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A Review of the Tier Two Behavior Support Program at Highland Springs Elementary

Check-in / Check-out

Executive Summary by Joe Koontz Virginia Commonwealth University

Table of Contents

1. Background and Context.....p. 3 2. Evaluation Design.....p. 5 3. Findings.....p. 8 4. Implications and Recommendations.....p. 11 5. Conclusion and References.....p.16

Background and Context

From 2008 - 2010, Highland Springs

Positive behavior support is a proactive

Elementary failed to earn Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) academic accreditation. Schools that failed to earn state accreditation were required to implement a specic school improvement plan model. There were many academic improvement plans, as well as plans to reduce discipline. Disruptive behaviors lower overall student achievement because they impede the learning of all students and monopolize a signicant portion of teachers and administrators time. (Anderson, 2009) ! In 2009, Highland Springs Elementary implemented a school-wide discipline program. This program is based on a system developed by VDOEs Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC). This school-wide program is designed to create a universal set of expectations and consequences for students behavior. In September 2010, Highland Springs Elementary implemented phase II of TTACs program. This second phase consisted of a positive behavior support system for students who needed individualized help beyond the school-wide discipline plan.

way of dealing with student behavior. Traditional methods of discipline, such as suspension, time outs, and loss of privileges are reactive. Positive behavior support is intended to reduce the exclusionary practices of traditional discipline in favor of proactive behavior management. (Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005) ! Highland Springs Elementary realized that student behavior was taking up a large portion of teachers and administrators time. By reducing discipline, Highland Springs Elementary hopes to increase the time students are on task and learning. Their school-wide discipline program and the CICO portion of that program are part of the larger school improvement plan aimed at raising overall student achievement. Highland Springs Elementary is starting the third year of the CICO program and is ready to evaluate the program to determine if the time and resources invested are helping toward their goal of increased student achievement.

! ! The ultimate goal of CICO is to prevent disruptive behavior in students who need support beyond the effective school-wide discipline program. The program is designed for students to check-in with an adult in the morning, carry an individualized behavior plan throughout the day, and check-out with the same adult at the end of the day. The check-in is intended to be a positive start to the day. The adult conferences with the student and together they talk about the expectations for the day and set behavior goals. The student then takes a behavior chart with him or her that teachers use to record their behavior at different intervals throughout the day. The intervals are designed to be short time periods with specic behavior expectations. These behavior expectations are written in simple terms with a rating scale that has only three indicators for the teacher to circle or mark. The individualized behavior charts are designed to be easy for the student to understand and the teacher to document. At the end of the day, the students again conference with the same adult and they chart their individual progress toward goals they set with their adult mentor. The effective school-wide discipline program is benecial for the majority of students who attend Highland Springs Elementary. For those students who need more personalized attention, the CICO system helps minimize their negative behavior.

Evaluation Design
! When this study was rst conceptualized, it was originally a quantitative study looking at the effectiveness of the CICO program in terms of the discipline data such as ofce referrals and suspensions. After an initial conversation with the client, it was clear that this evaluation would be much more qualitative in nature. The client has a clear understanding of the quantitative data. She knows that this program is effective in reducing the number of ofce referrals and suspensions. She was more interested in the perceptions of the program and the efciency of the daily process. For this reason, the evaluation became a responsive evaluation using a mixed method approach. The evaluation used a mix of interviews, focus groups, and surveys to gather information from various focus groups. In between each data collection cycle, the client was consulted for understanding and clarication. The ow chart on the following page shows the order in which the evaluation occurred. A linear data collection model was used to allow the evaluator to gain new understanding before the next data collection cycle.

Interviews...
allow for the evaluator to get an in-depth personal perspective from a key stakeholder.

Focus Groups...
are important tool for evaluators because they get multiple perspectives in a single meeting. They also allow the evaluator to gather non-verbal observations from crosstalk and body language.

