If a significant portion of students at your school have chronic absenteeism, it may be necessary to address it at a school-wide level, then problem-solving each student individually. Admittedly, schools do not have control over all of the factors that contribute to chronic absenteeism. There may be various reasons for students who are chronically absent including, but not limited to: social anxiety, academic failure, bullying, illness, mental health issues, conflicts with a job, or difficulties with housing/food. While the reasons may vary student-to-student, the school can still do some things to reduce absenteeism for those students.  Several resources and programs that exist for addressing absenteeism.

Attendance Works - Provides information on absenteeism, and many tools for information for various stakeholders. For example, there are handouts for families to help build good attendance (in several languages), webinars and research summaries to better understand absenteeism, and a toolkit for teachers and administrators to improve attendance school-wide. 

Chronic Absenteeism in the Nation's Schools - This resource, from the Department of Education, is an interactive website with information on absenteeism and its outcomes. It points to some resources that schools can be used to being addressing absenteeism in their location.

Every Student, Every Day - Developed by the several U.S. Departments, this tool provides information and strategies for addressing and eliminating barriers to students' daily attendance at, and engagement with, school. This toolkit provides specific, research-based action steps to improve attendance.

For information regarding Summit Public School District's attendance policy, please click here.

Prompts, pre-corrections, and precision-requests will set a student up to behave appropriately. However, even with effective classroom rules that have been taught explicitly, students may still commit behavior errors. Effective correction of errors teaches the student the expected behavior and provides them an opportunity to practice the behavior and receive feedback. At its most basic level, an error correction can simply be a reminder to the student of the rule. For mild to moderate social skills and procedural errors, the use of a one-minute skill builder can be effective. The steps to a one-minute skill builder are:

1. Expression of rapport (student’s name)
2. Description of inappropriate and appropriate behavior
3. Request for acknowledgement and practice
4. Feedback/end on a positive

For more egregious behavioral errors, it may be necessary to implement a more intensive intervention such as a behavior tracker, check-in/check-out, or social skills instruction.

Ideas for avoiding power struggles 

CHAMPS Correction Checklist

 

 

 

 

 

Once expectations are well-defined and taught, students should be regularly reinforced for good behavior. Schools may employ a number of different methods for reinforcing students. Many schools use a ticket system as a way of tracking positive student acknowledgement and providing students with the opportunity to be selected for larger prizes and public acknowledgement for good behavior.

The Principal's 200 club is a school-wide strategy for acknowledging and promoting positive behavior. It focus on all students, all staff and all settings and employs several evidence-based behavior management practices: 1) verbal praise, 2) public posting, 3) the Mystery Motivator, 4) a variable reinforcement schedule and 5) a group contingency. 

 

There are several recommendations to ensure a this is done effectively. For example, with students that have consistent behavior issues, it may be important to  "catch them being good" so they are not left out, and may need the acknowledgement the most. Rewards should also be varied so that students do not get sick of the same rewards over time.

References and resources

Video example of Principal's 200 club in action

For schools with pervasive tardies, individualized interventions may be insufficient. It may be necessary to alter the culture in order to promote timely attendance in class. One of the most often employed strategies involves having a consistent adult presence in the hallways. The adults herd students to get to class and ensure appropriate student behavior in the hallways. One good program that has demonstrated improvement in on-time attendance is Start on Time. START on Time! helps middle and high school administrators and staff improve student behavior in hallways, directly improving school climate. All staff work together to increase the level of coordinated hallway supervision to help establish and maintain a more civil and academic environment in your building.

Even with well-established expectations that have been taught to students, there will still be misbehavior, and thus a need to correct behavioral errors. Several strategies should be employed to handle misbehaviors in the classroom.  For example, precision requests can be effective for lower-level behavior errors (see classroom supports section). However, for significant behaviors, it may still be necessary to refer a student to the office. Data should be collected as part of this referral to help problem-solve school-wide behavior issues as well.

Office Discipline Referrals are a great indicator of overall school behavior, particularly with externalizing behavior problems. A school should first determine which behaviors should be managed in the classroom and which warrant a referral to the office. A flow chart can outline this distinction and the process for responding to those behaviors. 

Next, an office discipline referral form should be developed that can be used by all staff. The form should include all necessary information in order to allow for school-wide data problem solving, including: student name & grade, time & location of incident, problem behavior, others involved, and possible motivation for behavior. When the student is sent to the office with this referral, someone then enters the data into a data management system such as the School-Wide Information System (SWIS) which allows users to use automatically generated reports to identify school-wide problems (e.g., by location, time of day, type of behavior) in order to identify and implement solutions for improving behavior. Major incidents should also be entered into Encore to ensure there is a record of discipline and interventions.

Recess provides several benefits to students including improved fitness, brain functioning, and social interaction. Unfortunately, recess can also be the source of most of the behavior issues in a school. Furthermore, students spend approximately 20% of their school day in recess and P.E.

Schools must find a balance between allowing kids to explore and play freely while providing enough supervision, support, and organization to facilitate positive play and interactions. There are various models to employ a balance of both structure and choice. These models are often referred to as "Structured" or "Team" recess.

 

Team / Organized Recess

Recess provides several benefits to students including improved fitness, brain functioning, and social interaction. Unfortunately, recess can also be the source of most of the behavior issues in a school. Furthermore, students spend approximately 20% of their school day in recess and P.E.

Schools must find a balance between allowing kids to explore and play freely while providing enough supervision, support, and organization to facilitate positive play and interactions. Several schools within Davis School District have employed various models to employ a balance of both structure and choice. These models are often referred to as "Structured" or "Team" recess.

 

Team Recess is a great way to incorporate positive behavior supports on the playground. The goal is to help students have a safe outlet to exercise and learn social skills that will be vital as they grow older. Occasionally, there is concern that putting more structure into recess takes away from students' ability to have freedom to play how they want. However, in reality it teaches them prosocial team-building skills and promotes interaction among all students.

 

1. Determine places where students can engage, or not engage, in specific activities.
2. Create a map of playground layout and post in visible areas.
3. Ensure that there is space designated for free play.
4. Have a backup plan with designated areas for potential indoor recess (in case of inclement weather).
5. Ensure that all spaces meet required standards for safety. Check for any potential blind spots and make sure that all areas of the playground will be within line of sight of adult supervisors.
6. Train staff and students on playground boundaries with follow-up trainings throughout the year

1. Establish expectations for appropriate behavior and rules for games and activities.
2. Make sure that recess expectations align with current school-wide expectations.
3. Post these expectations in visible locations and post rules near corresponding activities.
4. Teach expectations and rules and reinforce students who follow them. 

Provide students with targeted lessons on social skills and appropriate play.

Sample topics:

• Conflict resolution
  • How to handle disagreements (Rock/Paper/Scissors or Ro Sham Bo)
• Management of emotions

  • Big Problem vs Little Problem

  • Expected vs Unexpected Behaviors

• Sharing
• Turn taking
• Sportsmanship
• Greeting peers
• Asking for help

 

Several important roles should be established with the following responsibilities. When possible, include students in the planning process. This is especially true when it relates to potential future playground activities.

