Team Meetings

Tiered Fidelity Inventory Item: 1.2 Team Operating Procedures

Meetings are expensive in terms of time and money, and ineffective meetings cost lost productivity long after the meeting is officially over due to frustration and lost opportunity, thus planning is required to mitigate these costs (Romano & Nunamaker, 2001).

Characteristics of Effective Team Meetings

Predictable

• Start/end time, roles, purpose/goals, phases of meeting
• Responsibilities linked to roles, projected meeting minutes/data

Consistent

• Use of meeting minutes, team agreements, use of meeting protocol & problem solving routine
• PBIS/MTSS Meetings are not cancelled or moved except in the most extreme circumstances

Positive/Safe

• Team agreements, use of Meeting Foundations or Norms

Resource: Sample PBIS Meeting Norms

Accountability

• Fidelity of implementation
• Student outcome data as evidence of implementation
• Meeting evaluation

Meeting Schedule

At a minimum, each team should meet once per month, with additional meetings scheduled as needed to achieve your goals and timelines. It is recommended that meeting dates and times be entered on the school master calendar early in the school year so other activities do not crowd out these important meetings. Additionally, be sure to schedule the length of meetings to allow ample uninterrupted time to plan; one hour is ideal.

Resource: Sample Meeting Schedule - Year 1

Resource: Sample Meeting Schedule - Year 2

Resource: Meeting Schedule - Template

Meeting Location

Meetings should happen in a conference room or office as they have the highest correlation to effective meetings (Romano & Nunamaker, 2001). The coordinator should secure the meeting location well in advance of the meeting.

Meeting Agenda Form

The PBIS/MTSS Coordinator keeps the group on topic. An agenda should be created in advance of the meeting for what topics to cover. It should clearly state the date, time, place, invitees, and have a list of items to be discussed. It’s recommended to use the TIPS meeting model (see below).

Data Gathering

Data driven decisions are at the heart of PBIS/MTSS. The PBIS/MTSS Coordinator or other designee should gather data prior to the meeting that is pertinent to the topic(s) being discussed. This data is to be disseminated to all members of the team for review prior to the meeting if time allows; this can decrease time spent in the meeting as well as bring transparency.

Resource: Sample Agenda with Action Plan Items

TIPS Meeting Model

Resource: TIPS Meeting Minutes Form

Resource: Evaluation of Team Meeting and Roles

(As presented at the Positive Behavior Support Leadership Forum, 2015)

Team-Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) is a conceptual model for problem solving that has been operationalized into a set of practical procedures to be used during meetings. Use of TIPS procedures can help team members identify, address, and resolve students' social, academic, and attendance issues. A key feature of TIPS is its emphasis on team members' ongoing use of data to inform decision making about each of the problem-solving processes (e.g., using data to identify and define significant problems; establish baseline and goal rates/levels of the problem; select solutions likely to be effective, given the hypothesized function of the problem behavior; monitor and achieve implementation integrity of solution actions; monitor problem behavior and adjust solution actions as necessary to achieve the objectively-defined resolution goal).

TIPS Process

• Identify a problem with precision
  • Identify who, what, when, where, why for every problem that requires a solution
• Identify goal for change
  • Set a goal that defines levels at which the problem is no longer a problem
• Identify solution and create implementation plan with contextual fit
  • Brainstorm solutions and decide what they are going to do to bring about desired change
• Implement solution with high integrity
  • Implement and use data to determine if they did what they said they would do
• Monitor impact of solution and compare against goal
  • Use outcome data to determine if the solution is having the desired impact on the outcome.
• Make summative evaluation decisions
  • Determine what to do next

Notes on Improvement of Practice

• Regular attendance and roles being assigned is critical so members know what is expected.
• Reliability of meetings is important; members must know when tasks are due and next meetings are scheduled.
• Agendas must be displayed and can be used to keep discussion on target.
• Meeting minutes must be projected, used to guide the meeting, prompt steps for problem solving, and record decisions made.
• Teams must be taught how data drives each step in problem solving.
• Problems must be identified with precision.
• Highlight the link between solutions implemented and positive student outcomes.
• Attention to how differences in precision elements lead to different sets of solution options should be emphasized.
• Make teams aware that it is better to implement a few targeted and specific solutions than too many that overextend resources and/or cannot be maintained.
• Teams must be taught about the concept of fidelity, how it is non-evaluative, and easy was to gather it.
• Teams should use fidelity data as a component of evaluating outcomes of solution implementation.
• Teams must be taught to review all problems until resolved.

(Cusumano & Todd, 2015)

Resource: Action Plan Template

Resource: Problem Solving Process