Battle Ground educators seek to teach positive behaviors to students

The thought of watching a staff member get pied in the face is exciting for many students at Tukes Valley Middle School. As a result, many will be on their best behavior this school year to try and make that happen. 

That's because Battle Ground Public Schools has implemented a district-wide, research-driven approach known as Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS). PBIS seeks to recognize students for exhibiting the expected, positive behaviors that are conducive to an effective learning environment. The program is part of the district's focus on social-emotional learning, the process by which children and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. 

In the classrooms of Battle Ground's schools, students are taught behavioral expectations in a manner similar to how they are taught reading or math skills. For example, within the first few days of school at Glenwood Heights Primary, students lined up by grade and followed their teachers from station to station to watch demonstrations on what is expected from them in the different parts of the school and then demonstrated the positive behaviors back to their teachers. At the school bus station, students carefully boarded the bus and then sat side by side in the seats and learned how they are expected to talk quietly, stay seated, and be respectful. 

The ultimate goal of implementing PBIS is to build positive relationships between students and staff to provide the necessary support for all students to be successful in school. 

"By implementing PBIS across all schools and grade levels throughout the district, students become versed in a common language of established expectations that can be carried forward over the course of a student's entire academic career," said Tamra Scheetz, one of the district's two PBIS coaches. 

So far results have been impressive. There’s been a significant reduction in the number of behavior referrals in the schools that first implemented the approach. In turn, this means that more classroom time can be focused on teaching academics instead of on correcting behaviors that would create distractions. 

A major piece of PBIS is the reinforcement of positive behaviors. Across the district, schools have developed a system where students earn special privileges or rewards for demonstrating positive behaviors. Staff have surveyed students to develop the most meaningful and motivating rewards such as additional recess time, have lunch or shoot hoops with a favorite teacher or staff member, or even enter a drawing for the chance to pie a staff member in the face at an assembly. All can be attained by earning through PBIS.

When students are recognized for a positive behavior, they are given a small token or a stamp that can later be exchanged for one of those privileges. At Tukes Valley for instance, students are given passports in which to collect their stamps. Some rewards are managed by individual classroom teachers, while other, larger rewards are managed by administration.