Now that sounds positive.

• Author: Miller, David
• Position: Education - A proactive behavioral management method for schools

"What students are telling us through their disruptive behavior is that they need extra help, instruction, and better relationships in their school."

A TEACHER refers a student to the principal's office for disrespectful behavior toward classmates and disrupting instruction. It is not the student's first referral. The student's behavior is increasingly negative. Discipline options are limited: in-school suspension, detention, or out-of-school suspension.

In another classroom at a different school, a teacher uses a proactive system to stem the problem behavior. Instead of issuing out-of-class referrals, the teacher employs positive reinforcement to achieve the desired results: a reduction in problem behavior and an increase in the student's academic performance.

Too often, schools rely on punishment-based systems that, while effective in short-term situations, do not address deep-rooted issues and sacrifice long-term achievement because students are pulled from the classroom, says Sara McDaniel, associate professor of special education at the University of Alabama, who directs the Alabama Positive Behavior Support Office.

McDaniel and the Office are working with Birmingham and Huntsville city schools to implement the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework, a model established by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs. The effort defines, develops, implements, and evaluates a multi-tiered approach to helping schools. The goal is to impact emotional, social, and academic outcomes positively for all students.

The PBIS model contains three tiers, the first is a catch-all system to teach and reinforce positive behavior for all students. The second and third tiers include specific interventions for students who exhibit increasingly severe problem behavior.

McDaniel and her team of graduate student researchers, the project coordinator, and Wes Sims, clinical assistant professor in the College of Education, are training and coaching faculty and staff in Birmingham and Huntsville to design and manage their own Tier 1 frameworks. "The goal is to be very clear and open with those students about what we want to see, and be consistent across the building, so students can understand and meet the expectations of adults in the building," McDaniel points out. "There are also components of school safety and climate but, at its core, it's an evidenced-based framework that is responsive to student needs."

The first requirement for McDaniel and her researchers is buy-in from administrators and teachers. Developing the framework and standards requires consistency on both ends. Training requires a year-long commitment to reinforcing standards and expectations that are customized by the teachers, based on grade, school climate, and existing behavioral issues. McDaniel's team conducts two days of initial training for teachers and...