Recess duty/aide expectations

• Set-up play equipment and locations for games
• Supervise students for safety
• Engage in play with students 
• Model appropriate interactions (e.g. conflict resolution, taking turns, etc.)
• Reinforce positive play and playground expectations
• Refer major behavior incidents to office
• Track individual student behaviors as needed via Behavior Tracker

P.E. Teachers

• Teach games and activities in PE that align with recess activities
• Coordinate with duties and administration to align P.E. lessons and recess activities

Counselor

• Occasional observation/participation in recess
• Observe students of concern
• Support students with whom counselor works to help students generalize skills

Administrator

• Ensure adults (duties, counselors, psychologists) are fulfilling their roles)
• Ensure training of personnel on their roles
• Ensure proper implementation of games and activities
• Allocate resources (funding and personnel) for successful implementation
• Include observation data in educator evaluation of relevant personnel

Student coaches/Peer Leaders (if applicable)

• Help set up playground equipment
• Model appropriate play for peers
• Teach younger students rules and procedures of games

For students who engage in frequent or continual misbehaviors, it may be appropriate to provide additional supports in the form of one of the following options:

Reinforce positive behaviors - Try to catch the student engaging in expected behaviors more frequently and reinforce the replacement behavior(s) that you are wanting the student to engage in.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each recess and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Leveled recess system - This is designed to train targeted students in addressing problematic behaviors through a series of progressive levels. Loss of recess should not be a punishment tied to lack of work completion or academic performance. Students on a level system should be closely monitored daily using a behavior tracker.

1. Full access to participation recess - Student is able to participate in any activity and in any area on the playground.
2. Partial access to recess zones/activities - student will check in with adult and they will determine what areas and/or games the student will be allowed to participate in. Duties should check in with student regularly. 
3. Indoor recess -  in a classroom receiving additional instruction on social skills and practicing those skills under adult supervision. (May last a week or longer. This also requires parent notification)
4. If after multiple attempts at indoor recess with social skills instruction, and no improvement has been made, please contact, consult, and plan with District Case Management.

The physical organization of a classroom can set the stage for successful student behavior, or set students up to have behavior problems. Several factors for organization should be considered.

Classrooms should be designed to facilitate a typical day at school to help the students better engage in the classroom activities/assignments. Both staff and students should be able to move throughout the classroom without restriction, and there should be little to no areas where a student can no longer be easily observed.

The physical space should allow for the teacher to have close proximity to the student. A teacher should be able to move quickly across the room to provide instructional or behavioral support without being impeded significantly.

The most appropriate layout and level of flexibility of a classroom should be determined by a teacher with direction from administration. Factors to be considered include age of students, the size of the space and number of students, the typical behavior of students, and instructional activities the teacher plans on employing.

Routines and expectations should be listed visibly as should anything that may be linked to what is currently being taught . Plan ahead for areas that may potentially have high traffic or places of congestion.

CHAMPS Organization Self-Assessment

Routines should be simple, clear, and easily completed independently by the students. While many need to be taught and reviewed often and practiced regularly, others be only needed to be reviewed as needed if they don't occur regularly. Plan ahead for known potential failures and have a routine prepared to teach the students. For example, having a routine for hand raising to prevent talk outs, how to request to go to the bathroom, and/or coming to class late without disrupting the rest of the students.

In addition to establishing routines to address predictable behavior failures, the routines must be taught well. The time to teach the routine is the first time that students encounter the activity for which the routine is developed. For example, the first time that students have to transition to a prep period would be a good time to teach them how to effectively and efficiently line up at the door, and travel through the hallway. The first time that students in a science class are given access to the science lab would be the best time to teach the the proper procedure for setting up their work space and cleaning up.

To teach a routine explicitly you may consider the following steps:

1. Provide a rationale for the routine. For example, proper set up of lab equipment will ensure safety and proper working order of the equipment.
2. Explain the steps to the routine.
3. Model the routine. You may provide examples and non-examples so students understand exactly what is expected.
4. Have students practice the routine. While this takes more time up front, practicing to proficiency will save a lot of time in the long run.
5. Review the procedure steps.

Throughout the year, the procedure may need to be reviewed depending on how well the students are performing the routine or if there is been a long time since the past performance of the routine. This template may be useful as you teach routines.

Video outlining how to establish and teach effective routines.

Similar to routines, expectations should be clear and easy to understand. School-wide expectations capture the general expectation for student behavior in common areas. These are discussed further in the school-wide portion of this webpage. Classroom rules should align with school-wide expectations but meet the specific needs of the classroom. To be effective, classroom rules should meet the following:

• Few - You should have 3-5 rules. More than that and it's difficult to remember.
• Measurable - You should be able to measure whether the rule is being followed or not.
• Observable - Can you see with your eyes when a student is complying with the rule?
• Positive - Rules should be positively stated (i.e., tell the student what to do, not what not to do).
• Simple - The rules should be easy to remember and developmentally appropriate.

Once effective rules are established, they should be taught explicitly to students. They should be taught in the first two weeks of school. In order to teach rules effectively, consider the following steps:

1. Read the rule
2. Discuss the importance
3. Role play (if needed)
4. Discuss what happens if they follow the rule (natural and planned reinforcers)
5. Discuss what happens if they don't follow the rule (a hierarchy of consequences starting with verbal warnings, loss of privileges, and then an office referral)

Case studies addressing classroom norms and expectations. Can be used for group discussion and training. 

Video outlining how to establish and teach effective routines

CHAMPS Expectations Self-Assessment

Supervision is the physical act that requires a teacher to scan and move throughout the classroom to praise positive/expected behaviors, as well as correct any unexpected behaviors. Changing physical proximity to peers often helps to decrease and even prevent things like talk outs, off-task behaviors, and running out of the classroom unexpectedly. This also always for frequent brief check-ins and interactions between the teacher and students, which also promotes students ability to feel safe and connected to a positive and caring adult while at school.

Adult supervision is often an effective strategy for decreasing behavior problems in the hallway. The presence of an adult can be enough to improve behavior for most students. 

Self-assessment tool for evaluating your own monitoring and supervision of student behavior.

Supervision is the physical act that requires a teacher to scan and move throughout the classroom to praise positive/expected behaviors, as well as correct any unexpected behaviors. Changing physical proximity to peers often helps to decrease and even prevent things like talk outs, off-task behaviors, and running out of the classroom unexpectedly. This also always for frequent brief check-ins and interactions between the teacher and students, which also promotes students ability to feel safe and connected to a positive and caring adult while at school.

Adult supervision is often an effective strategy for decreasing behavior problems in the hallway. The presence of an adult can be enough to improve behavior for most students. 

Self-assessment tool for evaluating your own monitoring and supervision of student behavior.

Students should be consistently acknowledged for good behavior. Research indicates that students need at least a ratio of 4 positive acknowledgements for every 1 correction. Some students may need a ratio more like 10:1 to counter repeated failures or errors. This helps teach student appropriate and expected behavior and increases motivation to behave well in the future. It is recommended that students receive at least three-to-four positive acknowledgements for every corrective statement. This builds a ratio that sets the student up for success by experiencing more behavioral success than failure.

Use of reinforcement can increase the likelihood of students behavior well in the future. As outlined in The Tough Kid Book (Rhode, Jenson, Reavis, 2010) there are a few variables that make reinforcement effective, remembered by the acronym IFEED-AV:

Immediate - Students should be reinforced immediately. The longer you wait, the less effective the reinforcer, particularly with younger students.

Frequent - It is particularly important to reinforce a student frequently when they are learning a new behavior. The ratio of four positives for every one negative consequence will help the student learn the behavior and behave appropriately in the future.

Enthusiasm - A reinforcer should be delivered with enthusiasm, which communicates the level of importance and can increase the student's excitement for the reinforcement

Eye Contact - It is important to look the student in the eyes when delivering the reinforcer, suggesting the student is important and valued.

Describe - Teachers often assume the student knows what they did that resulting in reinforcement. It is important to describe the behavior for which they are being reinforced. This will increase the likelihood that they'll engage in that behavior in the future. This is especially important for younger or developmentally delayed students.

Anticipation - Building excitement for earning a reinforcer can motivate students. Building hype for a reinforcer potentially being earned, or presenting it in a mysterious way will help build anticipation.

Variety - Students can get tired of the same reinforcer over time. It is helpful to vary reinforcers frequently to keep reinforcement effective.

