The document discusses school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) and how to implement it effectively in a school. It outlines how positive behaviors will be rewarded through positive teacher attention, visual acknowledgments, redeemable coupons, and activity rewards. It also describes the error correction procedures that will be used when students violate behavioral expectations, including warnings, loss of privileges, timeouts, parent contact, and office referrals. Data collection methods like tracking office discipline referrals, using the Schoolwide Evaluation Tool, and comparing data to standards will be used to determine the effectiveness of the SWPBS program and identify areas for improvement.

1. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 1
Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support:
When to Reward and When to Correct
Breanne Rubison
Kaplan University
PS340: Exceptional Needs Children
Professor Corrina Carotti
September 24, 2014

2. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 2
Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support
The most important aspect of teaching behavioral expectations in the educational setting
is making sure that the expectations are clearly stated and defined. The rules should be positively
framed and leave absolutely no room for interpretation or confusion. Also, behavioral
expectations should be explicitly taught in a manner where the rules are presented, the reasoning
behind the rules are explained, positive examples are given and rehearsed, negative examples are
given and modeled and students practice the desired behavior until they perform fluently.
(Heward, 2013) In order for behavioral expectations to be understood and achieved everyone
involved needs to be working on a team and be on the same page. This week my classmates and I
have had an opportunity to place ourselves in that sort of position by working together to create
our own behavioral expectations. Our collaboration resulted in an explanation of several
behavioral expectations, the methods we would use to teach the expectations and examples of
both the right and wrong ways to engage in the expectation. Below is the chart that reflects the
group collaboration.
GROUP NUMBER: B
NameofGroupMember:
NatikaBirdsong
Behavioral Expectation
Define your Behavioral
Expectation
How will you specifically teach
this expectation to students?

3. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 3
Example of a “right way” to
engage in expectation
Example of a “wrong way” to
engage in expectation
NameofGroupMember:
AliceThomas
Behavioral Expectation Completing a task
Define your Behavioral
Expectation
Completing task can include classroom
assignments, games at recess, or just staying focus
overall in any environment. The goal is to get the
children to stay focus without being distracted.
How will you specifically teach
this expectation to students?
Teaching the behavior expectation involves hands
on instruction
Example of a “right way” to
engage in expectation
While teaching through hands on instruction, the
teacher will instruct students to stay focus on their
assignments meaning no distraction. Individual
students, who show signs of having a hard time
with the instruction, will be taken aside for
correction. The correction process involves
taking students in another room to show them the
right way.
Example of a “wrong way” to
engage in expectation
The wrong way for students to engage in the
behavior expectation, is by being distracted.
NameofGroupMember
DianaBrown
Behavioral Expectation Be respectful of self is the behavioral expectation,
which is taking care of personal belongings, be
responsible, and use a suitable voice level when
speaking.
Define your Behavioral
Expectation
Self-respect is having the right attitude, which
enhances social interaction and spells success in
life. Once you respect yourself it will be easier to
show respect to others.
How will you specifically teach
this expectation to students?
By developing structured teaching material for the
students to follow (model), for example, role
playing appropriate behaviors, or telling them
stories will teach them to be respectful and
responsible.
Example of a “right way” to
engage in expectation
For example, if students speak in quiet voices to
other students in the classroom or hallway is the
“right way” to engage in expectation. Using quiet
voices is being respectful.
Example of a “wrong way” to
engage in expectation
Students are taught to respect self and others. An
example is if any student places his or her foot on

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another student’s desk is the “wrong way” to
engage in expectation. Keeping hands, feet, and
objects to self is being respectful.
NameofGroupMember:
DianaBrown
Behavioral Expectation Be honest!
Define your Behavioral
Expectation
Being honest involves: always telling others the
truth even if the consequences are undesirable,
being sincere and always treating others fairly.
How will you specifically teach
this expectation to students?
In order to teach children the value of honesty I
would incorporate it into everyday lessons, praise
honesty, be a role model and use puppets to depict
situations where being honest is rewarding, in
turn encouraging children to do the right thing.
Example of a “right way” to
engage in expectation
An example of a “right way” to be engage in the
expectation is telling the teacher the truth even
though it will result in a punishment e.g. telling
the teacher you forgot to do your homework
rather than lying and saying your dog ate it.
Example of a “wrong way” to
engage in expectation
An example of a “wrong way” to engage in the
expectation is telling a classmate that another
classmate said something hurtful when in fact
they didn’t e.g. starting fights or stirring up
trouble.
In the past, schools have primarily focused on the use of punishment as a traditional form
of discipline in order to control misbehavior, according to Heward (2013). These strategies are
ineffective in achieving reduction in problematic behaviors in the long-run or increases in overall
school safety and they fail to teach students the acceptable and desired, prosocial behaviors.
Achieving these goals are possible with the implementation of school wide positive behavior
support (SWPBS) which is a “strategic framework made up of organizational systems and
research-based, scientifically validated intervention practices for establishing a positive school
culture, and teaching and supporting appropriate behaviors that enable the academic and social
behavior success of all students”. (Heward, 2013) In the present paper I am going to discuss the

5. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 5
specific manner in which my school will reward appropriate behaviors as well as the specific
error correction procedures that will be implemented when a student violates those behavior
expectations. Also, I will outline the data collection methods I will use to determine the
effectiveness of the SWPBS program and make changes if necessary.
School wide positive behavior support is developed from a prevention perspective that
involves instructional interventions and behavioral supports, becoming more intensive and
targeted as students indicate necessity. In order for my school to reward appropriate behavior of
the students it is necessary to implement the first tier of supports. Tier one or primary prevention
is the universal support for all students in which all teachers and staff participates in a group
effort to teach appropriate behavior across all school settings within the school. (Heward, 2013)
Tier one clearly states and defines behavioral expectations in a simple and positive manner that
all students can easily understand and are explicitly and directly taught with a systematic format.
(Heward, 2013) The dimensions of the behavior and specific criteria required for the school-wide
reward to be delivered will be consistent for every student regardless of grade level. The rewards
will only be given for positive appropriate behavior that demonstrates the student’s knowledge of
both classroom and school rules as well as knowledge of respect for others and their property,
safety, responsibility, initiative and honesty. Also, the rewards will only be given for positive
appropriate behavior that demonstrates the student’s knowledge of the academic material which
is reflected in their individual grades and grade point averages. Finally, the rewards will only be
given if the student remains in good disciplinary standing and hasn’t received any detentions or
suspensions.
In order to reward the positive and appropriate behaviors school wide there are four
methods that will be implemented: positive teacher attention, positive acknowledgement visuals,

6. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 6
redeemable coupons and activity rewards. One of the most positive and simplest methods of
positive reinforcement is getting all teachers and staff to implement a simple ratio of giving
students positive attention a minimum of four times for every one correction of negative problem
behavior. (MDE, 2010) This will be done with the use of simple, positive acknowledgments that
are quick, easy to deliver, genuine, natural, in context and varied e.g. “good job”, “way to go”, or
“you did it” followed by a short description of the positive behavior they displayed. These types
of acknowledgments can also be a pat on the back, a high five, a smile or even a thumbs up.
(MDE, 2010)
Another way of recognizing positive and appropriate student behavior is to provide
acknowledgment in the form of cards and certificates when the student is caught doing the right
thing or has met a predetermined criteria. (MDE, 2010) This is essentially the same thing as
positive teacher attention it just gives the student a visual reminder of the good job that they have
done.
There are a plethora of ways that a school can implement a system of redeemable rewards
in a manner that is simplistic and easy to administer. The system that my school would
implement requires each teacher to distribute fifteen positive behavior coupons per week to
students that they see demonstrating positive, appropriate behaviors (this includes their own
students as well as others). (MDE, 2010) At the end of the week the students with coupons will
be allowed to redeem them for items from the school store or they can save them to purchase
items that require more than one coupon (items can vary from special art supplies to snacks or
even school tee-shirts and tickets to a school sporting event).

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As with the redeemable rewards system there are several ways in which a school can
implement a system of scheduled monthly events where all students who have met the behavioral
criteria are rewarded. These students are granted attendance to events that can occur during the
regular school day, after school hours and on the week-ends. (MDE, 2010)
When students violate behavioral expectations it is necessary to have clear procedures to
show them that their behavior was unacceptable and to prevent unacceptable behavior from
resulting in inadvertent rewards (Heward, 2013). The consequences for expectation and rule
violations must be clearly defined and consistently applied by all teachers and staff in order to
achieve the desired behaviors and eliminate those that aren’t. The error correction procedures for
students that violate behavior expectations include: warning, privilege loss, in class or out of
class time out with or without think sheet, parent contact and office discipline referral. These
error correction procedures will be the same for all grades levels but will vary based on the
manner in which students are able to monitor their behavior and know where they stand. The
warning involves a private conversation with the student to discuss their behavior and solutions
for the behavior. If the behavior persists, the teacher will then start taking privileges away from
the student such as a few minutes from recess or computer lab time and loss of incentives for
positive behavior such as loss of a coupon. (MDE, 2010) Next, the student will have a time away
from the other students and a brief withdrawal of attention to reflect on the negative behavior.
During this time older students will be required to fill out a think sheet in which they will be
required to describe the negative behavior, why it is continuing to occur and determine possible
solutions. After this, the parent will be contacted either via phone, email, letter home or in -
person conference depending on the severity of the student’s behavior. If all else fails, the final

8. Applying School Wide Positive Behavior Support 8
step will be office discipline referral where the disciplinary action will be determined by the
school principal. (MDE, 2010)
Data-based decision making is a vital aspect of School wide positive behavior support at
both the school and district levels. In order to determine the effectiveness of my SWPBS system
and decide if changes are necessary I will be using software programs that provide detailed
visual graphs on the Office Discipline Referrals (ODR’s) like many other schools. (KIPBS,
2009) Also, I will use the Schoolwide Evaluation Tool (SET) which allows me to get an outside
objective observer that will evaluate how well the SWPBS elements have been implemented
within the school. The SET involves interviews, direct observations and documents review
which are conducted by a person trained in the process. (KIPBS, 2009) Finally, I will compare
my school’s averages to the School-Wide Information System (SWIS) standards as well as my
school’s history and other schools in the district (MDE, 2010). This will allow me to determine
how effective the SWPBS is overall and if it is more or less effective than the methods
implemented in the past.
As you can see, school wide positive behavior support is a highly effective method of
praise and rewards that result in teaching and supporting appropriate behaviors and reducing
those that are problematic. Today I have discussed the specific manner in which my school will
reward appropriate behaviors as well as the specific error correction procedures that will be
implemented when a student violates those behavior expectations. I have also outlined the data
collection methods I will use to determine the effectiveness of the SWPBS program in order to
make changes if necessary.

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References
Heward, W. L. (2013). Exceptional children: An introduction to special education (10th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support (KIPBS), (2009). School-wide Positive Behavior
Support (SWPB). Kansas Institute for Positive Behavior Support at the University of
Kansas, 1 (1), 4-5.
Michigan Department of Education (MDE), (2010). School-wide Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports: Implementation Guide 2010. Retrieved on September 21,
2014, from
http://www.resa.net/downloads/positive_behavior/pbs_implementation_guide_20100708
_151206_38.pdf