Lincoln Elementary School is in the second year of PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention & Supports) and is seeing good progress with schoolwide behavior.

“Our data indicates many behavioral gains this year,” said Lauren Walters, Lincoln Elementary School’s PBIS building coach. “Just like we teach the students ELA and math, PBIS allows us to teach positive behavior. Lincoln students know that the expectation is to be respectful, responsible and safe. They are recognized and rewarded when they demonstrate these expectations. Teachers consistently use explicit language to communicate with students in all areas of the building, which reinforces the behavioral expectations for all students. Students also use this language to explain how they know to make good choices in school.”

PBIS emphasizes a schoolwide system of support that includes proactive strategies for defining, teaching and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create positive school environments. Instead of using a piecemeal approach, a continuum of positive behavior support for all students is implemented in all areas, including the classroom and non-classroom settings – such as hallways, buses and restrooms. PBIS is a data-driven system where the Lincoln PBIS Team meets once a month to review schoolwide behavioral data to see where efforts should be made to improve. The entire staff is told what the expectations are and focuses on this behavior with everyone in the entire school.

Lincoln Elementary School’s PBIS program has two parts. The first is a schoolwide initiative including all students in the building. The second portion, which began this year, helps a smaller group of students who might need extra assistance.

The schoolwide program includes tickets as incentive for good behavior given out by any Lincoln staff member. Depending on the amount of tickets a student collects, they receive gold, silver or bronze status. Students are then able to visit the school store to pick out merchandise, donated by Lincoln staff, based on the number of tickets they received. Depending on a student’s incentive level, they can also enjoy an experience instead of a tangible item, like lunch with a Jamestown Police officer or the principal. The Lincoln staff has also created scavenger hunts for students, craft-making days or the offer of an ice cream treat. At the beginning of the school year, the PBIS team distributed a student survey to see what types of rewards students would like to see.

Lincoln also has a Golden Classroom ticket that can be given out by any staff member if they see an entire classroom doing the right thing. This year’s theme is football, with each classroom coming up with a team name and helmets racing down the football field in the cafeteria showing how each classroom in the school is doing.

This year, Lincoln school started its second phase of PBIS where individual students are given extra help and may benefit from immediate feedback. Twice a month, the PBIS team meets to review individual student behavior and decide how to help each succeed. The team is not only looking at each student’s behavior, but also the reasons why they might be behaving that way. These students are then paired with a staff member who checks in with them each morning to talk to them about their three goals for the day. Each classroom teacher gives a “yes” or “no” check mark on a sheet the student takes throughout his or her day. At the end of the day, the students checks back in with the goal being that they received an 80 percent “yes” rate for their goals. If they reach that milestone, they receive a reward as well. Also, if a student reaches 80 percent consistently, the goal is increased. In addition to the PBIS system, Lincoln school counselor Kae Mann and other staff members also hold small group meetings to develop better social and emotional skills in students such as friendship building or what to do when they feel angry.

“We have a very small amount of students at Lincoln in the second phase of PBIS, but for some students, they need the consistency and stability of a staff member who is there for them to listen to their needs and help them behave in a way that is appropriate and will make them successful in school,” said Jennifer Jones, Lincoln Elementary School teacher and team member. “PBIS is really a positive system that allows us to promote good behavior in all our students and help individual students that might need a little extra support and caring.”