You’ve got to accentuate the positive…
— Bing Crosby
Implementing a PBIS initiative in your school or district means that you move away from traditional punitive measures of discipline and put increased focus on recognizing positive behaviors. This can have a profound effect on your school culture and impact students, staff, families and the community as a whole.
Top 6 Signs of Positive School Culture
Positive school culture is something that can be felt the moment someone enters your building. There is an energy there that feels palpable. But aside from a general atmosphere of positivity, there are also solid indicators of positive culture in schools.
Improved academic achievement
School culture – the values, norms, and expectations common to the school – helps to create a learning experience that affects academic success. Strong relationships can help students feel safe and supported, which helps create a better environment for learning.
Reduced discipline referrals
When you make a point of recognizing positive behaviors, you give students the opportunity to learn and grow socially and emotionally. As positive behaviors become the norm, negative behaviors tend to decrease, leading to a lower rate of discipline referrals.
Increased attendance
When school is a welcoming, encouraging, positive place to be, students want to be there. More days spent in class translate into higher levels of academic success, which improves graduation rates.
Creates positive student culture
A natural outgrowth of positive culture in schools is a positive student culture. This is an environment in which students and teachers work well together, share strong bonds, and work toward common goals.
Improved teacher retention
Of course, you can’t mention positive student culture without drawing a direct line to teacher retention. Student culture affects staff culture, and teachers are more likely to stay in a school that encourages a positive school culture.
Engaged families
Positive school culture extends beyond the walls of the building. Students take this positivity with them when they return to their families each day. In turn, this can encourage families to take an active role in their students’ school community. A family-school partnership allows students to continue to learn, grow and be successful, in school or at home.
Exploring Positive School Culture at PBIScon23
PBIS Rewards is thrilled to present our conference track, Campus Culture, at PBIScon23. Focused entirely on the elements that make school culture a positive experience for everyone, this track includes presentations like:
- The Culture of Love
- Using PBIS to Transform Student Culture
- PBIS and SEL – Practical Ways to Support All Students and Teachers
- … and more!
Additionally, Navigate360 subject matter expert Nordia Sappleton will present her findings related to positive school culture in her presentation, “Curb School Violence: Strategies to Promote a Positive School Culture.”
We’d Love to See You at PBIScon23
Campus Culture is just one of the conference tracks available to you at PBIScon23, taking place virtually on June 21-22, 2023. Because it’s a virtual conference, you’ll be able to attend from wherever you are and connect with educators from everywhere!
In late 2022, PBIS Rewards joined Navigate360, the premier provider of holistic solutions for school safety and student wellness. PBIScon23 will give you the opportunity to explore the solutions offered by Navigate360 to help keep your students safe – physically, socially and emotionally. You’ll also be able to get a closer look at the integration between PBIS Rewards and Suite360, Navigate360’s social-emotional learning curriculum.
Join us at PBIScon23 for lots of great presentations, breakout sessions, learning and networking – register today!
