Taking the positive approach

Galva program rewards students for good behavior

Sunday, November 26, 2006

By Mary Davidsaver

Copley News Service

GALVA - Openly optimistic is the only way to describe the reaction of Galva School District's principals, teachers and staff to the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program.

"The results are encouraging, the program is going well," said Doug O'Riley, elementary school principal.

PBIS, is a proactive system of positive reinforcements designed to teach students self-discipline and create a safe environment for learning.

It began last year in the elementary school. Former principal Roy Saatkamp and a team of teachers and staff created lesson plans that listed expectations for all areas of the school.

The signs are everywhere: Be Safe; Be Caring; Be Respectful; Be Here; Be Ready. They spell out exactly what is expected from the students at all times in the classrooms, hallways, stairs, rest rooms, buses and cafeteria.

Teachers and staff are constantly encouraging students to display these appropriate behaviors by handing out tickets. Students collect these tickets throughout the week and can trade them for items from a rewards store. Some rewards are an extra recess, lunch with someone special or an alternate class of their choice.

At the end of the week, names are drawn and two students from each class get the privilege of an early dismissal accompanied by having their names called for the "Shout Out."

"If you reward people, they perform well," O'Riley said. "Most students - 75 to 85 percent - go through the day with no problems. We are using PBIS to increase that percentage."

Breaking tradition

By noticing and rewarding students when they meet expectations for good behavior, focusing on the positive, there is less need for the traditional approach to discipline.

"The traditional system focuses on handing out detentions, teaching the rules and then punishing," O'Riley said. "I think PBIS has a better teaching approach. There are still consequences to bad behavior, but there is more discussion about better choices."

When problems do develop, data is collected. That way the staff can look at the place, the time of day and the circumstances that create the problem behavior. Decisions are then made based on this data and individual plans are made for the kids who need a little extra help. Some problems are easy to clear up just by knowing where they come from.

According to O'Riley, there has been a big decrease in office referrals for discipline problems.

Colleen Sullivan, who has been with Galva Elementary for seven years, also has noticed the improved atmosphere.

"My office is close to the cafeteria and I can tell it's done a 180-degree turn around," said Sullivan, Behavior Intervention Specialist for the school.

"It used to be noisy with a lot of inappropriate yelling and acting out, now it's next to nothing. The whole school is cleaner. It is just a calmer, gentler place."

Sullivan was part of the original team that spent two days training with the state PBIS people. As one of the coaches, she helps teach the children about behavior expectations and helps keep the building unified and on the same page.

"This is not just another program," she said. "The kids are really buying into it."

Cleaning up high school

Over at the high school, Principal Richard Kucharz has started his own PBIS program for fostering a positive, safe learning environment for the students.

"Not many high schools in the state are doing this," he said, "only a fraction."

The goals are similar: Be Respectful; Be Responsible; Be On Time; Be Prepared. The high school teachers and staff are also going out of their way to give away "wildcards" to students showing positive appropriate behavior. The response has been very good, Kucharz stated.

"The staff has made it clear that things are different, it's not the same place," he noted.

Kucharz has turned a large tool bench into his version of a rewards store. He mounted it on wheels and it takes up a wall in his office. It is open to students on Thursday afternoons when they can line up and turn in their tickets for an assortment of prizes.

While some rewards can be accomplished by providing a little extra manpower and shuffling schedules, some things still need to be paid for. Both schools depend on their activity funds for buying rewards for the kids.

Of the two buildings, the elementary school seems to have the advantage. Their activity fund is financed through vending machine sales and from "Box Tops for Education," the General Mills program that gives schools 10<0x00A2> for each box top turned in. The tops are collected all year from students and the community.

The high school activity fund began the year totally depleted. Kucharz and teachers are taking up the challenge of providing prizes for the students. Donations from the community would help keep the program going strong. They need a greater variety of the smaller items, and major prizes are needed every four to five weeks.

Student support

Senior Nora Carleson can see the early benefits of PBIS in the high school.

"The school looks cleaner. People have more respect. The classrooms are quieter and you're not interrupted as much," she said. "It needed to be better than last year - with fewer fights."

Carleson conceded that having the hallways plastered with signs made her and other upperclassmen feel like they were back in grade school, but they know why the signs are there.

"If we had it all along, we would feel differently. We know it's helping," added Carleson, who has received "wildcards" for things like having supplies with her, participating in class and speaking her mind.

After 10 weeks, she sees there's a need for consistency and unity, for all of the staff to stay focused on the goals of the program, and to treat everyone fairly. These are all the signs that PBIS is still new to the high school.

Eighth-grader Sage Basler has also noticed some of the same things. The school is cleaner, quieter, with fewer distractions.

"A lot is different from last year and I like certain aspects of it," he said. "I don't like the detention part (Wednesday detentions were eliminated), the changes they've made."

Basler's "wildcards" have come from being prepared for his Math class, following directions and helping teachers carry things.

An assembly at the beginning of the year explained all the new rules of PBIS and Basler believes everyone is settling into the new routine.

Once the program has time to get well established, everyone should see that the main reward of PBIS will be teachers and students having more quality classroom time. If Galva's progress matches that of other Illinois school systems, the improvements in discipline and safety should translate into higher academic scores.