LYNN — Lynn Public Schools has expanded an intervention program aimed at shaping students’ behavior to increase their academic success.
Fourteen Lynn schools are now trained in Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS), which is focused on teaching students behavioral expectations in the same manner as any core subject. Ten schools have been trained this school year through a state grant.
A PBIS district leadership team has been assembled for the purpose of implementing the program district-wide. Superintendent Dr. Patrick Tutwiler said that goal is a “dream” of his, but there is no targeted time frame for when that would occur.
“What we’re trying to do is equip students with the tools that they need in order to be successful, behaviorally and socially, at school and in the community,” said Erik Maki, a clinical consultant with the May Institute, a nonprofit that specializes in the field of behavioral analysis and has worked with the district to implement PBIS in its schools.
“We’re putting deliberate effort towards that. We also want students to feel more connected to our schools.”
In Lynn, school administrators have credited PBIS with reducing disciplinary infractions and suspensions in the district. Not only are supports put in place for school staff to appropriately respond to and change students’ negative behavior, but positive behavior is reinforced, and in some cases celebrated with a reward system, Maki said.
Maki said the program trains teachers to manage student behavior, such as when a student acts out.
“What we’re doing with our efforts through PBIS is providing teachers with that toolbox as well as providing students with the skills they need in order to be able to exist within a classroom,” said Maki. “What we’re trying to do is create systems of support within schools so students have the best chance of success.”
Without proper systems in place, Maki said students who exhibit behavioral issues are at risk of going through multiple school placements, and having a high frequency of disciplinary office referrals and suspensions, which disproportionately affects males of color.
Under the system, each school identifies its values and defines its expected behaviors. The same way students are taught core subjects, they are taught what those expected behaviors are and learn how to exist within a school, such as the proper way to ask to use the bathroom.
To encourage those expected behaviors, students who exhibit them may be rewarded with a ticket system. But there’s also a continuum of responses for unexpected behaviors.
“If we have the same response for different levels of disrespect, we do run the risk of over-disciplining students,” said Maki. “(We) have to be very specific about: how are we defining our behaviors and what are the responses to those behaviors?”
Data is also tracked in Lynn through the School-Wide Information System (SWIS). Stats are kept on students who have been recognized for positive behaviors and those who have been disciplined. Grades are tracked to see if the system is working and to determine whether additional support is needed.
The PBIS framework of support is multi-tiered. If an adolescent doesn’t respond to Tier 1, the school-wide system of support for all students, Tier 2 is designed to provide an extra, individualized layer of support.
For instance, at Drewicz Elementary School, where PBIS was implemented in 2015, Principal Patricia Hebert said the school has a “check-in, check-out” system for students who don’t respond to primary efforts and are still having difficulty in class.
Through that Tier 2 intervention, Staff Positively Lends a Student Help (SPLASH), a teacher designs an individualized plan for the student, which has to be approved by a parent. The student meets with an assigned staff member each morning, who works with him or her on appropriate behavior, Hebert said.
Throughout the day, the student’s teacher provides written feedback on his or her “SPLASH” card, which outlines the personalized goals that had been set by the teacher. Points are given for positive behaviors, which are reinforced and rewarded by the assigned staff member, Hebert said.
But PBIS has been so successful at Drewicz, Hebert said, that of the school’s approximately 475 students, there’s only one student currently on SPLASH. There’s only been six students on that program since PBIS started at the school, she said.
“It has made a world of difference,” Hebert said. “We have seen a rise in respect for one another and positive behaviors and then a decrease in those unwanted behaviors.”
The PBIS program started in Lynn in 2010 and there’s been a major expansion effort this school year.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) received federal funding for the program and contracted with the University of Connecticut to offer training for districts to implement PBIS in their schools.
LPS applied for eight schools to receive Tier 1 training and two schools to receive Tier 2 training, according to Phylitia Jamerson, the district’s administrator of special education.
“This is a key piece in building that framework that we’re really talking about for (social-emotional learning),” said Deputy Superintendent Kimberlee Powers.
School Committee member Brian Castellanos said PBIS “aims at the root” of what the district is trying to do. Students may be dealing with trauma or a difficult home life, he said, and developing a positive relationship with a staff member can make a major difference.
“It’s something that is vital to creating the equity that we’ve been working towards,” said Castellanos.
