Today’s Outcomes– Finalizing Behavior Matrix

– Making Expectations Visible

– Identifying an Internal “Coach”/Team Leader

– Teaching Behavioral Expectations

– Monitoring Expected Behavior

– Developing your System to Acknowledge/Encourage Expected Behavior

– Correcting Behavioral Errors-Continuum of Consequences

– Using Data for Decision-Making

– Team Action Planning

Acknowledgement System: Understanding the Theory Behind the Practice

and Avoiding the Pitfalls

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Definition of Positive Acknowledgement:

Positive acknowledgement is the presentation of something pleasant or rewarding immediately following a desired behavior.

It makes that behavior more likely to occur in the future, and is one of the most powerful tools for shaping or changing behavior.

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Acknowledgement System

The purpose of an acknowledgement system is to:

Foster a welcoming and positive climate Focus staff and student attention on desired

behaviors Increase the likelihood that desired behaviors will

be increased. Reduce the time spent correcting student

misbehavior

Evidence suggests that traditional school practices viewed as punishment, exacerbate and contribute to the problem of challenging behavior. 4

Research on the use of acknowledgements within schools

(Tobin, Horner, Sugai; 2002)• More positive reinforcement for appropriate school

behaviors is needed.• Some students need very clear, salient, formal reward

systems.• Formal reward systems enhance a school’s cultural

competence.• Formal reward systems help students who have been

abused or neglected.• Consequence of punishment and exclusion trivialized.• Use of teaching, shaping desired behavior, and

acknowledgement are most effective in reducing problem behavior. ing5

Why Use Acknowledgements?

Research Literature: Over 30 years of

research found most teachers (general education and special education) fall into patterns where we are giving more attention to misbehavior than positive behavior (3-15:1 skewed to the negative side)

Research cited by Sprick (2007)

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Are “Rewards” Dangerous?

“…our research team has conducted a series of reviews and analysis of (the reward) literature; our conclusion is that there is no inherent negative property of reward. Our analyses indicate that the argument against the use of rewards is an overgeneralization based on a narrow set of circumstances.”

– Cameron, 2002– Cameron & Pierce, 1994, 2002

– Cameron, Banko & Pierce, 2001

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Acknowledgements…

• Reinforce the teaching of new behaviors• Strengthen positive behaviors that can compete

with problem behavior• Prompt for adults to recognize behavior• Should be a celebration of your relationship with

students• Should never be used to control or humiliate• Should not cause anxiety for students

Modified from Acknowledgement Systems: Catch ‘em being Good, Chris Borgmeier, PhD

Why Use Acknowledgements?

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Acknowledgements…• Encourage school-wide behaviors to be displayed

in the future• Improve our school climate• Create positive interactions and rapport with

students• Overall, we earn time back to teach and keep kids

in the classroom where they can learn from us!

Every time any adult interacts with any student, it is an instructional moment!

Why Use Acknowledgements?

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Relationship of Acknowledgements to Office Discipline Referrals

11/5

11/19

12/3

12/17

12/31

1/14

1/28

2/11

2/25

3/10

3/24

4/74/2

15/5

5/19

6/20

40

80

120

160

200

240

280

320

360

400

440

480

520

560

600

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Average Tickets/Day Average Referrals/DayWeeks

PU

RR

S S

lips

OD

Rs

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Positive Reinforcement

• Positive consequences are based on principles of reinforcement. Reinforcement is any procedure that maintains or increases behavior as the result of consequences experienced following a behavior.

Consider the following examples:

– You wear a new outfit to work and receive a lot of compliments; you wear the outfit more often.

– A group of girls stop to talk to your teenage son when he takes the dog for a walk in the park; your son walks the dog more frequently.

– A student who gets suspended, goes home and plays his/her favorite video game.

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Vicious Cycle of Reinforcing

Misbehavior

Student misbehaves

Adult “pays attention” &

behavior stops.

Student is reinforced & soon

demonstrates behavior again

Adult reprimands student & behavior

stops (Adult reinforced)

Student is reinforced.

Ratio of Interaction

The behavior you attend to the most will be the one that you will see more of in the future.

Importan

t Point #2

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Ratio of Interactions

The single most important thing that a teacher can do to improve the overall behaviors of students in their classroom is…

increase the number of positive interactions they have with each

student.

Positive or Negative?

• Common Comment:– “But, I am not a negative teacher. I

really am a positive person.”…..

Positive or Negative?

