~Our team works well together because of the strong camaraderie and ongoing work ethic of not only the PBS team but the school as a whole. Our administrators, Stephen Baker (Dean) and Larry Brashear (Principal), help to discriminate data trends during PBS team meetings and help the other team members understand district discipline guidelines in relation to discipline and PBS. Our team is represented by teachers and staff members who serve to relate PBS goals, data, and outcomes to other faculty/staff during their Professional Learning Community meetings. The team consists of a district behavior coach, school psychologist, two teachers, the principal, the dean, a department chairperson, and a behavior analyst.

The PBS team meets every other week in order to discuss school-wide and individual student data. Individual student data from academic assessments and student’s daily behavior point sheets, as well as SWIS, assist in developing individual behavior plans. Behavioral data are used to make decisions about student transition to less restrictive environments. School-wide data provides information for application of resources and the development of skills for both students and staff.

Information is shared with students, staff, parents and district personnel through meetings, posters, email, newsletters and the school’s CCTV. Critical decision-making data is shared frequently (once a day for parents) and on an on-going basis, while other planning information is shared twice a week through Professional Learning Communities and every other week from the PBS core team. SWIS multi-year data is discussed with the entire staff and posted at least monthly. Academic data is shared school-wide after quarterly assessments. FCAT data is shared with staff members, parents, and district officials at the end of each school year.

The dedication of our staff to the success of every student is the key to the success of our school program. Social skills instruction and positive reinforcement given by all staff members and infused throughout daily activities allow students to learn appropriate behavioral skills and to generalize those skills with different and throughout various school settings. Teachers have prepared themselves through professional development in order to provide creative lessons that are interesting and relevant to students, while still meeting the standards for instruction. The improvement in academic instructional strategies has resulted in a higher degree of student engagement in academics and less time for inappropriate behavior.

~The PBS team at Dale Cassens School excels at rewarding students and staff. This is the fun stuff!! Students have a Student Lounge with games, music, and snacks that may be earned multiple times throughout each week. Caught Being Good tickets make students eligible to win prizes at the end of each week. Bonus Points may be saved or spent at the Bonus Point Store weekly. Staff celebrations, luncheons and release time provide reinforcement for staff members for their hard work and achievements.

Data-based decision making is strength of Dale Cassens School that was in practice prior to becoming involved in the PBS Project. However, the ability to have a data storage and retrieval mechanism such as SWIS has taken much of the drudgery out of the inputting and use of data to make plans for students, staff and the physical plant.

~Since implementation of PBS in 2001/20002 school year, we have had a reduction in Office Discipline Referrals from almost three ODR’s per day in 2001/2002 school year to 1.6 in the 2005 /2006 school year. In the 2001/2002 school year major discipline referrals per 100 students was 318. In 2005/2006 our major discipline referrals per 100 students was 262.

The students at Dale Cassens School are more focused on their academics and take more pride in their work as evidenced in the results of our benchmark assessments. In reading 80% of our students made gains, in math 73% of our students made gains and exceeded our School improvement goals of 65% making gains. Of those students that take alternate assessment at Dale Cassens School, 48% scored a level 3 and level 4 and 43% scored level 3 and level 4 ( level 3 and above denotes proficiency). This is a significant increase from our 2001/2002 School year were the majority of our students scored a level 1.

Our school climate has improved tremendously over the past five years. The support staff, office staff, cafeteria staff, reading teachers, aides, teachers, and behavior technicians have all been doing an excellent job reinforcing our students for knowing and following our school wide behavioral expectations. Our latest school climate survey indicated a high degree of satisfaction with PBS, as well as, the knowledge that the school was supportive of and cared about staff members. The improvement in moral over the past five years is evidenced by the lower turnover of staff and a high number of students that transition from Dale Cassens School to a general campus. Approximately 20% of the student population annually transitions back to a general campus.