Fourteen schools in the Daviess County Public Schools district have earned Bronze awards based on fidelity of implementation of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
Those receiving awards include Audubon, Burns, Country Heights, Deer Park, East View, Highland, Meadow Lands, Sorgho, Southern Oaks, Tamarack, West Louisville and Whitesville elementary schools, plus Daviess County Middle School and Valley School.
In making the presentation, the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative described PBIS as “an evidence-based, proactive approach to teaching and reinforcing behavioral expectations with a goal of improving student behavior, maximizing instructional time and increasing student engagement, while also promoting an overall physically and psychologically safe school culture and climate.”
DCPS support services coordinator Kristy Brackin, who serves as the district’s PBIS leader, said the implementation of PBIS at all DCPS schools benefits students in the classroom and in life.
“PBIS teams at each of these schools have adopted a set of three to five schoolwide behavioral expectations of core values they most desire from their students,” she said. “These behaviors are taught explicitly for each setting within the school, with many opportunities for practice and feedback. These values enhance a student’s capacity for not only desired academic and behavioral outcomes at schools, but also building a positive foundation on which to build a successful life.”
JoAnna Jones, who serves as GRREC PBIS consultant, said, “These schools are certain to continue their progress implementing PBIS at all three tiers while providing effective supports for all students to achieve social, emotional, behavioral and academic success.”
Brackin said PBIS recognizes that students can only meet behavioral expectations if they know what the expectations are.
“Just like teaching academic content, we must teach the behaviors that we desire to see in our students that guide them along their different pathways of success. When schools operate using the preventative and proactive PBIS problem-solving approach, the entire school climate improves due to the dedicated use of data for identifying the reasons negative behaviors are occurring and implementing interventions to decrease those behaviors.”
