Positive Behavior Intervention

Supports (PBIS)
Positive Behavior Support:
Addressing
Challenging Behavior
Adapted by
Andy Stetkevich, Staff Development
Specialist
Taft School
Nov. 3, 2014
8-3pm
 Whose behaviors can I change?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7bGv7L
PL4Y
 Consider

“If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach.

“If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach.”
“If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we……..
…………teach? ………..punish?”

“Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we

do the others?”
Tom Herner (NASDE President, Counterpoint 1998, p.2)
 Trends in Discipline Practices
Least Effective Most Effective
 Punishment (when used too  Proactive school-wide
discipline systems
often)
 Social skills instruction in
 Exclusion natural environment

 Academic/curricular
 Counseling (as a reactive restructuring
strategy)
 Behaviorally based
(Gottfredson, 1997) interventions

 Early screening and

identification of antisocial
behavior patterns
(Biglan, 1995; Gottfredson, 1997; Colvin, et al., 1993; Lipsey,
1991, 1992; Mayer, 1995; Sugai & Horner, 1994; Tolan &
Guerra, 1994; Walker, et al., 1995; Walker, et al., 1996)
4
 What is PBIS ?
“PBIS” is a research-based systems
approach designed to enhance the
Click to edit Master
capacity of schools to…
title style
effectively educate all students, including
studentsClick
withtochallenging
edit Mastersocial behaviors
subtitle style

 adopt & sustain the use of effective

instructional practices

10/1/2018 5
 Positive Behavior Intervention
Supports
• The Big Picture-3 Levels of Implementation
• Let’s Begin at the School Level:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQ7icU
A-sY
• Classroom Level
• Student Level

6
 PBIS: The Big Ideas

1. Decide what is important for students to know

(behavioral expectations - local standards for student
behavior, reading & math)
2. Teach what is important for students to know (high
quality instruction= differentiation)
3. Acknowledge students for demonstrating skills
4. Keep track of how students are doing ( data, data, data)
5. Make changes according to the results (interventions at
3 tiers-give kids what they need)
6. Next slides display school-wide posters
LOGO
Voice Volume Poster for School
and in All Classrooms
 School-Wide Systems for Student Success:
A Response to Intervention (MTSS/RtI) Model
Academic Systems Behavioral Systems

Tier 3/Tertiary Interventions 1-5% 1-5% Tier 3/Tertiary Interventions

•Individual students •Individual students
•Assessment-based •Assessment-based
•High intensity •Intense, durable procedures

Tier 2/Secondary Interventions 5-15% 5-15% Tier 2/Secondary Interventions

•Some students (at-risk) •Some students (at-risk)
•High efficiency •High efficiency
•Rapid response •Rapid response
•Small group interventions •Small group interventions
• Some individualizing •Some individualizing

Tier 1/Universal Interventions 80-90% 80-90% Tier 1/Universal Interventions

•All students •All settings, all students
•Preventive, proactive •Preventive, proactive

Illinois PBIS Network, Revised May 15, 2008.

Adapted from “What is school-wide PBS?”
OSEP Technical Assistance Center on Positive
Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
Accessed at http://pbis.org/school-wide.htm
 Remember

 PBIS involves all of us

 We decide what our focus will be

 We decide how we will monitor
 We decide what our goals are
 We decide what we’ll do to get there
 We evaluate our progress
 We decide whether to keep going or change

LOGO
Structuring the Learning
Environment for Success
The Classroom Level:
The best way to address undesirable
behavior…

…is to prevent it from happening

in the first place!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=LdF5ry5g5-w
LOGO
What are the strongest factors that
influence student achievement?
• Home background
• Parent support and expectations
• Student-teacher relationships
• Student attitude
• Motivation
• Working conditions of the school
• Student’s innate abilities
What are the strongest factors that
influence student achievement?
• Home background
• Parent support
• Student-teacher relationships
• Student attitude
• Motivation
• Working conditions of the school
• Student’s innate abilities
• Clear, observable, consistent
• Model
• Acknowledge
• Observe, practice, and
generalize
• Use your own behavior for
teachable moments
• Embrace uniqueness
• Share ownership
• Maintain effort
• Be predictable.
• Be explicit.
• Create a sense of shared values, common
experience, and sense of belonging.
• Give the brain the routines it craves.
• Be intentional.
• Encourage collaboration.
• Recognize the success of individuals in
contributing to the success of the whole.
• Engagement most highly related to goal setting
and self-regulation.
• Mediators of learning: boundary expansion,

