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The Arizona Behavioral
Initiative (ABI): Learner Centered Education Targeted
at Achieving Disciplined School Environments
Dr. Angel Jannasch-Pennell,
Ph.D. angel@asu.edu
Dr. Samuel A. DiGangi, Ph.D. sam@asu.edu
Karen Pukys, M.Ed. pukys@asu.edu
Arizona State University, College of Education, Information
Technology Instruction Support Group
Ibrahim H. Diken, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, diken@asu.edu
Arizona State University, College of Education, Early
Childhood Special Education
Abstract:
The ABI is a statewide collaborative effort to introduce
schools to an ongoing strategic planning process that
leads to the development of effective discipline practices.
The purpose of this paper is to present an overview
of the program, examine the multiple technology resources
being used to achieve project goals, and discuss the
outcomes of various strategies and procedures implemented
at participatory schools.
Operation
Rationale
Behavior problems incur serious concerns for teachers
not only within the classroom, but school-wide. Adverse
behaviors offset the social, academic, and vocational
success of all the students within a classroom. Fewer
resources limit the ability to improve literacy, integrate
current technologies, and facilitate state-mandated standards.
The increasing number of students with limited English
proficiency, multiple disabilities, and families struggling
with poverty issues contribute to the rising incidence
of behavioral problems within an educational institution
(Nelson, 1999). Although students with severe behavioral
concerns constitute a mere 5% of a school population,
approximately 50% of behavioral incidents reported in
schools are representative of this targeted group (Sugai,
Sprague, Horner, & Walker, 2000). As schools struggle
to meet the needs of an overwhelming population of students
with severe behavior concerns, they also strain to properly
educate the faculty and staff about effective behavioral
interventions that address specific school-related issues.
In addressing school-wide concerns, valuable information
can be gained from students in evaluating not only academic,
but social validity of objectives, procedures, and outcomes
of intervention implementation efforts (Lane, 1999). Ineffective
professional development practices lead to inconsistencies
in promoting optimal learning environments for students
(Nelson, 1996).
School-wide Positive
Behavior Intervention and Support (SWPBIS) programs have
proven effective in advancing the overall competence of
students as a result of systemic change at the district,
school, and student level. A Safe Schools Evaluation Rubric
is implemented to assist educators in the development
and implementation of a SWPBIS program (SSER: Nelson &
Ohlund, 1999). The goal to develop a safe school environment
by identification and change agents directed toward school
and classroom organization efforts that promote inappropriate
behaviors. Site-specific resolutions, which target the
unique needs of the school and its community, result from
a committed effort on behalf of the entire school.
The Arizona Behavioral
Initiative (ABI) was developed to address the increasing
amount of problem behaviors that challenge K-12 schools.
The ABI is a collaborative effort between the Arizona
Department of Education, Arizona State University, Northern
Arizona University and the University of Arizona, and
is supported by the Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions
and Supports at the University of Oregon. ABI promotes
ongoing planning processes directed toward identifying
school-specific, professional development needs. The project
provides schools with the expertise and resources of several
organization and numerous individuals with expertise in
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports to address
one of the greatest challenges facing Arizona schools
- achieving disciplined learning environments that support
high academic standards.
Currently, in the
second phase of the ABI, twenty school districts have
competed for and won the Creating Disciplined Schools
Grant (CDSG) disseminated by the Arizona Department of
Education, and are active participants in the ABI. School-based
teams comprised of educators, administrators, parents,
and school psychologists participated in training seminars
during the academic year. Leadership cadres are given
materials from experts in the field who serve as the school's
ABI consultant. Ongoing assistance is provided, training
opportunities are scheduled, and local as well as distance
support is facilitated through discussion forums and accessible
distance education courses. Course content is directed
toward school-wide discipline concerns, data collection
and analysis methods, system management, functional behavioral
assessment, individual behavior modification, and academic
interventions (Podrazik, 2000).
Program
Accessibility
The ABI provides direct support to schools as they engage
in the process of self-evaluation, planning, and implementing
changes that will best fit their school's needs. Rural,
inner city, and urban locales encompass the geographic
regions targeted by ABI. Currently, 20 local education
agencies representing schools throughout the state of
Arizona are working toward improving their educational
environments via this strategic planning process. The
Arizona Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services
supports the participation of education agencies within
Arizona. Applications from local agencies are submitted
from the school district or individual school. Partnerships
with outside agencies are encouraged, as are joint applications.
