Prior training

• Pre-requisite – completed Introduction to Positive Behaviour for Learning
• Recommended – completed PBL School-wide systems of support

Pre-reading

Prior to starting this course it is recommended that participants read the following:

• Classroom management (search within CESE)
• Effective classroom practice toolkit

Other suggested reading

• Association for Positive Behaviour Support Australia
• NSW Department of Education Positive Behaviour for Learning
• NSW Department of Education Behaviour Support Toolkit
• PBIS Missouri – Be mindful that we must contextualise everything to the NSW Department of Education and local schools context, systems and practices.

Welcome and purpose of this professional learning

Positive behaviour for learning professional learning includes a series of trainings undertaken over time. Each training builds the capacity to implement positive learning and wellbeing supports relevant to students, school and classroom context across the Care Continuum. Training includes:

• Introduction to Positive Behaviour for Learning (prerequisite course)
• Tier 1 Universal prevention: school-wide systems
  
• Tier 1 Classroom systems of support
  
• Tier 2 Targeted interventions and supports
  
• Tier 3 Intensive individualised supports 
  
• PBL in the preschool
• PBL introduction to function behaviour assessment (FBA)

This professional learning:

• focuses on preventing and early intervention of inappropriate behaviour in classrooms
  
• builds teacher capabilities in environmental, behavioural and instructional supports and positive relationships:

Schools and teachers in their classroom:

• design systems that fit their context, focusing on supporting staff to be consistent
  
• collect and use data to inform decision-making
  
• put evidence-based teaching and learning practices in place that encourage appropriate behaviour.

This course was based on PBIS Missouri and contextualised for NSW Department of Education schools.

Learning intentions

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• understand classroom positive behaviour for learning
• develop, implement, monitor and evaluate positive relationships within the classroom; and environmental, behavioural and instructional supports within the classroom
• use data to inform decision making
  
• explain the benefits of positive, proactive and instructional approach to behaviour management.
  

Building positive relationships between staff and students so students feel connected. They are then more likely to succeed and thrive in their school environment.

Encouraging positive behaviour through relationships

The importance of good teacher-student relationships

Positive professional relationships with students (and their parents/carers) are fundamental to effective behaviour management and communication.

Consider the following quote:

“The studies show that the best teacher-student relationships form when the teacher gives strong guidance, and shows clear purpose as well as concern for the needs of others and a desire to work as a team.” (Marzano et al, 2003, as cited in Grattan Institute 2017, p. 22)

The 2x10 strategy

The 2×10 strategy is simple: spend 2 minutes per day for 10 days in a row talking with an at-risk student about anything she or he wants to talk about.

Students who seemingly deserve the most punitive consequences are the ones who most need a positive connection. They need that positive connection before they can focus on learning content.

Positive greeting at the door

Research indicates that having positive greeting door strategy produced significant improvements in academic engaged time and reductions in inappropriate behaviour. Teachers indicated that positive door greetings are feasible, reasonable and acceptable as a strategy for welcoming students into the classroom, get students ready to learn and gauge student behaviour.

The main features of the positive door greeting procedures include:

• positive verbal or non-verbal interactions with students as they enter the classroom to establish a positive climate and provide behaviour specific praise,
• pre-corrective statements to prevent inappropriate behaviour, and
• prompts delivered to the entire class to attend to the class activity schedule and remind them of the time when learning will begin.

Teachers develop positive door greetings that they are comfortable with participating in, for example, saying hello to each student and using their name or friendly comment. This helps ensure that every student is known, valued and cared for.

Wrap up

The teacher-student relationship is the fundamental element of classroom climate.

• Use verbal and non-verbal prompts.
• Take opportunities to get to know the students and how they learn.
• Relate to students in a calm, firm and fair manner.
• Model the interaction you expect.

Remember: positive relationships make behaviour management easier.

The physical environment has a significant influence on learning. It gives students clear messages about how teachers value them and their learning.