Ideas for classroom rewards

CHAMPS Motivation Checklist 

Research on student praise

Force Choice Reinforcer Assessment

Reinforcer Checklist

CHAMPS Ratio of Interactions Form

When asked, a teacher is typically able to identify predictable behavior failures: behavior problems that the teacher often encounters with students. When a misbehavior is anticipated or likely to happen, it can be helpful to pre-correct student behavior. Simply prompt the students about the appropriate behavior that you expect to see and communicate the expectation for performance. Effective prompts should be:

1. Preventative - take place before the behavior response occurs
2. Understandable - the prompt must be understood by the student
3. Observable - the student must distinguish when the prompt is present
4. Specific and explicit - describe the expected behavior (and link to the appropriate expectation)

One additional strategy that can help in setting students up for behavioral success is the use of Precision Requests. When making a precision request, follow these steps:

1. Make first request: "Please..."; wait 5 seconds and reinforce if student complies.
2. Make second request: "I need..." with warning of consequence; wait 5 seconds and reinforce if student complies.
3. Deliver consequence for non-compliance.

 

 

 

 

Good Behavior Game

The "Good Behavior Game" is a method to manage classroom behaviors in a fun and rewarding way. Teachers reward students for on-task behaviors during instructional time.

How to do it:

1. Pick a time when you will want to play the game. Ideally, the game is played during specific times in the week where expected behaviors are most important. Playing too often and too long within the week, and especially day, can minimize the positive effects of the game.

2. Set up the rules. Figure out what behaviors will earn students points and what negative behaviors will result in undesired consequences.

3. Determine what rewards students will be working towards. Consider using a menu or reward options that potentially rotate as the year moves on.

4. Teach the game. Ensure that the students understand the rules and expectations of the game very clearly.

5. Play the game

Classroom Behavior Management Plan - This plan provides teachers with a template for identifying the critical practices for consideration in effective classroom management, including teaching expectations, monitoring behavior, reinforcing behavior, and correcting behavioral errors.

Differential Reinforcement - This is a systematic plan to praise behaviors in order to decrease a non-desirable behavior. This can be completed multiple different ways. The most common way to achieve this is to reinforce an alternative behavior, or a replacement behavior. In other words, reward the student for completing a desirable behavior, and potentially one that replaces targeted undesirable behavior. An example of this is rewarding a student for raising their hand while also ignoring talk outs. You can also change your rates of reinforcement based on what is effective to the student's needs. 

For more information please see the Least Restrictive Behavioral Interventions manual, pages 74-76.

Class Dojo is a fun, free, and interactive way that not only praises students within the classroom, but also track student data and monitor progress. Each student has the opportunity to receive multiple prompts for either reinforcing expected behaviors or correcting unexpected behaviors. At the end of each day, parents can review their child's progress and help reinforce those expected behaviors at home.

Counting is one way to record data. It involves recording how often a behavior occurs (frequency) within a given time period. It can then be converted into a rate. For example during a 30 minute period of instruction a teacher could record the number of times the student talked out (e.g., 6). The rate might be 2 talk-outs every 10 minutes.

Rather than tying it to an amount of time, you can also collect in terms of a percent. This is the number of occurrences of a behavior out of the number of opportunities. For example, a teacher might record the number of times a student correctly complies with a behavioral request. If the student were given 10 requests and the student complied 6 times, that would be represented as 60% compliance.

Classroom Observation Form

Scatterplot

Timing can be a good method when interested in knowing the length of a behavior or length of time between a behavior. Simply record how long: (a) a behavior lasts (duration from beginning to end), (b) it takes for a behavior to start following an antecedent (latency), or (c) how much time elapses between behaviors (inter-response time).

Like with counting, timing can also be converted into a percentage. For example a teacher could calculate the percent of a 10-minute period that a student is on task. This behavior can be collected using a whole- or partial-interval observation method.

Latency observation form

Duration observation form

Sampling entails estimating how often a behavior occurs using whole interval, partial interval, or momentary time sampling. Shorter intervals lead to more precise measurement.

• Whole-interval recording - record if the behavior occurred for the entire time interval (e.g., the student was out of their seat for the entire 10-second interval).
• Partial-interval - record if the behavior occurred at any point during the interval.
• Momentary time sampling - the observer only looks to see if the behavior is occurring at the end of the pre-determined intervals (e.g., only if the student is out of seat when the observe looks at the end of the 10 seconds). 

Partial interval is appropriate for shorter and more frequent behaviors; whole interval is appropriate for longer behaviors; and momentary time sampling facilitates multi-tasking (you record at the end of the interval).

Classroom Observation Form

Momentary Time Sampling description and examples

Momentary Time Sampling blank form

With ABC (antecedent-behavior-consequence) recording, the observer records information about the events that occurred before, during, or after a behavioral incident. This can help identify any patters as to what triggers the behavior and/or what is maintaining, or reinforcing, the behavior. Once the ABCs are identified, appropriate antecedent, instructional, and consequence interventions can be identified. A Functional Assessment Observation Form can be used to collect ABC data.

Office Discipline Referrals are a great indicator of overall school behavior, particularly with externalizing behavior problems. For information on effectively setting up and managing office discipline referrals, see the school-wide supports section.

Academic struggles can stem from a number of issues. In some cases, the student has the requisite skills but may not be motivated. In that case it may be most appropriate to address motivation with a behavioral intervention. You can determine whether it’s a lack of skill or lack of will by conducting a “Can’t/Won’t Do” assessment. If the student lacks the skill, you may want to use an instructional intervention to provide the student more practice, more explicit instruction, or tasks more aligned with their instructional-level (e.g., reading level, math operations).

Academic deficiencies may come in any of the following areas: 

• oral expression
• listening comprehension
• written expression
• basic reading skills
• reading fluency skills
• reading comprehension
• mathematics calculation
• mathematics problem solving

If a student is struggling in one of these areas, there are several interventions that may be considered to help the student.

Reading Supports

Savvy Teacher's Guide: Reading Interventions that Work - The intervention selected depends on the issue at hand. There are many evidence-based interventions that address errors, fluency, and comprehension as well as early reading skills. This tool identifies a handful of evidence-based reading interventions in each of these areas and provides step by step instructions on how to use them. Some examples are below:

Graphic Organizer for note taking - Sometimes students may need a tool to help organize their thoughts during classroom instruction. Graphic organizers can be an effective way to fullfill that purpose as well as helping the student organize their ideas and potential questions that they may have.

Elementary Graphic Organizer

Cornell Note Taking Template

Peer Tutoring - Peer tutoring is a method that can be used in the implementation of several other types of interventions. Pairing a struggling student with a more proficient student can provide a model for the struggling student and allow the teacher to provide individualized support to several students while the intervention is being implemented. Peer tutoring should be used to supplement, not take the place of, teacher instruction.

Error Correction and Word Drill Techniques

Repeated Reading - When a student commits an error in reading orally for the teacher, correct the word. Then direct the student to reread the sentence and continue reading. This ensures the student is practicing correct reading and not errors.

Word Attack Hierarchy - When a student misreads a word, there is a descending order of cues provided to the student to try to read the word correctly (e.g., "try another way," "finish the sentence and guess the word," "break the word into parts," etc.)

Error Word Drill - With this strategy, the teacher records on individual index cards any misread words during a reading session. These cards are then used as flash cards to help the student practice accurate reading of each word. When a word is mastered, it is removed from the deck.

Techniques to Promote Reading Fluency

Assisted Reading Practice - The student reads aloud while an accomplished reader (teacher or peer) follows along silently. If the student commits a reading error, the helping reader corrects the student error. Parents can be easily trained to use this strategy.

Listening Passage Preview - The student follows along silently as an accomplished reader reads a passage aloud. Then the student reads the passage aloud, receiving corrective feedback as needed. 

