Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children Annual Conference

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
Hand

• Teacher Education Division
  of the Council for
  Exceptional Children - Annual
  Conference -
• The Grand Casino
  Biloxi, Mississippi.
  November
  11 - 16, 2003

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BY
Colleen Finegan
Early Childhood / Early Childhood Special
Education
Wright State University
www.ed.wright.edu
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
Hand

• Abstract
• Description of a university partnership
  initiative which provides
  comprehensive training
• in positive behavioral support
• for teams of pre-service and in-service
  
  early childhood educators, intervention
  specialists, parents,
  service providers, and administration
• in order to provide supportive
  services for children
  with behavioral difficulties
• in transition from preschool to the primary
  grades.

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
Hand

• Abstract
• Description of a university partnership
  initiative
  which provides
  comprehensive training
  in positive behavioral support
  for
  teams of pre-service and in-service
  
  early childhood educators,
  intervention specialists,
  parents,
  service providers, and administration
  in order to provide
  supportive services
  for children with behavioral difficulties
  in
  transition from preschool
  to the
  primary grades.

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
Hand

• Abstract
• Description of a university partnership
  initiative
  which provides
  comprehensive training
  in positive behavioral support
  for
  teams of pre-service and in-service
  
  early childhood educators,
  intervention specialists,
  parents,
  service providers, and administration
  in order to provide
  supportive services
  for children with behavioral difficulties
  in
  transition from preschool
  to the
  primary grades.

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Definition

• Positive behavior support
• is a collaborative,
  assessment-based process
• to develop effective,
  individualized interventions
• for individuals with challenging behavior.
• The support plans focus on proactive and
  educative approaches.
• http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.htm

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Goal

• Positive behavioral support
• is aimed at supporting
  individuals with challenging behavior
  to "get a life",
• and once they "get a life" to
  "keep a life" over their entire life
  span.
• Positive Behavioral Support by Susan Fake.
  http//www.oz.net/sfake/

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• Thus, positive behavioral
  support
• is an approach compatible
  with the inclusion of individuals with
  disabilities
• in typical home, school and work settings.
  
• Positive Behavioral Support by Susan Fake.
  http//www.oz.net/sfake/

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Primary Features

• 1. Creating a vision for inclusion.
• 2. Completing a functional assessment of the
  challenging behavior(s).
• 3. Organizing the environment to prevent
  challenging behaviors.
• 4. Teaching skills now that make challenging
  behaviors unnecessary.

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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Primary Features

• Rewarding positive behaviors and removing the
  rewards for challenging behavior.
• 6. Anticipating the most disruptive and
  dangerous situations.
• 7. Ensuring a "cultural" fit.
• 8. Monitoring for improvement.

Positive Behavioral Support
by Susan Fake. http//www.oz.net/sfake/
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• Key Features
• Positive behavior support (PBS)
• has three primary features

• functional (behavioral) assessment
• 2) comprehensive intervention
• 3) lifestyle enhancement

Horner Carr, 1997 Koegel,
Koegel, Dunlap, 1996
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• functional (behavioral) assessment

process for identifying the events that trigger
and maintain problem behavior.
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• functional (behavioral) assessment

information gathering through
--record reviews
--interviews

--observations

And the development of summary statements that
describe the patterns of the behavior
identified.
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• functional (behavioral) assessment

A clear description of the problem
behaviors Events, times, and situations
that predict when behaviors will and will not
occur (i.e., setting events)
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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• functional (behavioral) assessment

