How McDougle Middle School used behavior data to change their school culture.
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
Jaimi and her team felt there was a need to motivate students and to get away from using paper-based programs. This brought them to the Ron Clark system first. At first, they were successful in handing out points but weren’t getting usable data to inform their practices.
Jaimi committed herself to research and finding the right program. She found LiveSchool. With LiveSchool she was able to use data to
“I wanted to be able to see what teachers were handing out points and cross-reference that with behavior data.”
About McDougle Middle School
• Location: Chapel Hill, NC
• Enrollment: 746
• Grade: 6-8
A good house starts with a good foundation and getting the right materials in place.
McDougle’s House Points System is no different. Let’s take a look at the foundational pieces of their program:
Students and staff are sorted into houses. Students remain in this house until the end of 8th grade. They are mixed grade levels evenly distributed.
Students learn what house they will belong in at their annual “Meet the Advisor” event. Older students come to watch and celebrate as new members are inducted into their houses.
The students’ advisor moves up a grade level each year with the students.
“Points are earned not given.”
A committee was formed to develop a rubric for point distribution. This allowed for consistency between the houses on point distribution.
Points are awarded for standard acts you’d expect of students such as helping others and being on time. They are awarded for going above and beyond like befriending a new student. Students earn special points for academic performance and growth. Points are also awarded during school events such as spirit days or assemblies.
“We have to make school fun”
In addition to student points, staff can earn points as well! They can earn for great performance, presenting on a topic, turning in evaluation materials on time, and during minute-to-win competitions at faculty meetings!
McDougle focuses on intangible rewards. Praise and recognition over chips and candy. Students love to compete. They look forward to administrators bringing around “The Wheel” for the student of the month to spin and award points to their house.
The program has become so successful that Jamie and her team are posting the leaderboard in multiple areas of their school. They had to do this because students were rerouting traffic in the halls in order to check the leaderboard during the day!
End of each quarter McDougle hosts games, and chants, and reveals the Quarter Champions to be displayed in the “Champions Courtyard”.
At the end of the year, the cumulative points champion is awarded. This has some real meaning behind it as the champion gets to decorate the cafe for the next year. So the entire school will see the house champions colors displayed proudly all year.
Periodically student and staff surveys are conducted. Data is collected to determine effectiveness. This is referral data, survey data, and points collection data. This data is shared with staff to reflect on the next steps and course corrections for the future.
If change was easy then all programs would be successful and change in itself wouldn’t be all that necessary. But change is hard, and it is absolutely necessary. McDougle needed a new system to facilitate the change they needed. But when you introduce a new system to an organization there will be some pushback and resistance to the plan.
When staff members aren’t all bought in Jaimi and her staff have a process for discussing the program using real data.
The admin team at McDougle knew it wouldn’t just be some staff members who would be initially resistant to their program. Some students will care about points more than others.
That's why they are:
“People are staying honest and true to our mission and vision of using this house system to build our community.”
As an Assistant Principal, Jaimi isn’t looking at anything with rose-colored glasses. But with this program, they can pinpoint where they need to improve and grow. Now they have built a community that will allow them to take the next steps in their school culture journey.
Jaimi graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a Master of School Administration degree in 2019, and currently, is working on her doctoral degree in Education Leadership. Prior to being an Assistant Principal, she taught 5th grade at Glenwood Elementary for 10 years. She began her career teaching for 5 years at Bugg Creative Arts and Science Magnet School in Wake County.
Jaimi's teaching background helped her build a strong foundation in instructional practices and a love for helping children develop an excitement for learning. She firmly believes that strong relationships with students, families, and teachers are the foundation for the success of every student.
Outside of school, she finds great joy in spending time with my husband and children. They love to cheer on the Tar Heels at the Dean Dome, visit museums in the area, and explore parks and nature trails.
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
New job. New School. No data. How do you begin to improve school culture without the information needed to inform those decisions?
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
New job. New School. No data. How do you begin to improve school culture without the information needed to inform those decisions?
Imagine this scenario; you are a new administrator.
Your elementary teaching career has been greatly influenced and improved by utilizing PBIS in your classroom. But you have come to a middle school where PBIS isn’t alive and well. The kids aren’t as interested in it. Your staff has expressed logistical concerns with a paper bucks system and the fidelity just isn’t there.
You also want to utilize data to inform your practices. But what if the data your system produces isn’t up to the task? This is the situation Jaimi West found herself in when she started with McDougle Middle School.
As a teacher, Jaimi tried everything to keep her students engaged. She even printed and handed out “CHOMPS” bucks because her school was the Gators.
But from interacting with staff in PLCs and committee meetings she learned that not all of her colleagues were up for the logistical demands that the paper system called for. They just couldn’t all sacrifice the time needed to do it with fidelity.
But despite the hurdles, she still knew that kids need praise. She knew that praise is a fundamental driver for all humans. Even Middle Schoolers.
That need to motivate students brought Jaimi and her team to implement House Points...
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