Paired Reading - The student reads aloud in tandem with an accomplished reader. At a student signal, the helping reader stops reading, while the student continues on. When the student commits a reading error, the helping reader resumes reading in tandem. 

Techniques to Build Text Comprehension

Advanced Story Map Instruction - Students are taught to use a basic "Story Grammar' to map out, identify, and analyze significant components of narrative text.

Click or Clunk - Students periodically check their understanding of passages (sentences, paragraphs, pages). When the student encounters problems with vocabulary or comprehension they use a checklist to apply simple strategies to solve those reading difficulties.

Keywords: A Memorization Strategy - Students select the central idea of a passage and summarize it as a keyword. Then they recode the keyword as a mental image to relate to other important facts and keywords. 

Math Supports

Math Drill Down - Achieve the core

Cover-Copy-Compare - This intervention promotes the acquisition of math facts. The  student is given a sheet containing math facts to practice. The student studies each math fact with answer that appears on the sheet, covers the fact briefly and copies it from memory, then compares the student-copied math fact and answer to the original correct model.

Math Computation: Incremental Rehearsal - Incremental rehearsal builds student fluency in basic math facts ('arithmetic combinations') by pairing unknown computation items with a steadily increasing collection of known items. This intervention makes use of concentrated practice to promote fluency and guarantees that the student will experience a high rate of success.

Writing Supports

Sentence Combining - Students are presented with kernel sentences and given explicit instruction in how to weld these kernel sentences into more diverse sentence types either by using connecting words to combine multiple sentences into one or by isolating key information from an otherwise superfluous sentence and embedding that important information into the base sentence.

Collaborative Writing - Students work on their writing in pairs or groups at various stages of the writing process: planning (pre-writing), drafting, revising, editing.

Spelling Cover-Copy-Compare - The student is given a sheet containing words to practice. The student studies each word on the sheet, covers the word  briefly and copies it from memory, then compares the student-copied word to the original correct model.

RESOURCES

Intervention Central Academic Interventions 

Explicit Instruction

Students displaying verbal or physical aggression may exhibit frequent meltdowns, bullying behaviors, little to no regard for discipline, and engage in verbal threats and/or hitting, kicking, biting, and/or spitting.

 

Call Parent or Note Home - Too often teachers may only call home when a student has misbehaved or there is concern about the student. Calling or sending a note home to inform parents of the good behaviors or successes that a student has can be rewarding to the student and increase the positive acknowledgement that they receive at home and at school. This should also be tied to a tracker. 

Negative Punishment - The act of removing something (privileges) in order to decrease behaviors (aggression/bullying). This is typically more effective if the student is very aware of specific behaviors that will lead to specific consequences (If/then). (card flip strategy, take away unstructured/free time). Furthermore, to be effective it must be determined that the loss of the desired object/activity is truly preferred by the student. For many students, even a minute lost of recess or unstructured time, is effective for some misbehaviors. The specifics of the misbehavior should dictate an appropriate amount of loss of time. 

Referral to the Office - If a student’s behavior reaches a sufficient level of intensity, disruptiveness, or danger, it may be appropriate to refer a student to the office. The administrator can then provide an appropriate consequence to the student.

Restorative Justice Circles

The purpose of restorative justice circles is to help improve or repair the relationship between the victim(s) and those who committed the offense. Examples of when restorative practices can be used are bullying, stealing, lying, vandalism, etc.

The principle behind these practices are to help the offender(s) be able to fully realize any damage that they have caused and become more empathetic to anyone who was harmed by their actions. It is important that the focus should always remain on the unacceptable actions/behaviors rather than the person themselves. The purpose is not to determine or discuss whether or not they are a good or bad person.

These practices can be done in multiple different ways and settings and it is up to the school team/administrator to determine which approach would be most appropriate. The settings range anywhere from large group conferences, where the victim(s), offender(s), and family and friends can attend, to a small group discussion where the victim and offender may not even meet. The conference/discussions should be completed by a neutral, 3^rd party participant.

NOTE: It is important that before any meeting/conference takes place, the victim and the offender must acknowledge any and all wrong doing and completely agree to the meeting. All members should be met with beforehand and have someone review the purpose of the meeting as well as the questions that may be asked.

 

Resources

Restorative Practice Ideas for your classroom

International Institute for Restorative Practices

Restorative Practice

Room Clear – Use only if a student is having an outbusrt, and it reaches a level where they are a danger to other students. The tantrum may also be worsened by having an audience, or may be distressing to other students. In these cases, it may be best to clear the room of the other students.

Stop, Walk, & Talk - This is an excellent program which helps to teach students bullying prevention strategies. 

Resources and references

www.pbisworld.com

Intervention Central Behavior Interventions 

Kids Against Bullying   

It is normal is for children to show some levels anxiety and depression--requiring some help--yet not actually having a full blown Anxiety Disorder or Depression. 

Anxiety and Depression may actually manifest itself in simple ways that you have not considered. Here are some common examples:

Anxiety

• hesitancy or refusal to go to school
• nervousness in new situations
• unwillingness to leave your side

Depression

• feeling alone
• not interested in playing games
• unusually moody or emotional

Active or Reflective Listening - Reflect what the student says to you, back towards them. This is accomplished to help the student feel supported and validated and also know that that there is a caring adult within the building. (reflective listening)

Call Parent or Note Home - Too often teachers may only call home when a student has misbehaved or there is concern about the student. Calling or sending a note home to inform parents of the good behaviors or successes that a student has can be rewarding to the student and increase the positive acknowledgement that they receive at home and at school. It is important to notify a parent whenever you feel there is a concern. Having consistent communication across multiple settings can help to create a supportive structure for the student. 

Classwork Accommodations - This can be accomplished multiple ways. One common way is to decrease the workload that is required, or even breaking down the assignment into smaller more manageable parts. Another option is to allow the student alternative methods of completing the assignment. This is all done as a way to help the student feel, and be, more successful.

Deep Breathing - This is an intervention that can be effective in calming a student down who might feel anxious. To be most effective, it should be used early when a student is demonstrating signals of anxiety, stress, or frustration (e.g., heavy breathing, clenched fists, crying).

SPACE Treatment - Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is a parent-based treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems. This is an intervention focused on working with parents to change behavior that may contribute to behavior associated with anxiety or obsessive compulsive disorder. It can be done as formal therapy but there are also books and other resources that can be used in working with parents on implementing strategies for helping their child.

Take a Break - taking a break can be built in multiple times throughout the day to help get the student back on track or even just as needed. There should be a plan in place for what this should look like. Where will the student be? How long will the break last? What will the student be expected to do while taking that break? You should also document how often the student needs to take a break so that you can track/monitor any progress or regression.

Teach Relaxation Techniques - Providing students with techniques to cope with anxiety or depression may help reduce the symptoms of physical discomfort.

"The SAFEUT Crisis Text and Tip Line is a statewide service that provides real-time crisis intervention to youth through texting and a confidential tip program – right from your smartphone."

SafeUT link 

References and resources

www.pbisworld.com

WorryWiseKids  

Anxiety Disorders Association of America 

Separation Anxiety 

Students may be chronically absent for various reasons with significant consequences. While schools may not have control over many of the factors contributing to absenteeism, they should work hard to help students improve their attendance. At the tier 1 level schools should strive to create an engaging climate where students feel safe and supported. If absenteeism is a problem school-wide it may be beneficial to consider a school-wide approach. At the individual student level, In order to appropriately address the problem, a functional behavioral assessment could be conducted to identify causal factors of the absenteeism. For example, the student may be absent due to social anxiety, academic failure, bullying, illness, mental health issues, conflicts with a job, or difficulties with housing/food. Each of these problems would necessitate a different intervention to address it. A few targeted interventions include the following:

Action plan - Based on a functional based assessment to determine the student's reason for absenteeism, a team may identify a formal plan to address that intervention. Attendance Works provides a framework of strategies to address absenteeism. They have student attendance success plans for K-12 (in English and Spanish) and several strategies and tools for addressing attendance at all tiers of support.

