Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

Professional Development Review

Sheri L. Gross
University of Mount Union

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

The Windham Exempted School District is a very unique district that consists of
about 550 students from grades PreK-12. We are a very tight-knit community with a lot
of pride. 99.3% of our students are economically disadvantaged, with a 12.7% mobility
rate. Although our attendance rate has improved to 92.5%, our chronic absentee rate is
28.4%. District wide, our student population consists of 84.2% white, 6.6% black, and
7.9% multiracial (Ohio Department of Education, 2016). All of our staff is white, with
approximately fifty staff members district wide. Although our families have infinite trust
in our schools, our district lacks the consistent support of families.
When our district developed our most recent Ohio Improvement Plan (OIP), one
of the climate goals created was By December 2015, the Windham Exempted Village
School District will design a plan for MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) with full
implementation in place by December 2019 (Windham Exempted Village School
District, 2014). Although at the time, I did not have input in creating this goal, I did have
input in the design plan. Having worked in Positive Behavioral Interventions and
Supports (PBIS) schools in the past, I knew this was the direction our district needed to
go. Although we did not have a major discipline problem, we did have behavior
problems that were impacting the learning of our students. In addition, there were no
consistent rules or expectations of our students. Often our staff would blame the
students home life for their behaviors in school. Since we also lack the support of
families, problem behaviors are often overlooked at home.
This is where the birth of PBIS came into place. As a district, we decided that a
strategy to implement MTSS would be the development and implementation of a PBIS
system. Under this plan, all staff in the district would receive training to reduce the

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

overall number of office referrals for attendance and behavior. Being the only
administrator in the district to work at PBIS schools, this became my endeavor.
Even though I had great knowledge on how PBIS worked, I have never been at
the forefront of developing the actual system school wide. I knew professional
development would be necessary to be able to successfully design and implement a PBIS
system at my school.
The State Support Team 8 hosted a three-part PBIS series at the Summit County
Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls. This training consisted of two presenters
from SST8, along with area school districts planning to implement PBIS for the
following school year. Prior to attending the training, I had to create a school wide PBIS
team that would attend the training with me. Our team consisted of a classroom teacher,
intervention specialist, a Title I teacher, and myself. This particular team was chosen
because each person acted as a representative for their hallway pod.
This three-part, fifteen contact hour professional development series took place on
October 20, January 12, and March 15, all of 2016. The goals of the professional
development series, which directly aligned with our districts goals, consisted of:
Introduction to PBIS, Developing a Leadership Team & Examining Needs Through Data,
Developing Clear School-wide Expectations, Teaching Behavior Expectations Across All
Settings, Encouraging and Acknowledging Appropriate Behavior, Discouraging Problem
Behavior, and Data-Based Decision-Making (SST8, 2016). The three sessions consisted
of modules focusing on the different aspect of PBIS. This was especially beneficial
because after the module was presented, PBIS teams were given time to reflect and begin
work on the specific area presented. Unlike many other professional developments or

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

trainings attended, this organization allowed for immediate digestion and application of
the information.
The introductory module, which was an introduction to PBIS, focused on the
why of PBIS. This ensured buy-in from the districts involved before delving into the
content. Information on the Ohio Revised Codes consisting of a Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Support system was also presented. As with all new initiatives, buy-in
from staff is necessary for successful implementation. This information would also be
utilized later when presented to my entire staff. This module was the foundation of the
entire PBIS system.
Module one focused on developing a leadership team and examining needs
through data. This particular module stressed the importance of including the
administrator as an active member of the PBIS team, as well as aligning with existing
building teams. Because our district is in the OIP, we have both a Building Leadership
Team (BLT) and a District Leadership Team (DLT). Two members chosen for the PBIS
committee, as well as myself, are also part of either the BLT or DLT. This was important
to facilitate common goals and a consistent message across our district. This module also
provided insight to the overall role of the PBIS committee, including staff development,
surveys, and data tracking.
The goal of module two was to develop clear school-wide expectations. In my
eyes, this is the meat of PBIS. If you do not develop clear and consistent school-wide
expectations, the entire behavior system will fall apart. This module provided the
skeleton for creating these school-wide expectations that included developing 3-5
overarching expectations, and then developing a matrix of how these expectations look in