Environmental management

Within the classroom, environmental management includes:

• What you want your classroom to look like?
• Where should students be seated?
• What should it feel like to be a class member or visitor?
• How will students access resources?
• How will you regulate movement and interaction?

Essential features of environmental management

Essential features of classroom environment management that must be considered by each teacher includes:

• lighting
• seating plans
• displays
• designated areas
• clutter free
• furniture arrangement
• space to move safely
• schedules/timetables
• storage
• temperature
• technology
• ventilation.

The importance of a seating plan

Seating plans are fundamental to effective classroom environmental management. Seating arrangements can have a positive impact on teacher-student and student-student working relationships, communication and interaction; and engagement in learning, motivation and focus. It is important to consider which students work well together, and those who do not.

Physical arrangement: traditional classroom seating arrangements

When setting up and altering the physical arrangements of each learning space, teachers need to consider:

Proactive teacher behaviours

Proactive teacher behaviours to create a positive climate

Proactive teacher behaviour helps create a positive classroom climate. Preferred adult behaviours that impact student compliance, learning, and connection to school include:

• proximity
• listening
• eye contact (when culturally appropriate)
• use of pleasant voice
• smiling
• use of student’s name.

Effective teacher behaviours increase the probability of success

Effective classroom managers are known, not by what they do when inappropriate behaviour occurs, but by what they do to set their classroom up for academic success and prevent problems from occurring. An effective teacher creates a set of circumstances that increase the probability of success now and for the future.

Strategies

Instructional

• Teacher facilitated
• Direct and explicit
• Authentic examples
• Multiple opportunities
• Engages students

Environmental

• Arranges physical spaces
• Develops routines and procedures
• Consistent across time and students

Relationships

• Communicates often
• Conveys genuine interest in students
• Maintains role of encouraging teacher

Wrap up

Classroom environment considers:

• well organised learning spaces
• light and ventilation
• seating plan
• accessible resources
• attractive, stimulating displays
• role of teacher behaviour in establishing classroom climate.

The physical environment has a significant influence on learning, it gives a student clear messages about how we value them and how we value learning.

Classroom expectations and rules

The key is that behaviour is functionally related to the teaching environment. Where the behaviour is what the student “does” and the teaching environment is all that happens before, during and after the student’s behaviour including interactions with adults and peers.

Teachers set up teaching environments that promote positive behaviour through the use of consistent and clear classroom expectations and rules.

Other considerations

• Students have a role in formulating rules
• Rules should be easy to reinforce and correct
• Rules should be age and setting appropriate
• Explicitly teach and practice classroom rules
• Teacher models and reinforces consistently
• Rules need to be displayed in a prominent position.

A good package of rules includes: movement around the classroom, talking, work completion, readiness and compliance, and focusses on what is relevant to your classroom at that time.

Remember, classroom rules need to be specific to your current classroom and use language and visual prompts as required by the learning needs of your students.

Instructional management aims to increase engaged time in learning by using a range of instructional strategies.

Active supervision

Active supervision is an opportunity to:

• observe student performance for both academic and social behaviours
• provide relevant feedback (praise)
• provide correction (proactive)
• encourage efforts
• build positive adult-student relationships.

Active supervision consists of 3 general components:

1. Teachers move among students, visiting problem areas frequently, discretely making their presence known, and scan the environment frequently (looking for both appropriate and inappropriate displays of behaviour).
2. Active supervisors interact frequently with a variety of students by having conversations, providing pre-corrections and reminders, and teaching appropriate behaviours.
3. Teachers give frequent positive reinforcers for displays of appropriate behaviours.

Multiple opportunities to respond

Teachers provide multiple opportunities for students to respond to questions and learning. A teacher presents an instructional question, statement, or gesture that promotes student responses. The teacher then provides feedback to students based on responses. There are two basic types of opportunities to respond: verbal responses and non-verbal responses.

What are opportunities to respond?