Surveys...
can reach a wide audience quickly and they allow the evaluator to quantify the opinions of stakeholders. The anonymous nature of surveys also lets stakeholder be honest without the fear of repercussions.

Program Evaluation Implementation

The initial interviews were extremely

While this was not ideal, it was a compromise that the client was comfortable with. ! The teacher survey was sent out using Google Docs. The survey provided data that helped shape the focus group questions. After discussing the results with the client, it was decided to add additional questions about the Tier One, school-wide behavior support program. The research indicated that having a strong Tier One program was important for the success of a Tier Two program. The evaluator wanted to make sure there was some data collected about the Tier One program.

helpful in shaping the focus group and survey process. One of the rst discussions centered on how to survey the students. The principal did not want to have to get permission from parents for the evaluator to conduct a focus group. The evaluator and the client decided that someone from within the school would administer a brief survey to the students. This would be someone the students were comfortable with. A simple, three-question survey was developed and administered to the students in the program.

There was also a compromise made on

participants and to be able to touch base with them ahead of time. It should also be noted that during one of the focus groups, the power went out. There was a window in the room, so the blinds were opened and the focus group continued. The participants indicated that they did not mind and this event did not seem to interfere with the data collection. ! Given more time, a follow up survey and focus group would have been helpful. Time and logistics did not allow for this, but further questions about the students/teacher interaction during the day would have been helpful.

the teacher focus groups. Initially, the plan called for separate focus groups for teachers who had students in the CICO program and teachers who did not have students in the program. This was initially set up, but weather cancelations forced the groups to be rescheduled. With the short notice, the focus groups had to be a mix of teachers. While this was not the original plan, it ended up enriching the discussion. The evaluator relied on the client to set up the focus groups. If these were conducted again, it would have been helpful for the evaluator to have a list of the

Findings - Teacher Survey

! 29 teachers responded to the survey. The survey identied the teachers in one of three groups. The rst group is teachers who currently have students in the CICO program. The next group is teachers who do not currently have students in the CICO program, but have in the past. The nal group of teachers have never had a student in the CICO program. The teachers were asked to rate the following ten statements on a scale from 1 to 5, where a score of 1 means they Strongly Disagree agree and a 5 means they Strongly Agree with the statement. 1.I have a thorough understanding of the Check-in/Check-out program at my school. 2.The students in this program show improvement in their behavior. 3.The students behavior chart is easy for the classroom teacher to complete. 4.The students behavior chart is easy for the teacher to understand. 5.The students behavior chart is easy for the student to understand. 6.I feel the level of parent communication in the Check-in/Check-out program is sufcient. 7.I understand the selection criteria for students in the Check-in/Check-out program. 8.The Check-in/Check-out program is a worthwhile time investment by the school administration. 9.The level of communication between the Check-in/Check-out program administrator and the classroom teacher is sufcient. 10.The Check-in/Check-out program does not signicantly take away from my instructional time.

There was a clear difference between the teachers who have or had a students in the CICO program and those who do not.

Average Rating by Teacher Group

Q1$ 5.00$ Q10$ 4.50$ 4.00$ 3.50$ Q9$ 3.00$ 2.50$ 2.00$ Q3$ Q2$

Q8$

Q4$

Teachers$With$Current/$ Former$Students$in$ CICO$ Teachers$Without$ Students$in$CICO$

Q&$

Q5$

Q6$

Average Response by Teacher Groups from CICO Survey Teacher Group Currently Using CICO Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

4.00

3.43

4.07

4.29

4.14

2.93

3.43

4.07

3.36

3.93

Used CICO in the Past 4.25 No CICO Experience

3.38

3.63

3.75

3.75

3.13

3.38

3.50

3.25

3.50

3.57

3.71

3.14

3.57

3.43

3.14

3.14

3.86

3.14

3.29

Findings - Student Survey

! The student survey only had three control their behavior and the nal four students responded with various other answers. 12 of the 13 students were able to articulate that they behaved better because they were in the CICO program. questions. The rst question asked, What do you like about the Check-in/Check-out program? Six of the 13 students indicated they like the candy or prizes. Three students indicated they like that the program helped them

I"behave"be(er"because"I"am"in"the"" Check3in/Check3out"Program."