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

all areas of the school. This was especially important for my school because it meant
changing the culture in which we manage behaviors. All too often, students were hearing
the negative way to address behavior such as stop running or stop talking. This module
ensured expectations were always addressed in positive ways. Stop running would now
transform to please walk. Sample behavior matrices were presented and ample time was
provided for our team to begin working on developing our expectations and matrix. It
was also decided during that time that our team would send out a survey to staff to gather
input on what these expectations should look like. This module was the most beneficial
because it laid the groundwork to our school-wide behavior system.
There was almost a three-month gap between the first and second session of this
three part series. During this time, it allowed our team to survey our staff, finalize our
expectations and matrix, and begin gathering more ideas of what we would like from our
PBIS system. Had we not had this planning time, I do not believe this professional
development series would have been as beneficial. Information would have been lost in
the process and implementation would have not been as effective.
Module threes focus was teaching behavior expectations across all settings. The
presenters stressed the importance of teaching the expectations for all areas of the school
to all students in order for them to be effective. They offered ideas of how to teach the
expectations, as well as samples of lesson plans with teaching scripts. They also
provided ways to integrate the expectations into the general curriculum. An important
point made during this module was that expectations needed to be taught to students in
their natural setting. For example, when teaching students the expectations for the
playground, take students to the playground for demonstration. Once again, team time

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

was provided to begin drafting a plan for how, when, and by whom these expectations
would be taught.
The second half of the day was spent on Module Four, which focused on
encouraging and acknowledging appropriate behavior. This was the module that I was
most familiar with having worked in PBIS schools in the past. In order to encourage
positive behaviors, it is both a proactive and a responsive approach. The presenters
stressed the importance of changing adult behaviors even before student behaviors can
change. As mentioned before, this was an area of weakness for our staff. Behaviors were
frequently addressed with negative connotation. Behaviors, both positive and
problematic, would now be addressed with specific feedback that connected back to the
school-wide expectations. During this session, our team came up with the idea of using
Bomber Bucks as the physical token given to students when exhibiting positive
behaviors. We also decided upon Class Call Outs when an entire class exhibits positive
behaviors. Our team was also given time to draft a school-wide reward menu for Bomber
Bucks and Class Call Outs. A big takeaway to sum up this module was The quickest
way to change behavior in anyonepoint out what they are doing right. Research
indicates that you can improve behavior by 80% just by pointing out what someone is
doing correctly (Ohio Department of Education, 2015).
The third day of the professional development, taking place two months after the
last, consisted of Modules Five and Six. Module five focused on discouraging problem
behaviors. This was an area of PBIS that had some of our staff skeptical. Comments had
been previously made about how students would be disciplined if this were a positive
behavior system. This was based upon the staffs lack of knowledge about how PBIS

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

really worked. For me as an administrator, I knew this module would be beneficial to

share with the rest of the staff. The key was to work to prevent problematic behaviors
before they occur. However, when they do occur, they need to be addressed immediately
and with natural consequences. As a team, we needed to define what behaviors
constituted a minor behavior, which would be handled by the classroom teacher, and then
behaviors that would be considered major, or an office referral. It was also decided that
our student handbook would need to be revised and that a system of collecting data
would have to be established.
The final module, Module six, focused on making data-based decisions. During
this module, the various ways to collect and track data were presented. In order to
understand if something is working or not, effective data needs to be reviewed.
Therefore, the presenters shared the different ways to review data, such as the average
number of referrals by month, referrals by location, and referrals by type of problem
behavior. Once data is tracked, students with less than two referrals are considered tier
one. Students then having two to five referrals are moved to tier two. Over five referrals
would move a student to tier three. This type of data is pertinent when reflecting back to
our OIP goal of creating a multi-tiered system of supports for our students. Data not only
needs to be collected and tracked, but interventions also need to be put into place for our
most vulnerable students. At the end of the module, team time was provided for our
group to reflect on our current practices for tracking data, as well as our current response
to the data. It was decided that data was not currently being tracked, except in the matter
of suspensions or expulsions.

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

Of all the professional developments and trainings I have attended, this three-day
series on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports was by far the most beneficial I
have ever attended. The organizational structure of presenting information and then
allowing our team to digest the information to come up with a plan, allowed for
immediate application. Information was not lost in the process like numerous
professional developments Ive attended. It was also valuable to have planning time back
at school in between sessions to complete the homework necessary to move onto the
next module.
From the time when this professional development series took place last school
year, PBIS has been fully implemented in my school. All staff has been initially trained
and will receive on-going follow up throughout the year. Since this was a district OIP
goal as well, our PBIS team will also support the junior high and high school to bring
PBIS to a district-wide initiative.

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REVIEW

References
Ohio Department of Education. (2015). Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support.
Columbus, OH.
Ohio Department of Education. (2016). Ohio School Report Cards [Data file]. Retrieved
from http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/Pages/District-Report.aspx?
DistrictIRN=045666
State Support Team 8. (2016). Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports. Cuyahoga
Falls, OH.
Windham Exempted Village School District. (2014). OIP Implementation
Management/Monitoring Tool. Windham, OH.