Consequences that maintain the problem
behaviors (i.e., functions) Summary
statements or hypotheses Direct observation
data to support the hypotheses
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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2) comprehensive intervention
proactive strategies for changing the
environment so triggering events are
removed
teaching new skills that
replace problem behaviors
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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2) comprehensive intervention
eliminating or minimizing natural
rewards for problem behavior
maximizing clear rewards for appropriate
behavior.
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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3) lifestyle enhancement
participation in community life.
gaining and maintaining
satisfying relationships. expressing personal
preferences. making choices.
developing personal
competencies.
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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3) lifestyle enhancement
Such improvements in quality of life are
facilitated by establishing a positive long-range
vision with the individual and his/her family
(e.g., through person-centered planning) and
mobilizing natural supports through effective
teamwork.
http//rrtcpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/pbsinfo.html
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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State Improvement Grant - Ohio
The goal is to ensure
a successful,
positive transition from the 3-5 yr. old program
to
a welcoming, supportive school-age environment
for young children with behavior difficulties
especially those with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD)
in the Dayton
Metropolitan area.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
--Sent out feelers to contact interested
parties in surrounding
school systems --Talked about grant at various
local education meetings. Preschool Task Force
Autism study group Intervention Specialist (ECE
and K-12) at WSU.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
--Coordinated with WSU and local SERRC a
team training workshop to focus on
successful transitioning
of preschool kids with special needs (especially
Autism Spectrum Disorders-ASDs) from pre-school
to Kindergarten, or one placement to another
placement within one facility or from one to
another facility.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
--Received registration from 6 teams including
"sending" teacher, "receiving teacher",
parent(s)/ guardians of "focus child", and a
variety of support personnel including
(OT, PT, SLP, Phys. Ed.), teacher assistants,
administration, and counselors of either
placement.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
5 day workshop Day 1 Two consultants from
Cincinnati (a Dr. and a psych)
who work with kids with ASDs
Overview of all major aspects of kids with ASDs
(communication, behavior, social interactional,
academic, etc.), moving to specifics about PBS,
PEP, and behavioral assessment.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
5 day workshop Day 2 and 3 Two local
consultants conducted training
sessions on Positive Behavioral Support, Positive
Educational Planning and Behavioral Assessment.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
5 day workshop Day 4 Teams went to the
specific sites (sending
sites and receiving sites)
of the focus child to examine the environment of
each location to begin to form a transition plan
that will provide the best possible support for
the child in transition from one site to the
other.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
5 day workshop Day 4 Focusing on the specific
needs of the individual,
the teams worked to plan for
assessments, the design, implement and evaluate
support plans, to facilitate improvements in
quality of life for the focus individual
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Procedures
5 day workshop Day 5 Teams came back together
and shared plans and ideas making
suggestion for implementation and
evaluation. Teams submitted a copy of their final
transition plans and completed evaluations of the
program.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Monies from the grant supported
-- Graduate / undergraduate tuition or CEU's .
-- Box lunches on Days 1,2,3 and 5. --Training
Texts and other resources for teams Benson, P.
L. (1998). What kids need to succeed. Free Spirit
Pub. Payne, R. (2001). Framework for
Understanding Poverty. Aha! Process
Inc. Roehlkepartain, J. L. (2000). What young
children need to succeed. Free Spirit
Pub. Roehlkepartain, J. L. (1995). Building
Assets Together. Free Spirit Pub. Sprick, R.
(1998). Administrators Desk Reference of
Behavior Management (Vol. 1) Leadership Guide,
Sopris West.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Monies from the grant supported
--Stipends for travel for parents/guardians. --Chi
ldcare for non-school-aged children. --Substitute
teacher pay. --Specific materials/resources. --Res
ources used to teach pre-service teachers and
in-service teachers about Autism Spectrum
Disorders, Positive Behavioral Support, Positive
Educational Planning and Behavioral Assessment.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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E X A M P L E
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Dr. Finegan, My school, Lawnview Child and Family
Center, has a team attending the PBS. We are
located in Urbana and service preschoolers with
special needs for Champaign County. Our team
consists of 9 members including 4 teachers (one
of which teaches our structured unit for children
on the PDD spectrum), our program director, our
preschool director, a speech therapist, an
occupational therapist, and a school
psycologists.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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We represent staff that have been at the school
for a number of years and staff that are new to
the program in the last year. Our team has been
focusing on looking at the PBS in a school-wide
setting. We have looked at the different
relationships and settings in our building to
find the areas where we need to have more
consistent identified policies to be conveyed to
staff, parents, and students.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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One area we have especially targeted is having
school-wide rules that we can convey in a
meaningful way to the children. Some of our
staff have been trained in using social stories
and we have used their expertise to put our
school-wide rules into a social story for the
children.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Since our children are chronologically 3-6 years
old with a wide range of developmental levels we
have written the story in a general way that each
classroom can use as a starting point. We have
focused on the 3 B's with our story titled "What
are the three B's?" They are "Be nice, Be safe,
and Be ready." The story is broken up into 3
sections with each section defining in specific
ways what it is like to "be" this different
things.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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For example for "be nice" the children are
given examples of sharing, helping a friend, and
using a friendly voice and having a friendly
face. We plan to print off a copy for each of
the 9 classrooms. We also plan to post a poster
in each classroom with one symbol and the three
"B's" printed on it so the children (and staff)
will be reminded of the three "B's". We would
like to have posters printed off for the halls,
cafeteria, and gym with a large one as people
enter the building.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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This is the area in which we could use financial
help in. Our stipend would be used to print
copies for the classroom and have the posters
printed. Colored ink cartridges are expensive
and we have discovered go quickly when we are
printing a social story for each classroom. We
would have the posters printed at a printing shop
which would also require some expense.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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Our team has presented these ideas at a staff
meeting to get all staff's input. We have
discussed our thinking and the ideas we have been
presented with at the PBS, especially the need to
be proactive rather than reactive with our
behavior supports in the building. We are also
identifying other areas in our building, such as
the playground and training for new staff
members, that need to have written policies so we
can all be on the same page in supporting the
children.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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We have not yet implemented our social story as
we are waiting for funds to get the printing
done, although two of our classrooms have started
to use them as we do have two copies of the
story. One of the classrooms is mine and I
have a three year old boy doing a lot of hitting,
kicking, and tackling during transition times.
We have read the story and are working with him
in particular to "Be safe". We have discussed as
a team the importance of being consistent in our
language across the individual classroom and
building settings.
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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We are thankful for the opportunity to
participate in this endeavor and appreciate the
effort you have taken to make this possible.
Brenda Kelley
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Transitioning into the Primary Classroom Hand in
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