The district began implementing the program four years ago in campus cohorts, the first of which has completed the implementation.
Jana Sandall, director for student management, said the best way to change student behavior is to change adult behavior, and to do that, PBIS is meant to get the community to work together for change.
“Whatever we expect from staff, community and students, we’re going to teach,” Sandall said.
The approach
PBIS is focused on positive reinforcement aimed to prevent behavior issues in students, Sandall said. It is broken down into four modules, the first of which focuses on team processes at the administrative level, the second focuses on common area policies such as hallways and restrooms, the third focuses on guidelines for success, and the last focuses on the relationship between productive procedures, creative procedures and individual student behaviors.
Zooming out
Each cohort is at a different level of implementation, and total implementation takes three years.
The first cohort consisted of 19 elementary schools, Sandall said. The second cohort consisted of 14 middle school campuses, cohort three consisted of 10 high school campuses, and cohort four consisted of 26 elementary schools.
Sandall said some campuses from the first cohort decided they weren’t ready for various reasons and reset their progress, and the only campuses not going through PBIS are the early childhood campuses.
What else?
The district also uses a classroom management tool called STOIC, an acronym which stands for structure, teach, observe, interact and correct—five elements Sandall said will help lead to effective behavioral improvement.
Since 2023, 55 campuses have been trained with the tool, Sandall said.
