What makes your team work so well?  Please discuss in detail (e.g., what is your administrator’s role on the team, how is staff represented, etc.)? The administrator’s role is the collection of the data and to share that data at monthly faculty meetings. We have a cross curricular representation on our school PBS committee which helps us include the entire school.

How does your team use data to make decisions on campus? We look at the discipline trends and this helps us target problem behaviors. We then set up rewards for those target behaviors. For example, we rewarded ninth graders for no tardiest during the six weeks grading period.

How do you share information with the rest of your faculty (e.g., emails, newsletters, meetings, etc.)?  How often do you share this information? The discipline data is shared once a month at the faculty meeting. We have a monthly PBS meeting that is open to all staff members to attend. Also, during the monthly Smaller Learning Community (SLC) meeting there is a PBS update given. Finally there is a PBS folder on our school mail system. (Outlook)

What do you see as the overall strengths of your team?  Please provide details. The team works together cooperatively to increase student achievement. Also, team members branch out and help the other teachers in their departments to implement PBS in their classrooms.

In what areas of PBS does your team excel (e.g., rewarding students/staff, teaching expectations, data-based decision-making, etc.)?  Please provide details below. We excel in the areas of rewarding the students/staff and in data-based decision-making. We reward students and staff once a month for excelling in the trait of the month. This is done through a nomination and explanation of how the person displayed the character trait. Also, twice a year there is a PBS celebration that students may purchase a ticket with their “Bohnet Bucks”. We use the data collected to make decisions about what behaviors we want to target and how we want to target them.Futhermore, we use this data to plan our celebrations.

Discuss the changes you have seen on campus since PBS implementation (e.g., data, climate, morale, etc.). One change has been the decrease of referrals for discipline issues. For the first semester there was a 45% decrease in referrals with our ninth graders and a 35% decrease with our tenth graders. This has helped the teachers have more teaching time and less time consumed writing referrals. Students work harder because they want to earn “Bohnet Bucks” and even complain when teachers don’t use them. Some students are able to get the supplies they need for class from the store and therefore are better prepared to learn. Finally, the staff works together as one unit to make the PBS program successful and this makes a happier work environment.

What are some obstacles that your team has had to overcome?  Please explain the process for overcoming these hurdles below. The first obstacle was teacher buy in. We are still working to get 100% buy in, but it is increasing as the teachers see the data. The next obstacle is money. It cost to reward the students and get items that they are willing to work for. We did  some fundraisers and one teacher wrote a grant for us, but we still needed more money then we had.