Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support Tasmania

1. Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support Tasmania Louise O’Kelly Principal Education Officer – Positive Behaviour Support Department of Education, Tasmania.

2. Tasmanian SWPBS Program 2005 Principal Education Officer –Positive Behaviour Support created to: provide systemic leadership approaches to student behaviour that were research validated aligned to our values base and teaching and learning practice. Training in functional behaviour assessment Assistance with individual students. PD on request from schools, clusters, TAFE, AEU, Child Care and UTAS. Collaboration with Education Queensland and the Institute of Inclusive Learning Communities re SWPBS training and a Grad Cert program. Expressions of Interest to schools wishing to join 2006 program.

3. Tasmanian SWPBS Program A total of 64 schools applied to join the program. 6 clusters, 3 South, 2 North and 1 North West. 19 individual schools 19 of the 27 clusters involved. There are now 79 schools involved in the program. 56 coaches have had initial training in SWPBS.

4. Tasmanian SWPBS Program 2006 Coaches training and ongoing support maintained through branch meetings. Collected base line data using the SET. Provided 3 days training in primary/universal intervention. Led development of a local data management system in relation to student behaviour. Supported cluster based staff with FBAs. Ensure that local PBS/FBA knowledge and expertise is available statewide. Grad Cert unit in PBS. Action research projects in nominated schools/clusters. Promoting positive behaviour website begun http://www.education.tas.gov.au/school/educators/support/positivebehaviour

5. 2007 Leadership Team training focussing on consolidation of primary and introduction to secondary intervention. Continued support to coaches through meetings, training in FBA and through ICT’s Developing and formalising systemic support to ensure sustainable and increasing adoption of SWPBS.

6. Strengths Parent and community involvement Development of Australian Tools Schoolwide Evaluation Tool Effective Behaviour Survey Team Implementation Checklist Immediate ‘buy in’ by staff Attracted political support Increased capacity to evaluate the impact of programs on student outcomes. Built Australian SWPBS community

7. Challenges Isolated schools. Training expertise Staff turnover ‘Scaling Up’ Data collection Juggling jobs Networking with other Australian programs

8. What have we learned?

9. Tasmanian Schools SET Data 2006/2007

13. The model of support is critical

14. Practical Considerations Organise a team of interested people Get parents and community members involved as soon as possible Deliver training with teams of schools Hold training away from school sites Mandate principal attendance and involvement at training Set dates for data submissions

15. Parents and Community Agencies Minimum of two parent representatives on each school team Provide transport and child care for parents if possible Facilitate authentic parent and agency participation Provide clear team roles and responsibilities

16. Coaches/Facilitators External to school community Some knowledge of how to support teams Ideally knowledge in behaviour Ability to attend meetings at school regularly Good communication skills Committed to school improvement

17. Data Collection Determine the questions that need asking. Don’t waste time inventing something new Use existing data sources Set dates in advance (calendar year) Share data back with schools Teach teams about interpreting data and using it for decision making Feed data back to senior staff

18. Translation to Australia Modify language Contextualise for local environment Maintain integrity to processes Try new things Connect with US colleagues Share with other schools Don’t throw existing systems out expecting SWPBS to replace them.

19. Tasmanian SWPBS Program into the future. Continue to monitor and review use of and information gained from the Schoolwide Evaluation Tool (SET) and EBS (Effective Behaviour Survey) and adapt to the Australian context. Assist with the roll out of the STIM’s student support module. Review and adapt the Module training with particular emphasis on the social learning component. Formalise coaching training and support. Ensure related policies and guidelines align with PBS. Establish a forum for national professional support, information and data sharing.

20. Thank You