In order to determine
eligibility for funding, project plans are rated on a
point system comprised of a needs statement which outlines
a program for improved discipline, an implementation plan
including goals, objectives and activities for improvement,
and a statement of commitment detailing participants and
their expectations of improving policies and organizational
practices at their school. Program goals are developed
to support justification of the projected cost. Development
of district PBIS strategies and leadership teams to implement
training models, as well as evaluation of project effectiveness
are typical of the goals set by schools applying for the
grant. Funding for projects are allotted for two one-year
grant periods, ranging from $10,000 for schools, and up
to $30,000 for school districts. A one-year renewable
timeframe may be granted depending on program and fiscal
monitoring. Evaluations detailing the progress of the
project are required bi-annually in order to receive continued
support (Podrazik, 2000). Funds are utilized to sustain
participation in semi-annual conferences and other support
activities that target implementation of PBS strategies
developed by the school. Such activities range from professional
development, parent involvement, to treatment practices
involving other service agencies. Support may also be
used to sustain consultant fees, faculty stipends, substitute
reimbursement, and training materials.
Program
Operation
The ABI is grounded in research on successful school change
and School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports (SWPBIS). Strategic planning processes provide
schools with systematic methods of addressing and analyzing
specific discipline problems within a school, and identifying
the practices that will prove the most effective for the
targeted school. Environmental concerns are examined in
order to identify where overlapping practices occur to
reduce effort so that the school may proceed to increase
discipline outcomes.
School-wide Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) are systems
approaches to increase a school's capability to identify,
adopt, and maintain the use of researched practices. SWPBIS
is an ongoing process that includes data-based decision
making utilized in assessment procedures to guide discipline
decisions within the school, and research-validated strategies
to directly improve student learning and instruction.
Policies and procedures related to discipline concerns
are applied globally throughout the school. A positive
and high-status leadership team, comprised of educators,
parents, teachers, school psychologists, counselors, and
administrators promotes implementation of SWPBIS. The
key to effective execution of SWPBIS is active participation
on behalf of the administration to address discipline
across all school environments. Efforts to enforce violence-free
environments within schools rely on behavior support models
to initiate the process (Horner & Sugai, 2000). Attention
is given to the examination of learning and teaching environments
in order to enhance academic and social success for all
faculty and students. These efforts provide the schools
with the opportunity to establish positive teaching environments
school-wide, in and outside the classroom, and with the
individual student.
An ongoing strategic
planning process is used to enable schools to identify
their specific needs in regards to creating a more disciplined
and productive learning environment. The template used
to outline this process is the Safe Schools Evaluation
Rubric, (SSER). The SSER targets the school's leadership
teams, school-wide promotion, classroom and non-classroom
interaction policies, and individual systems. Problems
are identified and analyzed within each problem area.
Best practices are established and then implemented at
a global level. Effectiveness is continually monitored
along a prescribed timeline in order to provide further
analysis and possibly other alternatives for specific
incidences (SSER, Nelson & Ohlund, 1999). All decisions
originate from data-based results in order to provide
the schools with opportunities to implement positive instructional
and learning environments. The school is able to decide
what its primary focus and needs is, and analyzes where
redundant practices exists so that minimal effort and
maximum potential may be achieved.
Site visits requested
by participating schools are conducted by ABI consultants;
a free service offered to those who have met program eligibility.
Instructors, administrators, and psychologists, heavily
experienced in behavior management and intervention support,
are able to visit a school and assist in developing site-specific
plans of action (Podrazik, 2000). Assistance may be provided
by observations in assessing individual classrooms, students,
and specific problem areas concerning environmental variables.
Additional support is also offered for faculty and staff
in-services, and meetings with leadership or behavior
teams in offering assistance with implementation and data
collection issues.
ABI's comprehensive
web site enables synchronous and asynchronous communication
with experts online as well as access to university level
courses, and information focusing on school-wide discipline
issues, data collection and analysis, best practices,
functional behavioral assessment, individual behavior
management, and academic interventions (http://abi.ed.asu.edu).
Topics of online discussions can include how technology
resources are being used to achieve project goals at the
school level. Technology-based staff development components
of the ABI also include ongoing technical assistance,
both face-to-face and online consultations. Program participants
are trained to use the project specific online tools to
submit data and quarterly reports via the website.