Yes$ No$ I'm$not$sure?$

What%do%you%like%about%the%% CICO%Program?%

Candy/PrizesBehavior-RelatedOther-

Implications and Recommendations

! Time and communication were inuenced by external factors such as home environment and parental involvement that are beyond the control of the school. There are areas where time and resources could be used more efciently and there are channels of communication that could be more productive.

overarching themes that surfaced among all stakeholders in this evaluation. The CICO program at Highland Springs Elementary is constrained by the hours in the school day and the available resources. The program is also

Improving Perception
! Highland Springs elementary may want may also increase the positive perception by the teachers. The teachers understand that the students have difcult home lives and they want the parents to be aware of their challenging behavior and be part of the solution, if possible. ! Overall communication transparency may also help with the perception of the program. Letting teachers know more about the selection process and why certain students get in the program and why certain students leave the program are important. The teachers had varied understandings of the program and misinformation can lead to misunderstanding. That was clear from the survey results and the discrepancy between the teachers who had students in the program and those that did not. to consider additional training and information sessions about the CICO program. As new teachers come on, they will need to be trained, even if they do not have students in the program. You may also want to consider having teachers sit in on the Effective Schoolwide Discipline (ESD) meetings on a rotating basis. Through the interviews and focus groups, there seems to be a perception that the ESD group had substantial input regarding the CICO program. Having teachers participate in those meetings would let them feel like they are a part of the process and it may also help them understand the limited resources the school administration is dealing with. ! Parent involvement and communication was also a recurring theme. Having the parents more involved in the CICO program

Time Considerations
! The teachers and CICO administrators one chart seemed to be manageable. The school administration will want to further investigate alternative reporting methods for teachers with multiple students in the program. During the check-out process, there is a limited amount of time. The students have to catch the bus or day care van and the CICO administrator may have an afternoon duty. The more students the CICO administrator has, the less individual attention the administrator can provide. The school administration may want to consider identifying more staff to serve as CICO administrators. This could be any staff member that is not a classroom teacher. By reducing the number of students in each group, it creates more time to work with each student at the end of the day. This would take more coordination and oversight, but it could have a positive effect and help alleviate some of the time constraints at the end of the day. all indicated that there was not enough time to counsel the students as much as they would like. While it is not realistic to have the students leave class earlier than they already do, perhaps there could be an extended checkout period once per week. The additional time could be for the whole group or on a rotating basis with individual students. That extended block does not necessarily have to be at the end of the day. It could be during lunch or some other consistent time. The purpose of this extended block would not be to go over that days behavior chart, but instead go over a weeks worth of data or spend extra time talking about the students behavior goals for the future. It will take some planning and organization by the school administration, but an extended time period would be a helpful modication to the CICO program. The school administration will want to look closely at the time this program takes for teachers who have more that one student in the program. In both focus groups, the teachers who had more than one student in CICO indicated that keeping up with multiple student charts was difcult. One student and

Communication
! There are several areas where group, see Ive been writing notes all year thinking parents were seeing the notes at least on Fridays but I guess theyre not. The other participants also seemed unsure about wheather or not their parents saw the CICO behavior sheets. This could be easily xed with a clear policy about the level of parent communication. The teachers also indicated a desire for the parents to more involved in the process. There were several suggestions such as having the parents come in for an orientation to the program. When a child enters this program, they have been a consistent behavior problem and most likely have been suspended. The parents should be motivated to come in and learn about the program if it will keep their child from being suspended. This could also build some good will between the school and the parent because they will see the time and personal attention that the school is committing to their son or daughter. ! communication methods and processes can be improved throughout the CICO program. The two major areas for potential improvement are parent communication and staff communication. There seems to be a misunderstanding and some inconsistencies regarding parent communication. The CICO behavior sheet has a place for a parent signature. One CICO administrator does not send home the behavior sheets and the other CICO administrator send them home once per week. The teachers in the focus group denitely had a misunderstanding about how to communicate with parents through this program. One teacher stated in a focus