• The concept of “Ratios of Interaction” is relevant even for warm, friendly, inviting, positive, and caring educators

• Majority of the negative interactions are gentle reminders

– “You need to get back to work now.”

– “No, put that away please.”

– “I asked you to go back to your seat”

– “No, you need to put that book away and work on this assignment”

4:1 Ratio, It’s not Just for Kids

Business Teams:•High Performance= 5.6 positives to 1negative • Medium Performance = 1.9 positives to 1 negative • Low Performance= 1 positive to 2.7 negatives

Losada, 1999; Losada & Heaphy, 2004

Successful Marriages:• 5.1 positives to 1 negative (speech acts) and• 4.7 positives to 1 negative (observed emotions)

Gottoman, 1994

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Rating Interactions

• To determine whether an interaction is considered positive or negative always ask yourself this question:

–Did the child get attention while engaged in positive behavior or negative behavior?

–Was the child doing what I requested be done when I gave him/her attention?

Indicate if the following interaction is positive or corrective:

Mr. Turner’s class is engaged in independent seatwork. As he is assisting a

student with a question, Mr. Turner looks up and realizes that James is standing at the window watching the lawn mower go by. Mr. Turner walks over to James and quietly asks, “Hey buddy, where are you

supposed to be?”19

Indicate if the following interaction is positive or corrective:

While students are engaged in partner reading exercises, Ms. Hamm pulls a small group of students to provide

explicit instruction in decoding skills. At a break in the instruction, she looks

up and says, “Jon is focusing on his assignment.”

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Indicate if the following interaction is positive or corrective:

Mrs. Hixson is reading a book to her 1st grade class at circle time. After reading the first page, she asks her students,

“What do you think will happen next?” Ashley, without raising her hand, proudly states, “I think the wolf is going to learn

how to read!” Mrs. Hixson replies, “Ashley, that was an excellent prediction!

How thoughtful!”?21

For students who repeatedly demonstrate minor or major misbehavior, they will require even more immediate and specific feedback when they engage in the expected behavior

Common Concerns

As a leadership team, you may encounter staff members who have

concerns about implementing PBIS.

You must be prepared to respond to their concerns.

Common Concern Appropriate Response

Shouldn’t children this age already know what is expected of them and how to behave?

• Behavior that is acknowledged is more likely to occur again.•Behavior that is ignored is less likely to be repeated.•No good behavior should be taken for granted or it may decline.

Praising feels unnatural. Won’t kids think it sounds phony? • The more you praise, the more natural it will

feel.•If you praise appropriate behaviors that truly happened, there is nothing phony about it.•Kids who get praise will tend to praise others.

Isn’t praise manipulative or coercive? • The purpose of praise is to reinforce and increase positive behavior with the student’s knowledge.•Praise helps clearly describe expectations so that the student can successfully meet them.

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Common Concern Appropriate Response

Isn’t giving a reward like bribing students to do what you want them to do?

• A bribe attempts to influence or persuade someone to produce a desired behavior that hasn’t yet happened.•A reward reinforces a desired behavior that has already happened.•The definition of a bribe states it is an incentive to do something wrong; illegal, unethical, or immoral. That is NOT what we are doing!

Won’t students come to depend on tangible acknowledgement? Do extrinsic acknowledgements decrease intrinsic motivation?

• Tangible acknowledgement should be accompanied with verbal acknowledgement•When a message that recognizes a student’s efforts as being responsible for success is given with a reward, internal motivation will actually be strengthened.

Shouldn’t tangible acknowledgements be saved for special achievements?

• By acknowledging only “big” behaviors, we send the message that every day behaviors are not important.•Small steps on the way to achievement need to be recognized.

Do students in middle and high school still need acknowledgement?

•People of all ages, including adults, need to be acknowledged for their efforts.•Students of all ages need recognition, praise, and acknowledgment, particularly during the difficult transition of adolescence.

• Praise should be...

– contingent: occur immediately following desired behavior

– specific: tell learner exactly what they are doing correctly and should continue to do in the future

• “Good job” (not very specific)

• “I noticed how you are showing me active listening by having quiet hands and feet

and eyes on me” (specific)

Simonsen & Fairbanks, 2006

Specific and Contingent Praise

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S – B – I Model

• S: Describe the Situation or Setting• B: Describe the Behavior, what you

saw or heard• I: Describe the Impact of the

behavior - who or what was impacted

Source: Center for Creative Leadership, Feedback That Works 27

S-B-I

• When the bell rang, you turned in your work and went straight to your seat. You followed the class procedures exactly. That showed self-control.

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