Adult Mentor - One of the factors most highly correlated with student success if having regular interaction with a caring adult. Mentor programs provide a student with that adult, who checks in with the student on a regular basis, to provide any needed support and encouragement as well as problem-solve issues the student may be facing.

Behavior Intervention Plan for Attendance - from PBISworld.com, this tool guides you in the development of an appropriate BIP based on the function of the attendance issues (why they are missing). The fillable word document

Engage parents - Parents are key to getting students to school. In some cases parents may contribute to the absenteeism, but in other cases parents may not know how to support their child. Sharing ideas with parents on how to help their child attend can help in many cases. 

For information regarding Summit School District's attendance policy, please click here.

Students that struggle with poor coping skills often struggle with being very reactive to situations and may become sad or angry quickly/easily. This may occur multiple times a day or infrequently. 

Active or Reflective Listening - Reflect what the student says to you, back towards them. This is accomplished to help the student feel supported and validated and also know that that there is a caring adult within the building. (reflective listening)

Check-In Check-Out - A highly researched and effective intervention, Check-In, Check-Out consists of a student checking in with an identified adult (e.g., counselor) to review their behavior goals, teachers providing feedback throughout the day, and the student checking out with the identified adult. The student takes the sheet home to be signed by the parent. This intervention provides the student with frequent self-analysis of his/her behavior and consequences for good behavior.

Take a Break - If you're finding that the student is displaying emotion that doesn't match the situation, taking a break can be built in multiple times throughout the day to help get the student back on track or even just as needed. There should be a plan in place for what this should look like. Where will the student be? How long will the break last? What will the student be expected to do while taking that break? You should also document how often the student needs to take a break so that you can track/monitor any progress or regression. 

Teach Specific Social Skills - Students often have difficulty expressing, or even identifying, specific emotions. Specifically teaching behavior strategies as well as how to identify emotions in themselves and others may help. To further strengthen the expected behaviors, have the student track and monitor these behaviors throughout the day. The behaviors tracked should be limited to no more than 3.  Several lessons can be found to address specific social skills including hygiene, manners, listening, appropriate touch, turn-taking, etc.

Social Skills Curricula - If you are looking for a more comprehensive social skills curricula, there are several research-based options. Zones of Regulation, Think Social, Superflex, and Superheroes Social Skills are all currently available in Davis School District through your school psychologist or counselor.

References and resources

www.pbisworld.com

Minecraft 5 point scale example 

Smart but Scattered Kids 

Defiance often appears as verbal or nonverbal protesting, tantrums, and even lashing out at others. Defiance may or may not include physical/verbal aggression.

The Better Reprimand

Incentives and Token Economy - Similar to positive praise, reinforcing a student incentives, and/or tangible objects or time allowed to do a preferred activity is one of the most effective interventions at our disposal. This can be completed with an individual student, but is also very effective as a class wide, and school-wide support. Before beginning a token economy, first work with the student(s) to create a menu of options that they may find reinforcing. These options should be inexpensive and easy to give.

As discussed in the Tough Kid Toolbox, (Rhode, Jenson, Reavis, 2010) remember to:

1. Keep it simple.
2. Keep it inexpensive.
3. Make sure it can be given immediately.
4. Make sure the child doesn't have an alternative way to get that incentive.
5. Make sure it won't make things worse (e.g., toys that encourage aggressive behavior)
6. Make sure it doesn't make take too much time to give the reward.

Negative Punishment - The act of removing something (privileges) in order to decrease behaviors (aggression/bullying). This is typically more effective if the student is very aware of specific behaviors that will lead to specific consequences (If/then). (Card Flip Strategy, Take Away Unstructured/Free Time). Furthermore, to be effective it must be determined that the loss of the desired object/activity is truly preferred by the student. For many students, even a minute lost of recess or unstructured time, is effective for some misbehaviors. The specifics of the misbehavior should dictate an appropriate amount of loss of time. 

 

The No! Protocol

Provide Multiple Choices - Providing options to the student helps to increase the probability of fewer defiant behaviors by decreasing power struggles, and helping to empower and engage the student. This is often most effective when done to prevent behaviors from occurring rather than after they have already become defiant. (offering students choices)

Behavior Momentum - Students who don't respond to requests may be more successful if they first engage in higher probability requests. For example, if a student is laying on the ground refusing to return to her seat, you might start by asking them to simply count to 5. Then after a few moments, the student might be asked to sit up. Subsequent steps approximate the desired behavior (sitting in seat). 

Positive Reinforcement (Praise) - Positive praise is a great way to help build trust and rapport, as well as student buy in. It also helps to increase confidence within the student as well as build resilience. It's often effective if the praise is in a ratio of 3 or 4 to 1. It's important to note that it is helpful to first ensure that the student can complete the task that you aren't wanting to track and praise. 

Precision Requests
This strategy really helps with limiting parent frustration when their child is being non-compliant (AKA naughty, troublemaker, or disobedient). Instead of getting into a power struggle, this strategy uses a healthy dose of ignoring while still being the parent. Here it goes:

• When you want your child to do something (for example, get started on their homework), say to them "Please, get started on your homework" or "Alright, please turn off the TV and get started on today's homework." The Key word is Please.
• After 2 minutes have passed, come back and see what has happened. If they still have yet to engage in their homework then say, "I need you to start your homework, or (insert consequence)." Key word is Need. Leave room for 2 minutes. 
• If they still have not engaged in their homework, then give consequence.

Restorative Justice Circles

The purpose of restorative justice circles is to help improve or repair the relationship between the victim(s) and those who committed the offense. Examples of when restorative practices can be used are bullying, stealing, lying, vandalism, etc.

The principle behind these practices are to help the offender(s) be able to fully realize any damage that they have caused and become more empathetic to anyone who was harmed by their actions. It is important that the focus should always remain on the unacceptable actions/behaviors rather than the person themselves. The purpose is not to determine or discuss whether or not they are a good or bad person.

These practices can be done in multiple different ways and settings, and it is up to the school team/administrator to determine which approach would be most appropriate. The settings range anywhere from large group conferences, where the victim(s), offender(s), and family and friends can attend, to a small group discussion where the victim and offender may not even meet. The conference/discussions should be completed by a neutral, 3^rd party participant.

NOTE: It is important that before any meeting/conference takes place, the victim and the offender must acknowledge any and all wrongdoing and completely agree to the meeting. All members should be met with beforehand and have someone review the purpose of the meeting as well as the questions that may be asked.

 

Resources

Classroom Circles Manual

Restorative Practice Ideas for your classroom

International Institute for Restorative Practices

Restorative Practice

Tier III Behavior Intervention for Tantrums (including problems with student lying on the floor) - Unfortunately, students tantrum behaviors may escalate to the point where you need a much more structured and targeted approach. Attached is a copy of a step-by-step intervention guide for supporting a student that may be struggling with tantrums in the classroom.

References and Resources

SPS Special Education Support/Resources page

www.pbisworld.com

Intervention Central Behavior Interventions 

Kids Against Bullying   

Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support

Executive Functioning can be explained in many different ways. It is a broad term used to describe many cognitive functions with the purpose of regulating behavior, which can include emotional regulation, organization, planning, memory, and more. Executive functioning expert Dr. Russell Barkley has stated "we can think of the executive functions simply as those capacities for self-control that allow us to sustain action for problem solving toward a goal. So it's goal-directed problem solving and goal-directed persistence."  Executive Functioning can be broken up into multiple different areas:

 

(http://adhdboss.com/how-to-focus-with-adhd/)

 

Daily Planner – Giving a students a daily planner can help them be organized by helping them schedule, keep track of assignments, and take greater ownership in their education.