Teacher behaviour that prompts or solicits a student response such as:

• reading aloud.
• writing answers to a problem.
• verbally answering a question.
• responding to a teacher’s cue.

The value of providing opportunities to respond

• Increased rates of responding and subsequent improved learning, tend to increase the amount of work that can be covered.
• On-task behaviour and correct responses increase, while disruptions decrease.
• Shown to improve reading and math performance.
• Provides continual feedback for the teacher on student learning and the effectiveness of teaching strategies.

Guidelines for response rates

• Teacher talk should be no more than 40-50% of instructional time.
• New material, a minimum of 4-6 responses per minute with 80% accuracy.
• Review of previously learned material 8-12 responses per minute with 90% accuracy.
• Increase wait time to 3 seconds.

Response strategies

Verbal strategies

• Students respond orally to teacher prompts or questions.
• Individual questioning or choral responding.

Non-verbal strategies

• Student or teacher uses a signal, card, writing or movement to respond.

Strategies to increase student’s opportunity to respond

Activity sequencing and choice

For students who can do the assigned academic work but do not choose to do it, activity sequencing and choice strategies may be helpful.

• Activity Sequencing: Altering the way in which instructional tasks, activities or requests are ordered (task interspersal and behaviour momentum).
• Choice: Providing options in activities such as the type, materials, who, where and when they occur.

Activity sequencing: Task interspersal

Task interspersal is a simple strategy of interspersing academic tasks that have already been mastered with a few new concepts

Research suggests:

• Students are more likely to engage in a task if it does not require significant effort
• Error rates are higher during the acquisition stages of learning
• Interspersing easier tasks among more difficult tasks and using simple instructions to proceed more difficult instructions have demonstrated increased student willingness to do the task
• Students prefer assignments with a mix of already mastered tasks with new tasks
• · Interspersing tasks that have already been mastered within the assignment can promote greater confidence and motivation to both begin and finish the activity.

Activity sequencing: Behaviour momentum

Behaviour momentum is a similar strategy that uses the momentum of easier tasks to build motivation to complete more challenging tasks.

• Used to build confidence with students who may not otherwise attempt a more difficult activity.
• Can be used with individual students, small groups or the entire class.

How to use behaviour momentum:

• Identify behaviours that have a higher probability of completion
• Then precede with more difficult requests by giving three or more requests the student can readily do.

After successful completion:

• Reinforce the student
• Then present the task that is known to have a lower probability of being completed
• Again, reinforce the student
• Gradually reduce the number of easier requests.

Providing choice

Providing opportunities for students to make choices has been demonstrated to be an effective intervention in preventing inappropriate behaviour and increasing engagement.

Benefits of providing choice

• Feasible and easy intervention to implement
• Effective for class, group or individual students
• Does not require significant modification to existing instruction.

Strategies for offering choice

Choice might include:

• type of activity or mode of the task such as written, oral, project
• the order or sequence of tasks to be completed
• the kinds of materials to be used
• who to work with (for example group pairs, individual)
• place to work
• what will be done when the work is completed.

Steps for using choice in the classroom

1. Create a menu of choices you would be willing to provide to students
2. Look through your choice menu before planning each lesson
3. Decide what types of choice are appropriate for the lesson and where they fit best in the lesson
4. Provide choices as planned while teaching the lesson
5. Solicit student feedback and input.

Task difficulty

Task difficulty relates to work assignments that exceed the student’s skill level.

• Providing appropriately adjusted tasks decreases inappropriate behaviour and increases opportunities for academic success.
• Work assignments that are too difficult for students or require them to use skill sets that are challenging for them, commonly result in inappropriate behaviour.
• Providing tasks at the correct level of difficulty increases and promotes on-task behaviour, task completion, task comprehension and appropriate class-wide behaviour.

Types of adjustments

1. Content, what students learn
2. Process, how students learn
3. Product, how student demonstrates what they have learned
4. Environment, the surroundings in which students learn

Examples of adjustments

Wrap up

Active supervision

There are 3 components: moving, scanning, interacting.

