that formatting your minutes in a table makes it easy to see who is responsible to do what and by when. We use an agenda format based on the Team Initiated Problem Solving model with the agenda at the top and the minutes written up in a table underneath. 8 The table's headers are:

Agenda Item

Discussion Points

Decisions

Who (will do what)

When (they'll do it)

The table helps us organize the thoughts clearly so all we have to do is scan the list for our names to remember what we agreed to do before the next meeting.

12. Add a Virtual Option

Times are different now. Meetings happen in person and virtually. If your team has decided to meet in-person, it's a good idea to add a Zoom link to that calendar invite, or a Teams link, or a smoke signal...just in case.

13. Set and Send the Agenda in Advance

Don't let the agenda be a surprise. Send it around before your meeting. In our office, we do a call for new agenda items a few days in advance and then send around the agenda for the meeting at least the day before we meet. Getting these things early helps everyone show up to the meeting fully prepared.

14. Save Your Minutes in a Shared Space

It's a good practice to save your minutes in a place where anyone on your team can access them. Google Docs. OneDrive. Sharepoint. In your school, I'm sure you know exactly where your minutes can go. The shared folder ensures you can remind yourself what you agreed to do in the meeting once you leave the room. It also helps the back-up notetaker access the minutes from the previous meeting if your regular notetaker is absent.

Speaking of backups...

15. Back Each Other Up

If you only have one data analyst on your team, what happens when that person is out for a meeting or two? Do you just not look at data until they get back?

No!

The answer to the problem is to cross-train your team members. Make sure every role on your team has a person who can fill in. Even the administrator! See if you can get another person with the authority to approve decisions to attend your meeting if you know the administrator on your team isn't going to be able to make it.

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Out of the 15 foundational features of PBIS, two relate to your schoolwide team: Team Composition and Team Operating Procedures. Team composition is about who is on your team. Make sure your administrator and your schoolwide systems coordinator are committed members. From there, build your team to represent your larger schoolwide community. You'll need someone to analyze your data, someone who understands the basics of how behavior works, someone who knows the way your school operates, and someone who can coach you through your implementation. Your team operating procedures define how your team works together. Decide how you'll conduct your meetings, where you'll save your agenda, minutes, and action plan. Assign your team members roles and responsibilities for before, during, and after your meetings. From there, it's up to you to tailor your team to fit within your school's culture and overall organization.

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1. Rosenfield, S., Newell, M., Zwolski Jr, S., & Benishek, L. E. (2018). Evaluating problem-solving teams in K-12 schools: Do they work?. American Psychologist, 73(4), 407.

2. Wesley A. Sims, Kathleen R. King, June L. Preast, Matthew K. Burns & Sarah Panameño (2023): Are School-Based Problem-Solving Teams Effective? A Meta-Analysis of Student- and Systems-Level Effects, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, DOI: 10.1080/10474412.2023.2232785.

3. Romer, N., Hollins-Sims, N., Owens-West, R., Perales, K., Walrond, N., Payno-Simmons, R., & McIntosh, K. (2023). Centering equity in data-based decision-making: Considerations and recommendations for leadership teams. Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety at WestEd and the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

5. Anderson, A., Macey, E., Hart-Tervalon, D., Skelton, Sm. M., & King Thorius, K. (2019). Equity Dispatch: Classic Edition - Educational Equity. Great Lakes Equity Center. https://greatlakesequity.org/resource/equity-dispatch-classic-edition-educational-equity (Original work published 2012)

6. Romer, N., Hollins-Sims, N., Owens-West, R., Perales, K., Walrond, N., Payno-Simmons, R., & McIntosh, K. (2023). Centerin gequity in data-based decision-making: Considerations and recommendations for leadership teams. Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety at WestEd and the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

7. Rosenfield, S., Newell, M., Zwolski Jr, S., & Benishek, L. E. (2018). Evaluating problem-solving teams in K-12 schools: Do they work?. American Psychologist, 73(4), 407.

8. Todd, A. W., Newton, J. S., Horner, R., Algozzine, B., Algozzine, K. M. (2015) TIPS 2 Meeting Minutes Form. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, Educational and Community Supports.

