TPC _Journal-Vol6_Issue_3-MTSS-Full_Issue

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 3 269 to promote appropriate behavior. These systems should include immediate feedback systems, such as verbal praise or tickets given to students demonstrating school expectations that can be turned in for prizes (e.g., pencils), as well as long-term feedback systems (e.g., quarterly schoolwide celebrations). Many staff members expressed concern about implementing an extrinsically focused ticket system, noting that this may lead to decreased intrinsic motivation. As such, a formal acknowledgement sys- tem was not immediately integrated into the PBIS program in year one. In January, the counselor had conversations with educational assistants about piloting a positive reinforcement ticket program on the playground in response to data showing an increase in ODRs. The success, measured by teacher and educational assistant perception and ODR referrals on the playground, was almost immediate. This led to staff interest in using this ticket system as a form of acknowledgement and reinforce- ment. Conversations at staff meetings along with printed materials, describing in detail the purpose of acknowledgements, helped the school move forward with a formal “thumbs up” ticket plan that transcended the playground to include all areas of the school. The PBIS team included student voices in the acknowledgements and leadership of PBIS, with a team of fifth-grade students assisting in the development of PBIS acknowledgement ideas in year two and beyond. Data analysis. Data on ODRs had been collected at this school for many years. The principal sent out monthly updates on the number of discipline referrals, including referrals broken down by eth- nicity. The integration of PBIS meant that the data analysis became a focus of the monthly meetings. The school counselor became actively involved in data analysis, sharing monthly updates with staff members. School staff examined types of areas of problem behavior and created plans to respond. While this data often focused on ODRs, more qualitative data also was discussed. For example, the lunchroom became an area of focus when teachers and staff shared concerns about behavior and noise. The leadership team took the qualitative data and created strategies to increase positive behav- ior (e.g., re-teaching, positive acknowledgement plan, community assemblies). Family outreach. From the start, the PBIS team informed parents of the purpose of PBIS and later more fully integrated the voices of parents in the planning processes. The school counselor wrote monthly newsletters while teachers encouraged students to share their acknowledgement tickets with parents so as to share the positives happening in the school. Additionally, the team created a home behavior matrix and a Web site where parents and families could obtain additional information on PBIS at the school. Reflection: Culturally Responsive PBIS Integration As the team engaged in PBIS implementation, multiple situations emerged that brought culture to the forefront. Table 1 outlines several ways in which the team intentionally integrated culturally re- sponsive practices into the PBIS program, and additional examples are illustrated below. Systems built on cultural knowledge and awareness. From the onset of PBIS implementation, the leadership team integrated aspects of culture and cultural responsiveness into the systems. First, the PBIS team was diverse and included many different voices (e.g., bus drivers, educational assistants, bilingual and monolingual classroom teachers, special education staff). The redistricting in the first year of PBIS and the resulting change in student population led to the PBIS team having intentional discussion of important topics involving whether the expectations were culturally relevant to all stu- dents, including the Spanish-speaking students. Further, the leadership team engaged in conversations about their own cultural biases and knowledge to inform the practices implemented within PBIS. When a team member suggested staff