• Allows for provision of immediate learning assistance to students
• Increases student engagement
• Reduces inappropriate and increases appropriate behaviour
• Provides knowledge on whether students are using expectations
• Allows for frequent use of encouragement
• Allows for timely correction of behavioural errors
• Builds positive adult student relationships

Opportunities to respond

Strategies for increasing student opportunities for response include:

• Verbal strategies: students respond orally to teacher prompts or questions
• Individual questioning
• Choral response
• Non-verbal strategies includes students using a signal card, writing or movement to respond.

Other strategies:

• Computer assisted instruction
• Class wide peer tutoring
• Direct instruction

Activity sequencing and choice

For students who can do the work but choose not to do it consider:

• activity sequencing
• task interspersal
• behaviour momentum.

Offering Choice

Remember – every lesson doesn’t have to include all of the choices on your list, but if each lesson you teach provides at least one opportunity for choice, students are likely to benefit.

Task difficulty

• Will the student be able to complete the work if adjustments (of content/ process/product or learning environment) are provided?
• Content, for example using texts or novels at more than one reading level
• Process, for example develop activities that target auditory, visual and kinaesthetic learners
• Product, for example students to express what they have learned in varied ways
• Learning environment, for example areas to work quietly without distraction and areas that invite collaboration

Creating classroom systems of support for sustainability purposes. Systems to support include systems to support data-based decision making, systems to support teachers, and systems to support sustainability.

Systems of data

Data supports teachers within the classroom identify students of concern, areas of strength and provides evidence of learning, teaching and resourcing.

There are 3 classroom systems of support including systems to support data, the teacher and sustainability.

Systems for data

Assessment tools to determine

• Classroom practices in place
• Priority areas for improvement
• Procedures to monitor and track minor behaviours
• Evidence to demonstrate the implementation of effective classroom practices
• Big 5 data tool

Systems for Data: Assessment Tool to Support Classroom Practices

An internal self-assessment tool which assesses the extent to which PBL systems, data and practices and are in place in the Tier 1 School-wide systems training.

Implementation of positive behaviour for learning systems and practices should be undertaken annually and results from the data analysis used for planning where to from here. Evaluation tools, for example, the Tiered Fidelity Inventory or Benchmarks of Quality, can be used.

Systems for Data: Data analysis

In the monthly data review:

• Do the numbers of minor referrals indicate improvement in classroom managed behaviour?
• Do you need to analyse the data further?

Use data to determine level of support required for teachers.

Systems to Support Staff

Schools with an effective approach to teacher performance and development have a commitment to ongoing formal and informal feedback and coaching built into their culture. Timely, frequent and improvement focused feedback supports teachers’ efforts to improve their practice, guides choices about professional learning, and informs reflection on and revision of performance and development goals.

Collaborative cultures in which teachers focus on improving their teaching practice, learn from each other, and are well led and supported by school principals result in better learning for students.

Professional learning

Systems to support sustainability

Systems for Sustainability

It is important to embed classroom positive behaviour into current departmental priorities and school policies, procedures and plans. Consider:

• NSW curriculum (personal and social capabilities)
• Professional Teaching Standards and Personal Development Plans (PDP)
• Wellbeing Framework for Schools
• School Excellence Framework
• School Improvement Planning and analysis.

Plan for Implementation

Develop a schedule for training staff in classroom systems:

• Assess what classroom practices staff already know and use (data, display, cool tools, peer observations etc)
• Choose one practice at a time and train staff
• Provide additional support/review learning as required – key topics, resources, tools
• Plan for new staff and casual teachers.