Graphic Organizer for note taking - Sometimes students may need a tool to help organize their thoughts during classroom instruction. Graphic organizers can be an effective way to fullfill that purpose as well as helping the student organize their ideas and potential questions that they may have.

Elementary Graphic Organizer

Cornell Note Taking Template

Organize Materials Daily – Having a time set aside each day for a student to organize (their backpack, desk, or locker) can help them stay on top of being organized and not wait until it is overwhelming.

Teach Specific Social Skills - Specifically teaching behavior strategies as well as how to identify emotions in themselves and others may help. To further strengthen the expected behaviors, have the student track and monitor these behaviors throughout the day. The behaviors tracked should be limited to no more than 3.  Several lessons can be found to address specific social skills including hygiene, manners, listening, appropriate touch, turn-taking, etc.

RESOURCES

Executive Functioning Activities (Age 5-7, Age 7-12)

Accommodations for Executive Functioning

Minecraft 5 point scale example 

Smart but Scattered Kids

Children and Adults with ADHD (CHADD of Utah) 

Executive Functioning at a Glance   

Executive Function 101--free e-book   

Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills from Infancy to Adolescence 

Smart but Scattered Kids

Hyperactivity can be difficult to manage in the classroom. It often appears as the the student is always "on the go" or " driven by a motor". They often fidget frequently or seemingly non-stop, and can be easily distracted. Behaviors may also appear to be defiant and/or aggressive though not intended as such.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Check-In Check-Out - A highly researched and effective intervention, Check-In, Check-Out consists of a student checking in with an identified adult (e.g., counselor) to review their behavior goals, teachers providing feedback throughout the day, and the student checking out with the identified adult. The student takes the sheet home to be signed by the parent. This intervention provides the student with frequent self-analysis of his/her behavior and consequences for good behavior.

Classwork Accommodations - Some students get overwhelmed by too much information or requests that are perceived to be difficult. Breaking down an assignment or task demand can help alleviate this feeling and build behavioral momentum to comply with subsequent requests or task demands This can be accomplished multiple ways. One common way is to decrease the workload that is required, or even breaking down the assignment into smaller more manageable parts. Another option is to allow the student alternative methods of completing the assignment. This is all done as a way to help the student feel, and be, more successful.

Seating Disk – Some students may need additional stimulus to help them focus. A seating disk or other stimulating seat may help the student focus and thus stay in their seat longer.

Take a Break- taking a break can be built in multiple times throughout the day to help get the student back on track or even just as needed. There should be a plan in place for what this should look like. Where will the student be? How long will the break last? What will the student be expected to do while taking that break? You should also document how often the student needs to take a break so that you can track/monitor any progress or regression.

References and resources

PBISworld.com 

Free Behavior Tracking Forms and Charts

Intervention Central Behavior Interventions 

Teaching self-control skills

There is often a lot of overlap between students who show impulsivity vs hyperactivity. Students may appear very fidgety, and may have trouble waiting for their turn or even transitions. They may often struggle with talk outs and/or staying in their seats. It's important that students with these struggles are taught the expected behaviors multiple times and that antecedents are identified to help prevent any potential future and preventable failures that they may have.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

My Time May Be Your Time - This procedure allows students to earn free time if they complete work but may lose time during unstructured time (recess, class break) if they disrupt academic time or do not complete the required amount of work.

Routines - This is an intervention that also appears in the "classwide supports" tab listed above, but definitely benefits the individual student struggling with impulsivity issues. It helps to provide the entire classroom with more predictability which in turns helps to alleviate potential stress and anxiety. Adding structure to instructional activities or transitions can help students understand what behavior is expected. Having a visible schedule as part of that can help students anticipate the amount of time engaged in an activity and maintain focus for the time necessary. Routines should be visibly posted, simple, clear, and able to be completed independently by the student. Working in a timer as well as warnings before transitions can also be beneficial. (see more about routines)

Take a Break - taking a break can be built in multiple times throughout the day to help get the student back on track or even just as needed. There should be a plan in place for what this should look like. Where will the student be? How long will the break last? What will the student be expected to do while taking that break? You should also document how often the student needs to take a break so that you can track/monitor any progress or regression.

Teach Specific Social Skills - Specifically teaching behavior strategies as well as how to identify emotions in themselves and others may help. To further strengthen the expected behaviors, have the student track and monitor these behaviors throughout the day. The behaviors tracked should be limited to no more than 3.  Several lessons can be found to address specific social skills including hygiene, manners, listening, appropriate touch, turn-taking, etc.

Use of Timer - Using a timer is effective to not only allow the student to help monitor their own behaviors but also helps to alleviate potential stress so that they can be better prepared for any future and/or immediate transitions. It can also help increase executive functioning skills related to planning, organization, and monitoring work as well as behaviors. 

References and resources

PBISworld.com 

Students who appear inattentive may be frequently off-task or distracted. Working memory may also be a concern, as multiple step directions can be difficult, and they often appear forgetful. They may ask to have things repeated frequently and may appear lost and/or disorganized.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Classwork Accommodations - Some students get overwhelmed by too much information or requests that are perceived to be difficult. Breaking down an assignment or task demand can help alleviate this feeling and build behavioral momentum to comply with subsequent requests or task demands This can be accomplished multiple ways. One common way is to decrease the workload that is required, or even breaking down the assignment into smaller more manageable parts. Another option is to allow the student alternative methods of completing the assignment. This is all done as a way to help the student feel, and be, more successful.

Graphic Organizer for note taking - Sometimes students may need a tool to help organize their thoughts during classroom instruction. Graphic organizers can be an effective way to fullfill that purpose as well as helping the student organize their ideas and potential questions that they may have.

Elementary Graphic Organizer

Cornell Note Taking Template

Mystery Motivator - This can be done individually or with a classroom of students. Preferred incentives are identified (e.g., prizes, free time, access to preferred objects) and provided contingent on the student(s) earning a pre-determined number of points.

Routines - This is an intervention that also appears in the "classwide supports" tab listed above, but definitely benefits the individual student struggling with impulsivity issues. It helps to provide the entire classroom with more predictability which in turns helps to alleviate potential stress and anxiety. Routines should be visibly posted, simple, clear, and able to be completed independently by the student. Working in a timer as well as warnings before transitions can also be beneficial. (Please click on classwide supports listed above to see more about routines)

Use of timer - Using a timer is effective to not only allow the student to help monitor their own behaviors but also helps to alleviate potential stress so that they can be better prepared for any future and/or immediate transitions. It can also help increase executive functioning skills related to planning, organization, and monitoring work as well as behaviors. 

References and resources

PBISworld.com 

If your student struggles with language concerns, not to be confused with english as a second language concerns, this can be difficult to find suitable supports and interventions alone. Each school has a Speech Language Pathologist that will be willing to help and support the student and teacher. 

Talk with your child frequently
Ask and answer questions about things happening in their environment.
Read to your child.  Read a variety of books. Ask questions about the story. 
Talk about what you are doing. (cooking dinner, washing dinner, bath time, cleaning, etc.)
Give directions for your child to follow (e.g., making cookies) 
Expand what the child is saying by adding a little more information.  If the child says "car go" you could say "see the car go".
Waiting gives children time to respond to your utterances.
Talk about how things are alike and different.
Give your child reasons and opportunities to write.
Sing songs.
Teach children Nursery Rhymes.

