Scaling the Pyramid: Linking on-going professional development to increase support for students with problem behavior

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Scaling the Pyramid Linking on-going
professional development to increase support for
students with problem behavior

• Annie McLaughlin, M.T.
• Carol Davis, Ed.D.
• University of Washington
• anniemcl_at_u.washington.edu
• cadavis1_at_u.washington.edu

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Scaling the Pyramid

• Develop within school district teams with
  expertise in tertiary levels of PBS to provide
  assessment, intervention, and progress monitoring
  support for students with the most challenging
  behavior.
• Provide ongoing professional development that
  builds capacity within the school and district.

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What do we know?

• Challenging behavior in the classroom are the
  most requested issues for consultation
• Consultation or out of district placements can
  account for up to one-third of a districts
  special education budget
• Consultation does not provide a long term
  solution to dealing with challenging behavior in
  the schools
• Challenging behavior puts students at an
  increased risk for exclusion

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What is SWPBS?
1-5
5-10
80-90
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What are the challenges to providing PBS for ALL
students?

• Building capacity must be a district initiative.
• The depth of knowledge of challenging behavior
  has to be extensive.
• Teachers are unfamiliar with the notion of
  function-based behavior plans.
• Collaboration and/or role release between staff
  members is challenging.
• Budgets are tight.

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What are assumptions on which the model is based?

1. Schools must meet the differing needs of ALL
   children
2. Within district expertise should be developed
3. Administration plays an active LEADERSHIP role
4. Behavior plans must be function and
   evidence-based
5. Schools must be willing to consider alternatives
   to suspension and alternative placements
6. Ongoing data collection and review are necessary

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Triage Team 1 mtg/week 2 3 people Targeted inte
rventions

SchoolwideTeam 1 mtg/qtr 3 4 people

• Evaluating Environments and Office Referrals
• Supporting Safe and Civil Schools
• Making changes

Academic Small group
Behavioral CICO Social Skills
Implementing in School Buildings
Support Team 1 mtg/week 3-4 people Individualized
Interventions
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Technical Assistance Teams

• A team used to
• Provide suggestions for curriculum modifications
  and accessing the general education curriculum
• Provide ongoing support and expertise in the
  areas of Functional Assessment and Behavior
  Planning
• Provide support for data collection
• Provide ongoing monitoring of program
  implementation and student progress

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Who is on the Technical Assistance Teams?

• School district employees
• Multi-disciplinary team members
• SPED/GENED teachers
• ELL/Reading/Math facilitators
• School psychologists
• Social worker
• School counselor
• Administrator
• Chosen with school administrator input
• Participation is voluntary

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Team member characteristics

• Strong in his/her area of expertise.
• Uses data to make decisions in own practice
• Uses behavioral principles in own practices
• Believes in the benefits of PBS
• Are respected members of their professional
  discipline
• Have experience as both leaders and participants
  in the educational process

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What does participating as a team member mean?

• Records review
• Observations
• Functional Assessment
• Behavior Planning
• Making materials
• Coaching during initial implementation
• Conducting person centered plans

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Technical Assistance Team (TAT) Training

• Base knowledge (plus expertise)
• Core knowledge in school-wide PBS
• Core knowledge in social skills and curriculum
  modification
• All essential components of delivering technical
  assistance
• Person-centered planning
• Functional Behavior Assessment linked to
  evidence-based behavior plan

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Technical Assistance Team Case Management

• Each team of 4 will manage up to 12 students
• Each student is observed approximately 2 hours
  every other week
• Meetings with teachers and other service
  providers occur at least twice monthly
• Each student is discussed at least 2x a month at
  team meetings

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Technical Assistance Team Meetings

• Issues are identified and prioritized by the TAT
  members to be discussed at the team meetings
• The TAT members meet 1X a week to discuss
  students
• The expertise of each of the members is used in
  examination of data and brainstorming
  interventions
• Each TAT member plays a role time keeper, note
  taker, facilitator, and active participants

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What happens when a student is referred to the
TAT?

• The TAT member observes in the classroom for
  primary and secondary strategies
• The need for more intensive intervention is
  determined by the school team
• The TAT member conducts an FBA
• The TAT members brainstorms options for
  function-based intervention plans
• Student is monitored over the course of the
  intervention

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What do the tertiary supports look like for the
students?

• The tertiary supports used include a variety of
  best practices including
• Antecedent interventions
• Teaching new skills social, FCT, academics, etc.
• Consequence strategies

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Teacher input in behavior plan

• TAT member meets with the teacher in a private
  meeting to discuss the list of brainstormed
  function-based interventions
• Detailed explanation the interventions
• Teacher selects the interventions
• Details of the implementation of the
  interventions are confirmed (responses to
  inappropriate behavior, safety plan, etc.)
• Data collection procedures are determined
• Behavior plan is written by the TAT member and is
  given to the teacher for feedback

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Implementation support for teachers

• Written fidelity checklist of critical components
  of the intervention
• Model the interventions and data collection
  system without children present
• If appropriate and desired, model intervention
  and data collection system with students present
• IMPLEMENTATION DAY IS SELECTED!!!
• Observe implementation and data collection
• Provide written and graphic feedback of child and
  teacher performance during the observation
• Periodic scheduled and non-scheduled observations
  by the TAT members

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Teachers have input!

• Every 1-2 weeks, the teacher fills out a fidelity
  checklist of the intervention, rates the
  effectiveness of the intervention, provides any
  data collected, and is provided with the
  opportunity to ask for additional support or
  change in components in the behavior plan.
• Helps possible drift from the original behavior
  plan due to gut feelings
• Provides on-going communication between the TAT
  member and the teacher
• Gives the teacher a way to ask for additional
  professional development

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Changes to the plan?

• If the teacher requests changes to the plan
• Use data to help determine the need
• Discuss contextual fit even if data support the
  effectiveness of the plan
• Additional support by the TAT member is provided
  if requested by the teacher

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Why do interventions fail?

• Teachers are unaware of all of the steps of the
  behavior plan
• Poor communication between the team and the
  implementing teacher
• Inadequate support for implementing teacher
• Unclear of contact person for needed changes in
  the plan
• Teachers do not understand behavioral principles

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What have we learned?

• Administrative support at the district level and
  at the school level is necessary (i.e. resources,
  FTE, funding).
• TAT members must meet criteria.
• Schools need to be implementing School-wide
  Positive Behavior Support.
• Schools need to be using or be willing to use
  data and progress monitoring tools.
• Schools need to provide on-going training to
  teachers in acceptance and inclusion of all
  students in their classrooms.

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What have we learned? (Cont)

• TAT members increase their efforts when they
  perceive their contributions to be unique and
  important to the team/child.
• TAT members are more effective when they have the
  support of administration and colleagues to
  change programs based on data.
• TAT members remark that the on-going (initial
  support from project staff) training component
  assists in developing more confident TAT members.

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What have we learned? (Cont)

• Team members with less than 1.0 FTE have flexible
  schedules that support collaboration.
• Teachers respond positively to graphs of teacher
  and student behavior change.
• Model must be flexible to fit the needs of the
  community.
• Parents play an important and critical role.

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Questions?

• Website http//depts.washington.edu/stppbs
• Feel free to contact us
• Annie McLaughlin at anniemcl_at_u.washington.edu,
• Carol Davis at cadavis1_at_u.washington.edu