Employing a PBIS initiative in a single school can profoundly impact the climate and culture of that school. But what happens when you introduce PBIS to all schools in a school district?
PBIS Rewards recently sat down with Nickey Nichols, RTI and PBIS Coordinator for Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) in Little Rock, Arkansas. As one of four public school districts in Little Rock, Pulaski serves more than 11,000 students through its 26 schools, from elementary through high school. Over the course of a ten-year period, PCSSD has improved equity and its disciplinary referral rate to meet state-mandated standards. Nichols shared with us some of the factors that help make PBIS a success district-wide and how the district is moving at a deliberate pace toward full implementation.
Topics covered during our conversation included:
- The importance of a supportive superintendent
- Building a district-level team to “champion” individual schools
- Using the PBIS points system to reduce disciplinary issues
- The importance of detailed training for staff
- Identifying specific behavior expectations for all areas of the school
- Promoting behavior matrices schoolwide
- Moving through levels of implementation based on each individual school’s readiness
- Inviting staff buy-in through a rewards system tailored to their interests
- Using data to get a complete picture of behavior as well as academics
Watch Our Conversation with Pulaski School District!
All of Pulaski’s 26 schools are at different points in their PBIS journey. Through relationship building, culturally-responsive teaching, and accountability, the process is to help each school master each tier before moving into the next one. As Nichols says, “It’s a slow process but it DOES work!”
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