Ive been writing notes all year thinking parents were seeing the notes at least on Fridays but I guess theyre not.
-Focus Group Participant

There also could be more consistent

behavior. Having the teachers using the CICO program participate in a norming exercise may be helpful. The teachers could be presented with a scenario and they could discuss how they would score that on the behavior sheets. This would help them be more consistent. It may also be helpful to create a forum for the teachers in the CICO program. These teachers all have students who have been identied as needing Tier Two behavior intervention. Creating a forum for these teachers to share ideas and have a support network may also be helpful. This could be in the form of a quarterly meeting or some other digital communication forum.

communication between the teacher and the CICO administrator. The CICO administrator plays a signicant role in the students education. The teachers indicated a desire for more consistent communication to provide some connection to the behavior sheets. The numbers on the behavior sheets often do not tell the whole story about the students behavior. Also, the teacher or the CICO administrator may nd things out about the students personal life that they would not put on the chart, but would want the other person to know. Along those same lines, there needs to be consistency in the teachers reporting on the sheet. The numbers on the sheet are the main way the teacher communicates the

Potential Program Modications

! The school administration may want to focusing so much energy on the most disruptive students and rewarding them for normal behavior. The teachers also wanted to recognize the students who consistently exhibit positive behavior. The teachers stated a desire to recognize these students more than every nine weeks. The school administration may want to involve the teachers in coming up with ways to recognize the most well behaved students as well. ! A nal recommendation that bridges the gap between Tier One and Tier Two behavior support is the need for more classroom guidance. One teacher stated, We need more [guidance lessons]. With as many issues and when I look at my class, I have twenty-six students, more than half of my students have anger management issues. The teachers agreed that some type of weekly guidance lesson that was consistent would be helpful. consider several modications to the CICO program. One of the ideas that surfaced through the focus groups was having a different model for the younger students and the older students. The teachers seemed to think that the program and the behavior chart was better suited for the older students. Further studies will need to be conducted to see if there is an alternative behavior sheet or check-out model for the students in the younger grades. ! The behavior chart itself can be a trigger for students. The whole point of the CICO program is to reduce negative behavior, but the chart can be a trigger at the end of the day for students who did not get the score they wanted. For certain students, the CICO administrators may want to consider an alternative communication method to prevent the chart from becoming a trigger for negative behavior. ! An area where the teachers had a great deal of cognitive dissonance revolved around

I think were setting some of them up for a really harsh reality check for when they get out to real world kind of things and theres not a cop with a fanny pack full of lollipops, because theyre expecting to get some type of reward for doing every little thing. - Teacher

Conclusion
! The ndings from this study will be helpful to the school administrators at Highland

Springs Elementary or to a school administration looking to implement a Tier Two behavior support program such as Check-in Check-out. This type of program relies on relationships that are formed between adults and students. Relationships take time and are difcult, if not impossible to quantify. The current research and the ndings from this study both conrm the need for teachers and staff that are dedicated to students and willing to follow a program. Even if the program is not implemented with complete consistency and delity, the relationship are what make the difference in childrens lives.

References
Anderson, E. (2009). The effectiveness of a proactive school-wide discipline plan on ofce ! ! discipline referrals at the elementary school level. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Liberty University, Virginia.

Luiselli, J., Putnam, R., Handler, M., & Feinberg, A. (2005). Whole-school positive behavior ! ! supports: Effects on student discipline problems and academic performance. Educational Psychology, 25(April-June), 183-198.

Report Prepared by Joe Koontz, Virginia Commonwealth University !

koontzjd@vcu.edu