Instructional procedures,
when practiced consistently, can elicit effective management
and instruction in a classroom setting (Armedariz and
Umbreit, 1999). ABI offers university graduate level courses
and workshops with curriculum specifically designed to
incorporate identification, implementation, and analysis
of successful behavior practices.. Online courses, available
using an anytime, anywhere model, focus on positive intervention
support and best practices. Students are provided utilization
strategies directed toward implementation in classroom
and non-classrooms settings. Interactive instructional
television, (IITV), classes, also offered for university
credit, are broadcast via live video. The IITV course
are designed to enable students to listen, respond, and
notate information focusing on common language, discipline
procedures, and academic interventions. These courses
are directed, although not limited, to special educators
and are commonly offered on the weekend in order to provide
full-time educators with the opportunity to gain relevant
information pertaining to their projected plans of action.
Semi-annual face-to-face
conferences are conducted for school-based teams to participate
in training seminars and panel discussions centered on
plans of action for behavior and organizational strategies.
Both current grant recipients and those schools newly
acquainted with ABI attend seminars and are able to network
and share best practices for implementation. The ABI staff,
comprised of seasoned educators, researchers, and state
representatives host these symposiums in an effort to
address the process of implementing behavioral practices,
and problem-solving techniques focusing on systemic communication
and consistency.
Documentation
of Program Success
Ongoing feedback provided from program participants has
elicited interesting results. Common problems identified
in school settings as a result of surveyed responses were
racial tension, student dropout rate, staff competence
at managing at-risk behavior, and physical aggressiveness
within specific student populations. Among the 29 primary
and secondary respondents surveyed regarding staff development,
14 of the participants ranked classroom and school-wide
expectations of student behavior as being foremost in
creating a more positive and productive school environment.
Although disruptive behavior is simply one of the challenges
teachers face when including students exhibiting behavior
disorders in the classroom, other factors surface as potential
deterrents of instruction (Umbreit, 1995). Another critical
area of interest was reflected in targeting the top priority
discipline issues for each school. Lack of consistency
and clarity of communication throughout the curriculum
was reported as a key component in adversely affecting
the behavior of the students within the classroom. Undefined
behavioral expectations and negating consequences also
proved to be of primary importance in being able to effectively
control classroom discipline.
Conclusion
Efforts within ABI are helping to promote safer school
environments by effective intervention techniques. As
behavioral gains can be lost if the interventions are
removed, continued support for the schools is essential
for implementing an efficient positive behavioral intervention
plan (Fox, 1998). During the first two years of the grant-funded
period of assistance, educators are establishing consistent
practices designed to instill progressive success in classroom
and non-classroom settings. Utilizing resources such as
online courses directed toward identification and implementation
of successful behavioral intervention techniques, expert
consultation for effective problem-solving strategies,
and financial support providing teacher in-services, conference
attendance, and additional personnel if necessary, educators
are able to globally implement proactive techniques for
preventing disruptive behaviors in Arizona's educational
system. As further advancement of the program continues,
further research is warranted for identifying contemporary
behavioral concerns and the methods utilized to improve
and assess the overall learning atmosphere for all learners.
References
Armedariz, Fernando,
& Umbreit, John (1999). Using Active Responding
to Reduce Disruptive Behavior in a General Education
Classroom. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions,
3, 152-158.
Fox, James, Conroy,
Maureen, & Heckaman, Kelly (1998). Research Issues
in Functional Assessment of the Challenging Behaviors
of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.
Behavioral Disorders, 24, 26-33.
Horner, Robert H.,
& Sugai, George (2000). School-wide Behavior Support:
An EmergingInitiative. Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions, 4, 231-253.
Lane, Kathleen L.,
Umbreit, John, & Beebe-Frankenberger, Margaret E.
(1999). Functional Assessment Research on Students with
or at Risk for EBD: 1990 to the Present. Journal of
Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 101-111.
Nelson, Ron J. (1999).
Developing, Implementing, and Maintaining a School-Wide
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support Program.
Center for Children's Services, Lincoln, NE.
Nelson, Ron J. (1999).
Preventing and Managing Disruptive Behaviors: Basic
Assumptions and Practices. Center for Children's Services,
Lincoln, NE.
Nelson, Ron &
Ohlund, Barbara (1999). Safe Schools Evaluation Rubric
(SSER). Phoenix, Arizona.
Podrazik, Miriam
(2000). Application for Capacity Building Grants: Creating
Disciplined School Environments. Arizona Department
of Education, Exceptional Student Services.
Sugai, G., Sprague,
J.R., Horner, R.H., & Walker, H.M. (2000). Preventing
School Violence: The Use of office discipline referrals
to assess and monitor school-wide discipline interventions.
Journal or Emotional Behavioral Disorders, 8, 65-128.
Umbreit, John (1995).
Functional Assessment and Intervention in a Regular
Classroom Setting for the Disruptive Behavior of a Student
with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Behavioral
Disorders, 20, 267-278.
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