Like most educators, Adrienne Taylor is looking for ways to improve test scores, attendance and discipline at her school. She thinks she has found a key in a program that stresses positive behavior.
Taylor, principal of Belle Grove Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, is among about 3,000 educators in the state who this month are learning new ways to improve their schools through the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.
Proponents say PBIS can have a measurable impact on a school. For example, suspension rates at some PBIS schools can drop anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent within two years of implementing the program, according to Milton F. McKenna, staff specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education.
To lower disciplinary problems, PBIS encourages positive role-modeling by adults and constant reminders of proper behavior through posters and other materials placed throughout the school.
"We look at behavior the same way we look at achievement," McKenna said. "If you want the kids to know it, show it."
Two weeks ago, educators new to PBIS - such as those from 180-student Belle Grove Elementary in Brooklyn Park - received training at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City. Last week, educators from schools where PBIS is already in place will undergo additional training at various sites throughout the state.
PBIS was started 20 years ago for special education students by professors at the University of Oregon and was expanded in 1999 to include all students. It encourages adults to give students positive feedback, and some schools offer prizes and other incentives to reward good behavior.
"We want to be proactive in discouraging negative behavior," said Taylor, who has been principal at Belle Grove for six years. "We think this is the way to go. This is research-based. We have several schools in the county that have experienced a lot of success. We wanted to check it out."
Maryland has been on board with PBIS since the program was expanded to mainstream classrooms, according to George Sugai, who helped craft PBIS at the University of Oregon. He is now a professor at the University of Connecticut and is co-director of the Center of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
"Forty-three percent of Maryland schools use PBIS," Sugai said. "I really think the progress that has been made has been phenomenal." Maryland is one of the top four states, of the 40 states the center tracks, in implementing PBIS, Sugai said.
