Front Row, Left to Right:  George Fountain, IV-PBIS Coach, Banks Elementary;  Pamela Dunlap-Assistant. Principal Park Forest Elementary; Joe Bass, PBIS Coach-LA Belle Aire Elementary; Alyce Kelly-Principal, Wildwood Elementary;  Carolyn Sauer-Principal, Shenandoah Elementary; Jessica Brister-Principal, Park Elementary; Robertine Bruns, PBIS  Co-Team Leader, Melrose Upper Elementary; and Joyce Owens, PBIS Coach, Riveroaks Elementary.

Second Row, Left to Right:  Meosha Gibson-PBIS Coach, Park Forest Elementary; Kerri Keating-PBIS Coach, Wildwood Elementary, Tracy Johnson-PBIS Co-Team Leader, Melrose Lower Elementary; and LaDarrion Jackson-PBIS Team Leader, Park Elementary.

The Louisiana Department of Education and Louisiana State University’s School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) program at the College of Education has recognized eight East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) elementary schools as demonstration sties for school-wide Positive Behavior Support.

The eight elementary schools are:  Banks, La Belle Aire, Melrose Upper/Melrose Lower, Park, Park Forest, Riveroaks, Shenandoah and Wildwood.  They were presented the recognition at the spring seminar on April 20. Istrouma High School won the honor at the high school level in this district.  Last spring, 13 EBRPSS schools total were recognized as having met the criteria to be awarded certificates as a program demonstration site.

The Louisiana Positive Behavior Support (LAPBS) Project is known in this School System as the Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS) program.  The program is a proactive process that allows school leadership teams, in alignment with school improvement efforts, to facilitate the school’s implementation of system-wide positive discipline procedures, make ongoing data-based decisions about the effectiveness of their discipline procedures/interventions and make adjustments as needed throughout the year to enhance student and staff success.

To be a PBIS Demonstration Site for the district, schools must score on a scale of 100 points at least 90 percent in two areas:  Expectations Taught and the Total Score. Schools must receive at least 80 percent in the six remaining areas of: Expectations Defined, Reward System, Violations System, Data and Decision Making, Management and District Level Support. 
 
The program meets the demands of the Education/Juvenile Justice Partnership Act requiring the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to recommend a master plan for improving behavior and discipline within schools.  The SWPBS model is recommended as the foundation for the model master plan.  In addition, it allows an improvement in school climates so students and faculty can focus on learning.  Schools spending undue time on reactive and unsuccessful discipline matters struggle to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and the state’s educational accountability system.

“We appreciate all of your support and continued efforts in meeting the needs of your students in order to ensure their success,” wrote Kara Hill, co-director of the LAPBS Project, in a congratulatory letter.  “Thank you for ensuring that your school is at the forefront in creating a positive and safe learning environment for all students, staff and families.”

PBIS is based on understanding why problem behaviors occur. It is the application of evidence-based strategies and systems to assist schools to increase academic performance, increase safety, decrease problem behavior and establish positive school cultures.

On an individual level, PBIS uses functional behavior assessments to understand the relationships between a student's behavior and characteristics of his or her environment. On a school-wide level, the program relies on accurate and reliable discipline referral data to understand the behaviors occurring across campus. An analysis of the data allows a school team to identify the problem

areas, brainstorm interventions such as where and what to teach, reward the students exhibiting the expected behavior and communicate findings to the staff, students, and families.

Positive Behavior Support is a mandated program to be implemented in all public schools in the state of Louisiana. This Act emphasizes that good student behavior and discipline are prerequisites to academic learning. For more information, contact Lee Dixon, the School System’s director of Exceptional Student Services, at (225) 929-8601 or Hill at (225) 578-2298.