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PBISApps | Teach By Design-Anatomy of a Framework Part 2: Teams

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We continue our series exploring the PBIS framework and its features. Today, we're talking about your schoolwide team, who should be on it and which procedures will help you do your most effective work ever.

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(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Electronic act" means an act committed through the use of a cellular telephone, computer, pager, personal communication device, or other electronic communication device.

(2) "Harassment, intimidation, or bullying" means either of the following:

(a) Any intentional written, verbal, electronic, or physical act that a student has exhibited toward another particular student more than once and the behavior both:

(i) Causes mental or physical harm to the other student;

(ii) Is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for the other student.

(b) Violence within a dating relationship.

(B) The board of education of each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district shall establish a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The policy shall be developed in consultation with parents, school employees, school volunteers, students, and community members. The policy shall include the following:

(1) A statement prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying of any student on school property, on a school bus, or at school-sponsored events and expressly providing for the possibility of suspension of a student found responsible for harassment, intimidation, or bullying by an electronic act;

(2) A definition of harassment, intimidation, or bullying that includes the definition in division (A) of this section;

(3) A procedure for reporting prohibited incidents;

(4) A requirement that school personnel report prohibited incidents of which they are aware to the school principal or other administrator designated by the principal;

(5) A requirement that the custodial parent or guardian of any student involved in a prohibited incident be notified and, to the extent permitted by section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended, have access to any written reports pertaining to the prohibited incident;

(6) A procedure for documenting any prohibited incident that is reported;

(7) A procedure for responding to and investigating any reported incident;

(8) A strategy for protecting a victim or other person from new or additional harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and from retaliation following a report, including a means by which a person may report an incident anonymously;

(9) A disciplinary procedure for any student guilty of harassment, intimidation, or bullying, which shall not infringe on any student's rights under the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States;

(10) A statement prohibiting students from deliberately making false reports of harassment, intimidation, or bullying and a disciplinary procedure for any student responsible for deliberately making a false report of that nature;

(11) A requirement that the district administration semiannually provide the president of the district board a written summary of all reported incidents and post the summary on its web site, if the district has a web site, to the extent permitted by section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 571, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended.

(C) Each board's policy shall appear in any student handbooks, and in any of the publications that set forth the comprehensive rules, procedures, and standards of conduct for schools and students in the district. The policy and an explanation of the seriousness of bullying by electronic means shall be made available to students in the district and to their custodial parents or guardians. Information regarding the policy shall be incorporated into employee training materials.

(D)(1) To the extent that state or federal funds are appropriated for this purpose, each board shall require that all students enrolled in the district annually be provided with age-appropriate instruction, as determined by the board, on the board's policy, including a written or verbal discussion of the consequences for violations of the policy.

(2) Each board shall require that once each school year a written statement describing the policy and the consequences for violations of the policy be sent to each student's custodial parent or guardian. The statement may be sent with regular student report cards or may be delivered electronically.

(E) A school district employee, student, or volunteer shall be individually immune from liability in a civil action for damages arising from reporting an incident in accordance with a policy adopted pursuant to this section if that person reports an incident of harassment, intimidation, or bullying promptly in good faith and in compliance with the procedures as specified in the policy.

(F) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, nothing in this section prohibits a victim from seeking redress under any other provision of the Revised Code or common law that may apply.

(G) This section does not create a new cause of action or a substantive legal right for any person.

(H) Each board shall update the policy adopted under this section to include violence within a dating relationship and harassment, intimidation, or bullying by electronic means.

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Section 3313.666 - Ohio Revised Code | Ohio Laws

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(A) As used in this section: (1) "Electronic act" means an act committed through the use of a cellular telephone, computer, pager, personal communication device, or other electronic communication device.

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Topic Page: Bullying is frequently noted as an example of disrespectful and aggressive behavior. The majority of bullying and harmful behavior happens in order to get attention, praise, or social status from by-standers, peers, or even the victim. An effective social culture has a formal process for…