Language Milestones:
Birth to 1 year              http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart/
1 year to 2 years          http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/12.htm
2 years to 3 years        http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/23.htm
3 years to 4 years        http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/34.htm
4 years to 5 years        http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/45.htm

Students who struggle with organization may, as a result, have lower grades and interpersonal challenges. The use of some simple strategies may help some students. In some cases, students may have significant executive functioning deficits and may require more intensive training and supports to help them learn to organize their time, schedules, and materials.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Break Down Assignment – Some students may feel overwhelmed by too much information or large projects. Breaking an assignment or behavior down into parts can make it more manageable for the student.

Daily Planner – Giving a students a daily planner can help them be organized by helping them schedule, keep track of assignments, and take greater ownership in their education.

Graphic Organizer for note taking - Sometimes students may need a tool to help organize their thoughts during classroom instruction. Graphic organizers can be an effective way to fullfill that purpose as well as helping the student organize their ideas and potential questions that they may have.

Elementary Graphic Organizer

Cornell Note Taking Template

Organize Materials Daily – Having a time set aside each day for a student to organize (their backpack, desk, or locker) can help them stay on top of being organized and not wait until it is overwhelming.

Some classrooms may have a flexible structure to seating while other classrooms may require greater structure. This is dictated by several factors including type of instructional activities, student behaviors, student developmental level, and classroom space available. Students may engage in out-of-seat behavior to get out of work, to get peer attention, or to get some other form of stimulation (out of boredom). Proactively identifying the reason for the student being out of seat may lead to an appropriate intervention.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Mystery Motivator - This can be done individually or with a classroom of students. Preferred incentives are identified (e.g., prizes, free time, access to preferred objects) and provided contingent on the student(s) earning a pre-determined number of points.

Routines - This is an intervention that also appears in the "classwide supports" tab listed above, but definitely benefits the individual student struggling with impulsivity issues. It helps to provide the entire classroom with more predictability which in turns helps to alleviate potential stress and anxiety. Adding structure to instructional activities or transitions can help students understand what behavior is expected. Having a visible schedule as part of that can help students anticipate the amount of time engaged in an activity and maintain focus for the time necessary. Routines should be visibly posted, simple, clear, and able to be completed independently by the student. Working in a timer as well as warnings before transitions can also be beneficial.

Seating Disk – Some students may need additional stimulus to help them focus. A seating disk or other stimulating seat may help the student focus and thus stay in their seat longer.

Take a Break - If a student frequently gets out of his/her seat, it may be helpful to allow the student to take a break from work or sitting within an allowed structure. This allows the teacher to set limits to the behavior and teach the student to still only get out of seat with permission.

Perfectionism can come from a combination of genetic and environmental factors and can lead to high levels of anxiety. Interventions for addressing anxiety on this page should be considered. Perfectionism may be the result of feeling stress at meeting unrealistic standards and/or fear of the consequences of failure. The Centre for Clinical Interventions (Australia) defines perfectionism as having three components: 

"Firstly, the relentless striving for extremely high standards for yourself and/or others that are personally demanding. Secondly, judging your self-worth based largely on your ability to strive for and achieve such unrelenting standards. Thirdly, experiencing negative consequences of setting such demanding standards, yet continuing to go for them despite the huge cost to you."

Growth Mindset - A growth mindset can be helpful to teach and model for students. It is the idea that our success is tied to our effort rather than innate ability. Individuals who have a growth mindset show greater perseverance in the face of challenges and patience with failure ("I haven't learned how to do this...yet."). We can teach students to have this mindset by praising effort over absolute performance (e.g., "You worked really hard on that problem"). Praising a student's good performance with a statement such as "you are so smart" may inadvertently communicate that had the student not performed well it would mean they're not smart.

Group/Individual Counseling - Students may benefit from ongoing group or individual counseling in which they are supported in understanding the source of their perfectionism, counter-productive thoughts and behaviors, and strategies for replacing those thoughts and behaviors with more productive thoughts and behaviors. The Centre for Clinical Interventions has created modules that can be used to guide the user through helpful activities and discussion items: 

Perfectionism in Perspective

1. What is Perfectionism
2. Understanding Perfectionism
3. What Keeps Perfectionism Going
4. Changing Perfectionism
5. Reducing my Perfectionist Behavior
6. Challenging My Perfectionistic Thinking
7. Adjusting Unhelpful Rules and Assumptions
8. Re-evaluating the Importance of Achieving
9. Putting it All Together

Teaching Coping Skills - If a student experiences anxiety due to perfectionism it may be helpful to teach them coping skills. This may include using social maps to identify events that cause the student to feel anxiety, predict their response to the events, and identify alternative responses that can be employed in the future. The Zones of Regulation curriculum has some examples of social mapping and there should be a copy in every school. Please contact your school principal for more information. 

Students may have low self-esteem for a number of reasons including depression, anxiety, persistent negative feedback (from self or others), or trauma. One should be careful to look for flags of abuse, neglect, or trauma in a student. In some cases, students may experience frequent academic failures which may lead to negative self-talk. In addition to using some of the strategies below, it would be beneficial to provide additional academic support to help the student have more academic success (see academic section of supports).

Assign a Buddy or Partner – In some cases a student’s lack of positive relationships with peers may contribute to a low self-esteem. Assigning a buddy or peer who can provide encouraging or friendly interactions may alleviate some of the negative feelings the student experiences. If the student lacks social skills to make friends, it may be beneficial to teach them social skills (see social skills section).

Call Parent or Note Home – Too often teachers may only call home when a student has misbehaved or there is concern about the student. Calling or sending a note home to inform parents of the good behaviors or successes that a student has can be rewarding to the student and increase the positive acknowledgement that they receive at home and at school.

Positive Praise – Low self-esteem may be a product, in part, of perceived low levels of success by the student. Providing frequent, genuine praise to students for good behaviors and academic performance can help offset some of the perceived failures by focusing on the successes of the student.

Teach Coping Skills - Students with low self-esteem may benefit from learning skills for coping with life stressors and challenges. Lessons may help the student learn how to cope with disappointment, anger, embarrassment, grief, and many other experiences that may contribute to low-self esteem

A lack of social skills may come from a lack of exposure to appropriate social skills, or due to a difficulty in learning appropriate skills (e.g., due to a neurological disorder such as autism). Once the specific social skills that are needed is determined, the appropriate intervention can be selected.

Behavior Tracker - Creating a daily behavior tracker can help the student, as well as all adults involved, monitor student progress towards 1-3 behavior goals that have been taught to the student. It helps provide additional structure and motivation for the student. Behavior trackers should be reviewed, ideally at least at the start and end of each school day and may need to be reviewed more often if needed. Trackers should also be tied to appropriate reinforcement options as well as potential consequences. 

Check-In Check-Out - A highly researched and effective intervention, Check-In, Check-Out consists of a student checking in with an identified adult (e.g., counselor) to review their behavior goals, teachers providing feedback throughout the day, and the student checking out with the identified adult. The student takes the sheet home to be signed by the parent. This intervention provides the student with frequent self-analysis of his/her behavior and consequences for good behavior.

Teach Specific Social Skills - Specifically teaching behavior strategies as well as how to identify emotions in themselves and others may help. To further strengthen the expected behaviors, have the student track and monitor these behaviors throughout the day. The behaviors tracked should be limited to no more than 3.  Several lessons can be found to address specific social skills including hygiene, manners, listening, appropriate touch, turn-taking, etc.

Students may steal for a number of reasons. To determine the most appropriate intervention, you should first determine why the student is stealing (the function of the behavior). 

Check-In Check-Out - A highly researched and effective intervention, Check-In, Check-Out consists of a student checking in with an identified adult (e.g., counselor) to review their behavior goals, teachers providing feedback throughout the day, and the student checking out with the identified adult. The student takes the sheet home to be signed by the parent. This intervention provides the student with frequent self-analysis of his/her behavior and consequences for good behavior.

Clear, Consistent Consequences - Consequences can include reinforcement for good behavior or punishment for misbehavior. If a student misbehaves, a punishment in the form of a loss of a desired object or activity may reduce the likelihood of the misbehavior occurring in the future.