Engagement
personalization, empowerment, collaboration,

Increasing
constructivism, active participation, and
authenticity.
• Shared ownership increases student engagement
and reduces discipline issues.
• Students invest themselves when educational
experiences have personal meaning.
• Students as partners in creating and sustaining
long-term behavior change.
• Teacher as facilitator.
 The Student Level
• What can I as the teacher do to change
negative behaviors?
We can’t make a student learn,
behave, or do anything else we want
them to do. We can only set the
conditions for their success.
 Think
• “Did you ever have a child in your program who
didn’t seem to respond to any of your typical
approaches to dealing with challenging behavior, a
child with whom
nothing you tried seemed to
work?”
• Identify the specific behavior:
• http://www.cristialesher.com/the-best-way-to-
target-a-behavior-you-want-to-change/
 Traditional Behavior
• Reasoning Interventions
• Verbal Reprimand
– Hurry Up!
– You Need to Get Ready To . . . !
– You know what to do!

• Time Out or Reduced Access

• Suspension / Expulsion
• Move from negative to positive for long term behavior change
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbi_gsDGk8w
 What is Positive Behavior Support?
• An individualized approach to developing effective
interventions for children with severe challenging
behavior
• Developed from the science of applied behavior
analysis (behavior modification)
• Incorporates the values of child-centered
approaches
 What is Positive Behavior Support?
• Interventions are based on understanding the
purposes of the challenging behavior.

• Use of positive strategies to support child in

achieving meaningful,
long-term outcomes
 Student
avoids
written
tasks

Student is asked to Student refuses

complete written work, to complete, and Teacher
such as assignments instead gets out provides
one-on-
or tests in general of seat to talk one help
education classroom. with others.

Student
takes
written
work home

LOGO
…giving attention to the environment
where the behavior occurs.
…placing emphasis on the “purpose” or
function of the behavior.
…giving attention to implementers (adult
behaviors).
…redesigning teaching and learning
environments.
…focusing in on teaching behavior
expectations.
http://www.cristialesher.com/behavior-
management-manage-vs-change/
 Reasons Why I Do What I Do

 It is easy
 It is a habit
 It is immediate
 It is rewarding
 It has worked in the past
 It is part of my neurology
 It is how I know how to communicate
 It is how I know how to cope with a situation
LOGO
Reasons Why I Do What I Do

LOGO
 What is “function”?
Problem/Desired
Behavior

Obtain/Get Escape/Avoid
Something Something

Stimulation/ Tangible/
Social
Sensory Activity

Adult Peer
Assessing for the function of the target behavior
(s) should look for patterns to determine the
conditions under which the behavior is likely to
occur:
 When does (and doesn’t) the behavior occur?
 Who does the behavior occur with? Who
doesn’t it occur with?
 For how long does the behavior occur?
 What happens before behavior? (antecedent)
 What happens after behavior?
(consequence/outcome) LOGO
Other Factors That Contribute
to My Behavior

Setting Events
 Sleep / Exhaustion
 Food / Diet / Water
 Interest
 http://www.cristialesher.com/behavior-
management-manage-vs-change/
 Pain or Medical Needs

LOGO
Do we have all of the information we need?

1. Is the behavior clearly defined in observable and

measurable terms?
2. Have replacement behaviors that serve the same
function and the conditions under which they should
occur been identified?
3. Has the data been triangulated using multiple sources
and multiple measures over multiple settings?
4. Has a hypothesis been developed based on the data
collected which identifies the conditions under which
the replacement behavior will occur?
 What is Included in the Behavior Support
Plan?
1. Procedures for teaching new REPLACEMENT skills.
2. Strategies for RESPONDING so that new skills are
maintained and acknowledged.
3. Strategies for modifying the curriculum,
environment, activity, or interactions to PREVENT
the occurrence of the behavior.
 Preventing
• Prevention strategies reduce the likelihood
that the child will need or want to use the
challenging behavior.
• Let’s view a sample of prevention support for
student with autism
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veQKDDE9C_w
 Prevention Strategies
• How can the environment be changed to reduce the
likelihood that the behavior will occur?
• What procedures can I select that fit in with the
natural routines and structure of the classroom or
family?
• How can I build on what works?
• What can be done to help the child deal with or
avoid behavior triggers?
 Possible Prevention Strategies
• Offering choices using pictures or actual objects.
• Safety signal - providing a timeline (“5 minutes till
clean-up”), use timer
• Modify task length – shorten group time
• Select reinforcer prior to activity (“when you put the
toy away, you can go outside”).
 Replacing
• Teach alternatives to challenging behavior
• Replacement skills must be efficient and
effective (work quickly for the child)
• Consider skills the child already has
• Make sure the reward for appropriate
behavior is consistent
 Possible Replacement Skills

• Ask for break • Ask for adult

• Say “all done” intervention
• Ask for help • Use supports to
• Ask for a turn follow rule
• Ask for a hug • Anticipate transition
• Use a schedule • Say “no”
• ID feeling & express • Take turns
 Responding
• What adults will do when the challenging behavior
occurs to ensure that the challenging behavior is not
reinforced and the new skill is learned.
• A good basic strategy is to redirect the child to use an
alternative skill or a new skill.
• Make sure rewards for appropriate behavior equal or
exceed the rewards for challenging behavior.
 Analyzing a
challenging/
dangerous target
behavior?