Postive behaviour for learning meetings

• Positive behaviour for learning team meeting suggestions:
• Schedule regular PBL meetings (at least monthly)
• Use a standard agenda (with suggested times for each agenda item)

During meetings:

• Clearly define goals, objectives, and outcomes
• Acknowledge all contributions
• Follow-up on previous tasks
• Discuss classroom management supports required
• Examine data for decision-making
• Monitor agenda times, keep a record of meetings minutes (actions) and communicate to all stakeholders

Responsibilities of positive behaviour for learning team to sustain classroom systems

• Ensure that the following is undertaken:
• Classroom expectations developed and displayed
• Classroom reward systems linked to school wide systems
• Classroom systems for inappropriate behaviours linked to school wide systems
• Data collection and analysis linked to school wide systems
• Communication with students, whole school staff, parents and community
• Contribute to annual School Improvement analysis and planning
• Contribute to School Management Plans

Wrap up

Four basic recommendations

1. Never stop doing what is already working. If it's not working, undertake and evaluation to determine if it can be adjusted or removed.
2. Always look for the smallest change that will produce the largest effect; avoid defining a large number of goals and do a small number of things well
3. Do not add something new without also defining what you will stop doing to make the addition possible
4. Collect and use data for decision-making and action planning

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) (2014). Australian professional standards for teachers. http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.

Centre for Education and Statistics and Evaluation (2020). Classroom management - Creating and maintaining positive learning environments, NSW Department of Education. https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications-filter/classroom-management.

Centre for Education and Statistics and Evaluation (2020). What works best: 2020 update, NSW Department of Education. https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/publications-filter/what-works-best-2020-update.

Cook, C., Fiat, A., Larson, M., Daikos, C., Slemrod, T., Holland, E., Thayer, A., & Renshaw, T. (2018). Positive Greetings at the Door: Evaluation of a Low-Cost, High-Yield Proactive Classroom Management Strategy. Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, 20(3), 149-159.

Department of Education, S. and E.-D. library. (2020, February 18). The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration | Department of Education, Skills and Employment - Document library, Australian Government. https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration.

Department of Education and Training (2005). Disability Standards for Education 2005. https://www.dese.gov.au/disability-standards-education-2005

Emmer, E., & Sabornie, E. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of classroom management. New York: Routledge.

Goss, P., Sonnemann, J., & Griffiths, K. (2017). Engaging students: creating classrooms that improve learning. Grattan Institute. https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Engaging-students-creating-classrooms-that-improve-learning.pdf

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. London, England: Routledge.

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support. (2022). Retrieved from https://pbismissouri.org/tier-1-workbook-resources/

NSW Department of Education. School Excellence Framework. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/school-excellence-and-accountability/school-excellence-in-action/school-improvement-and-excellence/the-school-excellence-cycle

NSW Department of Education (2020). The Wellbeing Framework for Schools. https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/whole-school-approach/wellbeing-framework-for-schools

NSW Department of Education (2022). Achieving school excellence in wellbeing and inclusion, https://education.nsw.gov.au/student-wellbeing/whole-school-approach/wellbeing-framework-for-schools/wellbeing-for-school-excellence

Oliver, R. M., Lambert, M. C., & Mason, W. A. (2017). A Pilot Study for Improving Classroom Systems Within Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 27(1), 25–36. Taken from Centre of Education Statistics and Evaluation (2020), Classroom management – creating and maintaining positive learning environment, NSW Department of Education, https://www.cese.nsw.gov.au/.

Scott, T. M., Park, K. L., Swain-Bradway, J., & Landers, E. (2007). Positive behaviour support in the classroom: facilitating behaviorally inclusive learning environments. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 3(2), 223-235.

Positive Behaviour for Learning is a long-term commitment and can take a few years to implement. From here:

• determine needs and competing priorities of school
• establish or regenerate a positive behaviour for learning team
• evaluate current school systems and practices using the Benchmarks of Quality or Tiered Fidelity Inventory. A score of 80% indicates your school is ready for the additional training. Sometimes, you may need to retrain in school-wide and classroom systems to strengthen these systems and practices.
• undertake the training that you and/or your school identifies as a priority and need.