Behavior Changes and Tracking at Central Elementary

Central Elementary Families,

Central Elementary has made some minor changes to our behavior system that I would like to share with all of you.  Hopefully everyone knows Central Elementary is a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports) school.  Our PBIS motto is CCS (Caring, Commitment, & Safety) and we hold CCS assemblies celebrating our students once a month where we welcome you and the community to attend. 

The focus of our PBIS training is to not concentrate on negative behaviors, but instead focus on the positives.  Research shows that almost all behavior (positive or negative) is attention seeking.  Think of a toddler crying, what happens more times than not when you leave the room they are in?  They quit crying until you come back into that room or they chase after you and start crying again once they see you.  This behavior is attention seeking and if you give negative behavior attention, kids will use negative behavior more.  Behaviors in schools are pretty much the same as behaviors at home and we work really hard to not give attention to the negatives, but instead focus on the positives.

Central is blessed with an excellent student body.  Because of that we often take behavior for granted here at Central Elementary.  Our team felt this year we needed to focus on being more consistent with behavior as a staff and more consistent upholding our common area expectations.  We purchased and have implemented a behavior curriculum called “Stop & Think” for all elementary grade levels.  At the elementary level, our most important step is to teach our students what is right and what is wrong. 

How we track behavior has also changed.  In the past, if a student got into trouble a referral was sent home.  A referral was sent home for both minor and major behaviors, using the same sheet.  This year we decided to do a better job of separating the two.  Students no longer receive a referral for minor behavior, instead students are given time to reflect on their behavior and a teacher is given time to reteach the student.  Depending on the grade level the student may bring their reflection home and share that with you, but remember this is not a referral.  Referrals still exist for major behavior problems.  If a student gets a referral, that means they have been sent to the office and I am now involved.  Depending on the level of severity I may call home or sometimes I may just send the referral home and ask for your signature back.

I’ve heard in the past from parents sharing concerns about tracking students.  Yes, we track behavior data and let me explain why.  Through tracking data I can see the following:

• Time of day behaviors occur
• Day of the week behaviors occur
• Staff member giving the behavior
• Behavior type
• Behavior location
• Consequence for behavior
• Number of behaviors a student has

The PBIS team uses this data to make staffing decisions, training for our staff, focus areas for our CCS assemblies, etc.  These decisions are not submitted to the State and typically behavior is not kept in a student’s permanent file, exceptions to this are if a student has a behavior plan and/or IEP.

I want to end by saying thank you for taking the time to read this and for your ongoing support at home.  We have had 59 days of school as I write this and only 12 major behavior referrals.  That is an awesome statistic!  Please remember if you have a concern about behavior to always start with your teacher first as more times than not I will not have the details they will have.  If problems consist after discussing with your teacher, please email me, call, or stop in.

Sincerely,

Mr. Trenkamp