PBIS-RJ

As a result of high suspension rates and emerging research which began to question the effectiveness of Zero Tolerance practices SBCUSD initiated a Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) pilot in 2003.  Over the next two years, 7 SBCUSD schools (4 elementary and 3 middle schools) began creating school-wide proactive discipline systems.  As a result of the student outcome data produced through the pilot,  two district psychologists were hired to support middle school implementation of PBIS during the 2005-2006 school year.

By 2011, middle school Office Referral rates had dropped by an average of 55% and the total incidents of Suspension decreased by an average of 26%.   During that time, a number of district-level supports were created,  including, but not limited to, the following:

The Universal Expectations of Be Safe, Be Responsible, Be Respectful were adopted in 2004 and schools began developing positive examples for all locations on campus, making it possible to teach expectations school-wide.   Several of the pilot schools took behavior instruction to a deeper level by also adopting a full SEL curriculum (I Can Problem Solve & Skill-streaming) to teach daily social skills.  By 2009, the 16 Classroom Survival Skills  were adopted, making the practice of social/behavioral instruction a reality in classrooms across pilot and middle school campuses.  At that point Expectations by Location, Unique Classroom Procedures and Classroom Survival Skills became the curriculum to teach social-behavioral skills.

A district-wide Office Referral Form was adopted in 2007, which provided SBCUSD with a universal form to document Problem Behaviors,  Environmental Factors, Functional Factors, & Location.  This new form also expanded the menu of consequences administrators could choose from to include options for Skill & Relationship Development.  As a result of enacting a universal referral form, it was possible for the IT Department to develop an in-house database to manage discipline data (SB2000, Aeries).  This provided site teams the ability to  generate immediate, up-to-date Office Referral & Suspension Reports for data analysis.  

In 2008, the focus expanded from building school-wide systems to implementing evidence-based classroom practices, i.e., Re-Teaching Expectations, Clarifying Expectations, Cueing/Prompting Expected Behaviors, Providing Structured Choices, Conducting Problem-Solving Meetings, Reviewing Academic/Discipline Data.  These practices provided classroom teachers with the tools necessary to get the majority of students demonstrating the expectations on a regular basis. The Low-Level Referral Form, was then created as a way to document the interventions being done in classrooms to support students demonstrating Chronic Minor Offenses. 

In 2010, the SBCUSD Progressive Discipline Matrix was revised to include PBIS values and to ground disciplinary practices within a multi-tiered system of behavior support.  The Matrix provided clear definitions and guidelines regarding Minor Offenses, Chronic Minor Offenses, and Major Infractions and expanded the menu of administrative consequences to include both Instructional & Relational Interventions in the context of suspendable offenses. 

From 2004-2011, both the Office Referral and Low Level Referral forms were modified several times based on staff feedback and emerging research.  One significant modification occurred in 2011 when Minor Offenses were re-defined as the "failure to demonstrate a social skill or expectation," which led to the removal of the terms "Disruption," "Defiance," "Disrespect," and "Non-Compliance" from both the Low Level and Office Referral Forms.  This change in language marked a significant cultural turning point.  Staff descriptions of student behavior began to shift from vague, often emotionally charged, labels to more precise descriptions of the skills students should be demonstrating to be successful, i.e., Disruption > Staying on Task.

In 2013, Restorative Justice (RJ) was embedded into the PBIS mandate.  RJ provided a set of evidence-based practices to support the building, maintaining, and repairing of relationship and community (peer/peer, staff/student).   As schools moved further away from a Zero Tolerance stance, RJ gave schools a pathway to focus on behavior within the context of relational accountability.  

From 2011-2016 multiple program specialist were hired to support site-level implementation.  By 2016, the PBIS/RJ initiative became part of Student Wellness & Support Services (SWSS) - a department that was re-structured to support school climate and culture, mental health and wellness, counseling, and health services.  As a way of acknowledging the expanded mandate, PBIS Teams started to be referred to as Tier 1 Climate & Culture Teams.  

PBIS/RJ systems/supports have benefitted greatly from the merging of these disciplines.  Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has re-emerged as a rich set of human competencies that can be modeled, taught and practiced by staff using existing PBIS systems and practices to support school-wide  implementation.

Commitment to Trauma-Informed practices expanded the original PBIS goal of creating learning environments that are physically safe and orderly to include psychological and emotional safety.  

In 2017, each school selected Site Climate & Culture Coaches (SC3's)  to participate in a three-year grant which included monthly professional development on a variety of topics including the effects of trauma; the development of affect, feelings, and emotions; brain states; mindfulness practices; and verbal de-escalation strategies among others.  Terms such as "co-regulation" and "self-regulation" are now entering the cultural conversation as staff increasingly acknowledge their responsibility to tend to their own SEL development in order to effectively support the growth of their students.

The most recent extension of the cultural journey (2018-2019) includes all administrators participating in a three-year training supported by Special Education and Student Wellness & Support Services to provide training for site leaders as they build Schools and Classrooms that promote Healing-Centered Engagement (Dr. Nikki Elliot, Center for NeuroDiversity of Laverne).  This latest project continues the cultural goal to build the capacity of staff to understand and effectively respond to the underlying issues which challenge student's success.