Overview of Classroom Systems

1. Overview of Classroom Systems Arranging for Effective Behavior and Instructional Management

2. Purpose • To describe the implementation of a systems approach to classroom behavior and instructional management • Critical features • Steps and effective practices • Supporting teachers

3. Objectives • Focus on classroom component of PBS - how to support teachers • Describe current status of classrooms (student-teacher interactions) • Discuss several types of teacher support

4. Basic Rule • Design the structure and functions of classrooms to increase predictability and to accommodate individual and collective needs of students

5. School Environment • Lack of discipline is viewed as one of the most serious challenges facing public schools • National Education Goals Report (1995) • U.S. Surgeon General’s Report (2002) • Teachers report that problem behavior is increasing and is a threat to effective learning • Skiba and Peterson, (2000)

6. Guiding Principles • Teach and manage social behaviors directly and proactively (positively and preventively)...like teaching reading, math, physics, music, etc. • Integrate social and academic management strategies within and across curricula. • Maximize academic success to increase social behavior success.

7. Prerequisites • Appropriate and relevant curriculum • Meets needs • Perceived as important • Appropriate goals and curricula that are fair, functional, and meaningful • Avoid frustration, dissatisfaction, confusion, rebellion, etc.

8. Common Mistakes • Students know what is expected of them • Absence of clear rules • Vaguely stated rules • Punishing students for failure to exhibit a behavior that they do not know how to do • Large increases in instructional minutes will not make up for ineffective instruction (Christenson et al, 1989; Rosenshine & Stevens, 1986)

9. So What Can We Do? • Classroom Organization • Instructional Management • Behavior Management • On-going Teacher Support

10. PBS School Culture • Proactive Behavior Support for All • Common language • Agreements about expectations • Consistent and predictable environments • Three Tiered Model • Primary (all students, all times, all locations) • Secondary (efficient interventions for at-risk students) • Tertiary (individualized interventions for those students with the most intense problem behavior)

11. Arrange Environments • Establish the policies, systems, tools and documentation to make implementation • Adoption/implementation easier in subsequent years • Continuous process of adaptation and improvement • Process driven, not person dependent Example: School PBIS handbook, Job descriptionsRequest for Assistance, SST/TAT/BST

12. Classroom Organization • Physical environment • Student and Teacher routines • Transitions • Attention-getting signal • Climate

13. Considerations • How many students will you have in the room at one time? • What kinds of activities will be taking place in your classroom? • Where should students be seated? • How will you regulate movement/supervise/interact? • What should my classroom look like? • Wall space, storage, lighting, etc.

14. Physical Environment • Seating/furniture arrangement • Traffic patterns • Materials/supplies • Student areas (e.g., small group, break, time-out) • Teacher areas (e.g., desk, materials) • Problem features (e.g., unsupervisable areas, dangerous items/equipment)

15. Routines • Increase predictability and consistency • Both teacher and student routines • Build into environment/prompts • “Bear Stops” • Consider “common” routines • Lining up • Meeting personal needs • Preparing for work • Transitions between activities

17. Student Routines • Start/end of day • Transitions • Personal needs (e.g., bathroom, pencil) • Working in groups and independently • Special events • Materials and equipment • Homework and assignments • Personal belongings

18. Teacher Routines • Planning and implementing instruction • Classroom movement (circulation) • Working with assistants, volunteers, student teachers • Communications

19. Efficient Transitions • Teach signal & routine • Practice in natural context • Precorrect in problem situations • Monitor continuously • Positively reinforce contingently

20. Attention-getting Cue/rule • Select cue that is effective, efficient, and relevant • Apply consistently • Positively reinforce contingently

21. Classroom Climate • Develop plan before school starts • Determine expectations • Teach expectations directly • Use first weeks of school to establish: • Expectations and behavior/routines • “climate” (laugh, smile, accept student ideas)Kame’enui & Simmons (1990)

22. Instructional Management Temporal Framework (Kame’enui & Darch) • Before • Design of instruction • During • Delivery of instruction • After • Evaluation of instruction

23. Before Instruction • Student outcomes • Materials/curriculum • Control for acquisition of misrules • Detail presentation of content • Maximum student engagement • Correction procedures • Practice activities • Cumulative review

