National PBIS Leadership Forum October 3 4 2019
National PBIS Leadership Forum | October 3 -4, 2019, Chicago, IL C 13 – Strengths & Challenges in Urban PBIS Steve Goodman & Jonathan Jagemann Key Words: Urban Implementation, Systems Alignment, Applied Evaluation
Strengths • Experienced educators are within district that are knowledgeable on behavior change and PBIS implementation • Larger amount and variety of resources available to support implementation efforts • Training, coaching, technical assistance, evaluation, access to various levels of leadership • Potential local capacity to support implementation 2
Challenges • A higher proportion of urban schools are considered lower performing as compared to cohorts of suburban and rural schools (Williams, 1996). • Some of these urban low-performing schools have also been designated as “persistently dangerous” schools (NCLB; 20 U. S. C. § 7912 (2001). • Additionally, when the effects of diverse community variables on school climate families in urban settings are faced with significant life challenges, academic readiness for school is often not achieved (Smith, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1997; Huston, 1994). 3
Challenges that affect adoption of PBIS (Putnum, et al. 2010) • High turnover of teacher workforce, resulting in a high proportion of inexperienced short-term teachers • Bureaucratic and complex district structure with continuous change in leadership and a disconnect between school and district administrators • District initiatives that may have had a history of failure, and other competing initiatives that drain resources. 4
Challenges that affect adoption of PBIS (Horner 2010) • Lack of a district-wide leadership team with authority and responsibility • Political instability that results in the lack of a 5 -year vision, and confidence in guiding that vision for that time period • Poor data systems that require excessive time collecting irrelevant information and provide limited timely data needed for programmatic decision-making • Lack of staff at the mid-level who have the technical knowledge and skill to train/coach and guide implementation of PBIS • Administrative diffusion which results in no one having the responsibility to implement change and increased local control that prevents district-wide leadership from implementing change. 5
Opportunities • Improve the school atmosphere, creating more positive environments conducive to learning. • More time can be used for teaching rather than addressing problem behavior. • Increased energy and resources can allocated to supporting students with more significant behavior needs. • SWPBS provide benefits for students, staff and community. 6
Develiop a culture of competence around effective practices Common Vision Common Expectations Common Language Common Experiences Biglan, 1995; Horner, 2002 7
District Leadership Team • Provides coordination of implementation efforts with a focus on coaching support, competency based professional development and evaluation capacity. • Allocate resources (e. g. , materials, programs, staffing) to support SWPBS efforts 8
District Leadership Team Implications: • Administrative Diffusion • No one has responsibility to implement change • Local control at school level sometimes prevents district-wide leadership Suggestions • District administration needs to be able to define a 5 -year vision, and build confidence that they will be able to guide that vision for that time period 9
District leadership team is needed to help with staying focused 10
Amount of Influence Potential Influence of District on Impact of Implementation District School Selection District School Fidelity Sustainability Feature of Implementation 11 Scalability
Contextual Focus Framework for Addressing Practice and Supports Classroom Grade Level School District Region State Level of the System Focus on Practices Focus on Support 12
District Supports PBIS Implementing Schools Leadership and Management What to do, why do it and assistance to get it done Professional Development How to do it Promote Effective Environments Make it easy to do it right Effective Sequence District Supports for PBIS Implementation Fidelity of Implementation 13
Clearly define the work • Define the critical features of what we do (practices, systems, data) • Process: • Use capacity and fidelity tools 14
Practice Profile for School Level PBIS 15
Clearly define the work Implications: • Working in complex and ever changing environments creates challenges in understanding key initiatives and priorities Suggestions: • Use to determine fidelity of implementation • Use to communicate with stakeholders what it is we do and what we support • Helps determine adequate district coordination and resources to support schools 16
Use data and focus on meaningful outcomes • Focusing on results increases our confidence that we add value • Demonstrating meaningful outcomes for students increases our likelihood for political and financial support. • Evaluation helps us to be a self-modifying system • Comprehensive evaluation approach also makes it easier for us to share our successes with key stakeholders 17
Use data and focus on meaningful outcomes Implications • Excessive time collecting irrelevant information • Absence of data needed for programmatic decisionmaking Suggestions • Adopt assessments that are reliable, valid, practical, and useable • Create a “Decision Support Data System” to store, summarize, analyze, and report on data • Review and act on data in regular cycles 18
Various Components of Evaluation REACH TOOLS Extending Tools: Count number of of Schools and schools Stage of implementing Implementation Project Team CAPACITY FIDELITY IMPACT Develop organizational Tools: Capacity structures and Assessments staff competencies Implementation SWPBIS of. Tools: effective Tiered Fidelity practices Successful Tools: State Assessments, outcomes in Discipline student reading and. Referrals, behavior Inventory Perception Data Feedback Loops 19
Scale up strategically • Simply adding more and more schools does not guarantee an effective scale up of PBIS efforts. 20
Moving from Model Demonstration to Standard Practice Examine Feasibility/Efficacy of Practice Being Developed Model Demonstration: Does it work in a specific setting with a specific population? Replications: Can it be reproduced in different settings with different populations? Invest heavily in resources to produce results Modifying System for Standard Practice Embed within existing work: Provide access as current practice Scale-Up: Increase “reach” of practice to critical mass of implementation Utilize typical/existing resources 21
Implementation Costs for Pilot and Scale-up Average cost per unit decreases from the pilot phase to the scale-up phase on a curve. The overall cost however increases because implementation is occurring more widespread. During scale-up there is a need for increased allocation of resources and reallocation of existing resources. 22
The number of schools involved in the scale-up will depend on the constant tension of three factors regarding implementation Resource Allocation *We need to keep this factor constant Implementation Quality Implementation Timeframe 23
Invest in local capacity to support implementation fidelity Consider implementation drivers of • Leadership to guide implementation efforts • Competency of educators • Hospitable organizational environments to promote fidelity (accuracy and consistency) 24
Consider Fidelity of Implementation • Are we implementing the practices correctly and consistently over time? • Students cannot benefit from interventions they do not experience! from Dean Fixsen, Karen Blase, Robert Horner, George Sugai, 2008 25
Myth Fidelity of Implementation 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 Fidelity 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Student Outcome Reality 100 90 80 Fidelity 70 60 50 40 30 20 adapted from P. Strain (2016) 10 0 1 2 26 Fidelity 3 4 5 Student Outcome 6 7 8 9 10
Staff Development Implications • Teachers new to the field without basic classroom management skills. • Turn-over that prevents development of coherent core teaching staff. • Poorly organized annual staff development activities. Suggestions • In a large district more people are needed at the midlevel who have knowledge and skill to train/coach and guide implementation of PBIS 27
Align with key initiatives • Aligned systems are more likely to be implemented correctly and sustained over time • Alignment builds on initiatives by leveraging funding, training, and evaluation in ways to improve MTSS implementation. • It also supports efficient, effective, and sustainable practices. 28
Alignment Identification and Resolution Initiative A Initiative B Shared common ground Conflicts or competing variables Possible alignment opportunities Philosophical engagement (theory of action) Focus of the defined work (Purpose) Support activities Measures and evaluation Outcomes 29 TOOLS Resolution decision
Making Room for the Work For each initiative added-take two others away 30
Summary of Suggestions 1. Develop district leadership team 2. Clearly define the work 3. Use data and focus on achieving meaningful outcomes 4. Scale up strategically 5. Invest in local capacity to support implementation fidelity 6. Align with key initiatives 31
Miami, FL Hyatt Regency Miami March 11 -14, 2020 For more information, visit: conference. apbs. org
National PBIS Leadership Forum | October 3 -4, 2019, Chicago, IL
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