There are so many systems working together in schools. Within all of those are even more decisions that impact each level of your systems.

How do you stay consistent and cohesive between them? The answer to that question is essential in all aspects of your school, but it is absolutely vital when deciding how you're going to address behaviors.

When choosing systems, how do you ensure it fits your school? Will it resonate with your students? Will your staff adopt it?

When Global Academies started to build out their PBIS program they made sure every piece fit their unique culture by filtering those decisions through their foundational pillars.

The Problem

When making decisions in any organization it helps to set guidelines that you can use to filter your choices. That becomes more important once you have established a culture. Any new inputs need to be made in support of that culture you worked so hard to create, not in opposition to it. The culture at Global Academies is built very intentionally around these foundational pillars. Therefore, any behavior initiative needs to be looked at through that lens.

Global is a Charter School in Philadelphia, PA that instills a curriculum of Global Studies and Leadership by sending scholars on learning excursions across the globe as they prepare to become leaders in their community. They decided that students would be called “scholars”. This distinction was established because they wanted their students to take responsibility for their own learning and by default take responsibility for their own behavior as well.

The school is located in one of the most financially challenging zip codes in Philadelphia. Scholars who attend Global Academies take learning excursions their peers may never get to experience.

This is why any behavior decisions had to be made with Global’s culture in mind and why they filter all of those aspects through the foundational pillars test. Providing a safe learning environment and maintaining all the things that made Global unique were goals that could be compatible by following this decision-making process.

About Global Academies

• Location: Philadelphia, PA
• Sites: Global Academy West and Global Academy Southwest
• Grade: K-8

The Solution

Global Academies Needed a tiered system of behavior interventions that fit their unique culture.

They narrowed the focus to only the most relevant pillars to make that happen:

• They would provide a Safe school environment.
• They would teach their Scholars how to make responsible decisions around their academics and their behaviors.
• Everything would be based on relationships. Relationships between staff and students, students and their peers, and the community around Global.

Improving Tier 1 and Adding Tier 2

To continue building the program they started to add inputs to the system that aligned with those foundational pillars.

Global strengthened Tier 1 by:

• Training all staff on Trauma Informed Care to meet the needs of a student body coming back from virtual learning during the pandemic.
• Applying LiveSchool with the purpose of creating consistency between classrooms
• Reporting and analyzing behavior data with fidelity
• Including the School Social Worker as a stakeholder

They added Tier 2 supports by adding 2 intervention programs:

• Check-In/Check-Out fit perfectly within pillar 5 as it requires students who need additional support to create standing appointments with staff members they can relate to and set goals with.
• Breaks are Better was put into place to support pillar 1 as the program was designed to provide breaks and calming strategies to students who may become overwhelmed or show more intensive behaviors in the classroom.

‍Empowering Classroom Teachers

When establishing their system they started with a few directives:

• Make it easier for scholars to behave
• Make it worthwhile for scholars to behave
• Make it unpleasant for scholars not to behave

Those ideas manifested into classroom management norms around the idea of responsibility and empowerment for the teacher.

This meant:

• Teachers have the right to administer consequences for negative behavior and positively reinforce good behavior
• Teachers should acknowledge negative behaviors
• Teachers should recognize all students

When constructing their PBIS program, Global felt they needed to strengthen their teacher's ability to manage behavior in the classroom first. This is where the majority of behaviors tend to manifest themselves and this is where scholars spend most of their time. These classroom norms provided a stable foundation for Paul and his team to build their Tier 1 supports.

The Results

Next, it was time to build that Tier 1 PBIS system into the culture at Global. PBIS isn’t a program you can buy, roll out of the box, and go to work. It’s best practice to mold it to fit your school’s unique culture.

Branding Global’s PBIS Framework

Global made implemented PBIS by branding its program as “Global Greatness”.

Global Greatness was based upon expectations aligned with the foundational pillars.

• Responsibility represented Pillar 2 around teaching scholars how to make responsible decisions.
• Respect ties to Pillar 5 and creates relationships built upon mutual respect.
• Safety was in line with Pillar 1 and the school's dedication to building a safe school environment with a positive culture.

Your School's Turn

It’s important to understand these programs and principles require a group effort to make them effective. At Global, this meant building teams at both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels. The first group is the data/PBIS implementation team and the 2nd group is the MTSS Team managing those intervention programs.

By filtering the behavior program through their Foundational Pillars, Global Academies is able to provide a unique and rich educational experience while still maintaining a safe and positive environment.