24. Before Instruction • Task/lesson design • History (new, familiar, mastered) • Response form (yes/no, choice, production) • Modality (oral, motor, written) • Complexity (easy, hard) • Schedule (long/short, frequent/infrequent) • Variation (uniform/varied) • Measurement systems • Follow-up

25. During Instruction • Introduction/objective/precorrections • Delivery of instruction • Monitoring performance • Delivering consequences/feedback

26. After Instruction • Follow-up activities • Evaluation of student performance against objectives • Evaluation of instruction • Modification of instruction • Preparation of next lesson

27. Generic Instructional Approach • Define • Operational definitions of what will be taught • Observable and measurable • Teach • Identify and explain rule • Model/demonstrate relevant examples • Arrange structured practice, role play, behavioral rehearsal • Remind • Precorrect or prompt rule immediately prior to entering natural context

28. Generic Instructional Approach • Monitor • Supervise independent application in natural context • Provide feedback (positive reinforcement & corrections) • Collect data • Evaluate • Examine effect of instruction (i.e., review data, make decisions, follow up)

29. Behavior Management Basics • Use continuum of strategies to encourage expectations • teach expected behavior • increase opportunities for academic and social success • provide positive feedback more often than corrections and reprimands (e.g., 5 to 1) • move from tangible to social reinforcement • move from external to self-managed reinforcement • individualize reinforcement • Use continuum of strategies to discourage/correct inappropriate behaviors

30. Characteristics of Effective Praise • Good praise follows the “if-then” rule. • Make sure students are doing exactly what you want them to be doing • Praise them within 1 or 2 seconds after the behavior occurs • If it is an on-going behavior, praise during the behavior

31. Characteristics of Effective Praise • Effective praise: • includes student’s names • is descriptive • Simply describe what the student is doing at the time - focusing on actions • is convincing/genuine • is varied • does not interrupt the flow of instruction

32. Infrequent Errors • Respond proactively to infrequent social behavior errors • Signal • State rule and expected behavior • Ask student to state/show expected behavior • Give positive feedback

33. Chronic Errors • Precorrect=prompt for desired behavior in problem context • go to problem setting/situation • get attention of students • give reminder or opportunity to practice skills • watch child for demonstration of skill • acknowledge demonstration • Provide positive feedback

34. Summary ofEffective Teaching PracticesBrophy and Good (1986) • Prioritizing and allocating time in academic instruction • Classroom organization and management (academic engagement, opportunities to respond/pacing) • Acknowledging correct academic responses • Use of praise

35. Current Status:Summary of Descriptive Research(e.g., Wehby, Shores, Symmons, etc.) • Low rates of instructional interactions. • Extremely low rates of praise. • When interactions occur, most often around non-academic issues. • Most academic activities consist of independent seatwork. • Inconsistent distribution of attention. • Compliance to a command generally resulted in the delivery of another command • Correct academic responses by a student did not occasion teacher praise above chance levels.

36. Sanders and Horn (1998) indicate, regardless of risk factors found among students in schools today, “the single biggest factor affecting the academic growth of any population of youngsters is the effectiveness of the individual classroom” (p. 2).

37. Impact of Classroom • Sanders and Rivers (1996) reporting up to a difference of 50 percentile point on standardized tests among student who experienced successive years of poor instruction at the elementary level have been reported

38. However… • Need to examine, evaluate, and strengthen the educational systems (preservice training and inservice support) rather than the classroom teacher behaviors only.

39. Systems Support • Shift to school-based teams rather than relying on “outside experts” • As with SW-PBS the systems guide the implementation of effective practices • Link classroom management practices to SW-PBS • Use data for decision-making

40. Supporting Teachers • Self-management for teachers has produced temporary increases in the use of effective instruction strategies • Performance feedback used for temporarily increasing staff/teacher behavior

41. Performance Feedback • Provides information and knowledge of processes and results in an effort to promote transfer or maintenance of skills and behavior • Results in more consistent intervention effects • A “performance feedback package” may result in more optimal results

42. Peer Mentoring • Non-evaluative, reciprocal observations • Performance feedback aimed at improving use of effective instruction • However, research is limited and primarily descriptive

43. Team Activity • 20 Minutes • Work as team • Complete & submit one copy of Classroom section of the Self-Assessment Survey • Add activities to Action Plan as needed • Consider using active supervision to assess and/or monitor specific settings • Prepare 1-2 minute report about status of system and planned activities