Early Phases Later Phases

Emphasis on teaching and Emphasis on safety,
prevention techniques. crisis management,
re-entry and follow-up
procedures.
 What to Do With Meltdowns?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2q3DD
z41M
• Autism
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK5Pr9h1
0BY
 Strategies
Agitation
What to do before a behavior escalates
• Achieve eye contact.
• Use the student’s name
• Use a non-verbal signal
• Proximity/praise
• Silent communication
• Do the unexpected
• Get them to think – give them time to decide
• Reduce distance – use proximity
• Give more “start” requests instead of “stop” requests
• Make non-emotional instead of emotional requests
• Use the “broken record” technique
 Strategies
Agitation
o Teacher empathy
o Movement activities (jobs)
o Space
o Options/Choices
o Student involvement
o Preferred activities
o Relaxation techniques
o Teacher proximity
o Pre-arranged signal
o Independent activities
 Strategies
Agitation
Techniques that backfire:
 Raising your voice
 Drawing unrelated persons into the conflict
 Yelling
 Saying “I’m the boss
 Insisting you are right
 Insisting on having the last word
 Preaching
 Using sarcasm
 Making assumptions
 Attacking the student’s character
 Bringing up unrelated events
 Making comparisons with siblings or other students
 Holding a grudge
 Nagging
 Strategies

Acceleration
Intervention is focused on safety
 Remove all triggering factors

 Avoid escalating prompts

 Maintain calmness, respect and

detachment
 Approach the student in a non-
threatening manner
 Utilize non-confrontational limit-setting
procedures
 What are Escalating
Prompts?
 Agitated behavior from staff (shouting)
 Cornering the student
 Engaging in power struggles
 Moving into the student’s space
 Touching or grabbing the student
 Sudden or very quick responses
 Making derogatory statements about the
student
 Arguing/becoming defensive
 Body language that communicates anger or
frustration
What is a Non-Threatening
Manner?
 Speak calmly
 Speak privately
 Minimize body language
 Keep a reasonable distance
 Speak respectfully and privately
 Move slowly and deliberately toward the
problem situation
 What is a Non-Threatening Manner?

• Establish eye level position

• Be brief (KISS)
• Stay with agenda
• Avoid power struggles
• Give student space
• Do not communicate “urgency to gain
control”
• Acknowledge cooperation
 Strategies
Peak
Intervention is focused on safety
 Focus is on crisis management

- implement your plan (contact the office, clear

the room, etc.)
 Safe strategies

 Behavioral Emergency

-Assessment of Risk Factors

-Behavior Support Plan -Mental Health/Other Assessment
-Functional Analysis Assessment -Behavior Intervention Plan
 Strategies
Peak
Legal Considerations
• Definition of Behavioral Emergency
• Use of Restraint
• Notification/Documentation
• Data Collection
 Strategies
De-escalation
Intervention is focused on monitoring for re-
escalation of behavior
 Monitor for health/safety of all involved

 Avoid blaming

 Allow time and space

 Engage in independent work

 Cool-down time

 Determine appropriate time to debrief

 Strategies
Recovery
Intervention focuses on returning to
normal activities
 Follow through with consequences

 Positively reinforce any displays of

appropriate behavior
 Debrief/rehearse problem solving
routine
 Strategies
Recovery
Effective consequences
Does the consequence
• Model, instruct or teach a more appropriate
behavior?
• Interfere with the flow of the lesson?
• Give the learner the choice to redirect and
receive instruction?
• Is the consequence effective?
 Debriefing Session
 Facilitates transition back to program…not
further negative consequence
 Goal is to increase appropriate behavior
 Focus on problem solving
 Pinpoint events that contributed to the
incident
 Teach replacement behaviors
 Debriefing activities and forms
 Proactive Strategies
 Have a school-wide positive behavior
support system in place
 Emphasize quality instruction leading
to increased academic achievement
 Emphasize teaching and prevention
techniques
 Examples of Responding
• Redirect child to use replacement skill
• Praise/reinforce when replacement skill is
used
• State exactly what is expected
• Cue with appropriate preventions strategy
 Will PBS Really Work?
• http://www.cristialesher.com/what-does-a-
great-behavior-support-team-do/
• General Education Positive Behavior Plan
• Special Education Plan-Afternoon-Karla
Toruno-Troast, School Psychologist
• www.pbisworld.com