Negative Punishment - The act of removing something (privileges) in order to decrease behaviors (aggression/bullying). This is typically more effective if the student is very aware of specific behaviors that will lead to specific consequences (If/then). (Card Flip Strategy, Take Away Unstructured/Free Time). Furthermore, to be effective it must be determined that the loss of the desired object/activity is truly preferred by the student. For many students, even a minute lost of recess or unstructured time, is effective for some misbehaviors. The specifics of the misbehavior should dictate an appropriate amount of loss of time. 

Restorative Justice Circles

The purpose of restorative justice circles is to help improve or repair the relationship between the victim(s) and those who committed the offense. Examples of when restorative practices can be used are bullying, stealing, lying, vandalism, etc.

The principle behind these practices are to help the offender(s) be able to fully realize any damage that they have caused and become more empathetic to anyone who was harmed by their actions. It is important that the focus should always remain on the unacceptable actions/behaviors rather than the person themselves. The purpose is not to determine or discuss whether or not they are a good or bad person.

These practices can be done in multiple different ways and settings and it is up to the school team/administrator to determine which approach would be most appropriate. The settings range anywhere from large group conferences, where the victim(s), offender(s), and family and friends can attend, to a small group discussion where the victim and offender may not even meet. The conference/discussions should be completed by a neutral, 3^rd party participant.

NOTE: It is important that before any meeting/conference takes place, the victim and the offender must acknowledge any and all wrong doing and completely agree to the meeting. All members should be met with beforehand and have someone review the purpose of the meeting as well as the questions that may be asked.

Resources

International Institute for Restorative Practices

Restorative Practice

School Home Notes - Informing parents of student behavior or performance can help provide additional accountability and support from home, which can also motivate the student to improve behavior.

Take Away Unstructured/Free Time - For many students negative punishment, which is the loss of a desired item or activity that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, can be very effective in deterring misbehaviors in the future. To be effective it must be determined that the loss of the desired object/activity is truly preferred by the student. For many students, even a minute lost of recess or unstructured time, is effective for some misbehaviors. The specifics of the misbehavior should dictate an appropriate amount of loss of time.

Students may engage in swearing for various reasons including attention (positive or negative) from peers, to upset adults, or simply because they are in the habit of using curse words as part of their vocabulary. Once it is determined why the student is swearing, then an appropriate intervention can be selected. For example, if a student is swearing in order to get attention from peers, the student can be taught alternative, appropriate methods for getting peer attention while the effort is made to eliminate attention for the swearing.

Ignore Inappropriate Behavior - If a student swears in order to get attention, en effective intervention is planned ignoring, by taking away the thing that is reinforcing them (the attention). If it is peer attention that is reinforcing the swearing, it is important to try to remove that attention. This can be challenging but peers can be trained and provided an incentive for ignoring the swearing. In addition, acknowledging appropriate behavior can increase the likelihood that they'll use appropriate language.

Self-Monitoring - This can be a useful intervention particularly if the student is motivated to change their behavior. A student engages in two steps: 1) measurement (student records their own behavior); and evaluation (student compares their behavior with a pre-determined standard). Reinforcements can be tied to meeting the standard to increase motivation.

Teach Relaxation Techniques - If a student swears out of anger or frustration, it can be helpful to teach them relaxation techniques to help them deal with frustration situations so that they don't get to a level of frustration that invites swearing. 

Teach Substitute Words - It can be difficult to change behavior unless you provide an alternative replacement behavior. The replacement behavior should meet the same function. In the case of swearing, teaching a student alternative words to use can help them express frustration. Silly or humorous words can be effectively be used. 

As is the case with all behavior, a student engaged in tantrum behavior is doing so for a reason (to get something they want or avoid something they don’t want). For an intervention to effectively address the tantrum behavior you should first determine why they are engaged in the behavior (e.g., obtain attention, avoid work, obtain preferred activity).

Ignoring - If a student is engaged in a behavior for attention, it may be best to ignore the behavior, thus denying them the attention they’re seeking. This should only be done if the student is not a harm to themselves or others. Also, please be sure to teach by providing attention for appropriate behaviors so that the student doesn't learn to engage in worse behaviors to gain attention. 

Referral to the office - If a student’s behavior reaches a sufficient level of intensity, disruptiveness, or danger, it may be appropriate to refer a student to the office. The administrator can then provide an appropriate consequence to the student.

Room Clear – If a student is having a tantrum, it may reach a level where they are a danger to other students. The tantrum may also be worsened by having an audience, or may be distressing to other students. In these cases, it may be best to clear the room of the other students.

Teach Specific Social Skills - Specifically teaching behavior strategies as well as how to identify emotions in themselves and others may help. To further strengthen the expected behaviors, have the student track and monitor these behaviors throughout the day. The behaviors tracked should be limited to no more than 3.  Several lessons can be found to address specific social skills including hygiene, manners, listening, appropriate touch, turn-taking, etc.

Tier III Behavior Intervention for Tantrums (including problems with student lying on the floor) - Unfortunately, students tantruming behaviors may escalate to the point where you need a much more structured and targeted approach. Attached is a copy of a step by step intervention guide for supporting a student that may be struggling with tantrums in the classroom.

Students may not complete work for several reasons including wanting to avoid work, being more motivated by something else (e.g., peer attention), or not having the skills to complete the work. You can determine whether it’s a lack of skill or lack of will by conducting a “Can’t/Won’t Do” assessment. If it's a lack of skill, an academic/instructional intervention may be best (see academic section of supports). If it’s determined that the student lacks the will (i.e., motivation), one of the following interventions may be appropriate.

Classwork accommodations - Some students get overwhelmed by too much information or requests that are perceived to be difficult. Breaking down an assignment or task demand can help alleviate this feeling and build behavioral momentum to comply with subsequent requests or task demands This can be accomplished multiple ways. One common way is to decrease the workload that is required, or even breaking down the assignment into smaller more manageable parts. Another option is to allow the student alternative methods of completing the assignment. This is all done as a way to help the student feel, and be, more successful.

Graphic Organizer for note taking - Sometimes students may need a tool to help organize their thoughts during classroom instruction. Graphic organizers can be an effective way to fullfill that purpose as well as helping the student organize their ideas and potential questions that they may have.

Elementary Graphic Organizer

Cornell Note Taking Template

My Time May Be Your Time - This procedure allows students to earn free time if they complete work but may lose time during unstructured time (recess, class break) if they disrupt academic time or do not complete the required amount of work.

Mystery Motivator - This can be done individually or with a classroom of students. Preferred incentives are identified (e.g., prizes, free time, access to preferred objects) and provided contingent on the student(s) earning a pre-determined number of points.

School Home Notes - Informing parents of student behavior or performance can help provide additional accountability and support from home, which can also motivate the student to improve behavior.

Behavior	Behavior Cards to help focus on positive reinforcement
Behavior	Behavior Point Chart
Behavior	Expected vs. Unexpected
Behavior/Building Confidence & Self Esteem	Positive Thoughts & Affirmations   Positive Affirmations for Kids
Behavior	Behavior Tracker/Point Chart
Behavior	Incentive Program with Encouraging Comments
Behavior	Clip Chart
Behavior	Effort Meter
Behavior	Positive Behavior Interventions
Behavior	Behavior Goals Chart
Behavior	Expected-Unexpected Behavior Chart
Behavior	Try Three Before Me Reminder
Behavior	Expected/Unexpected
Behavior/Emotions	Daily Check-in Feelings Chart
Behavior	Multiple Behavior Chart
Behavior	Green Zone Daily Behavior Chart
Behavior	Restorative Practices Think Sheets  Lower Grades Think Sheet  Upper Grades Think Sheet  Teaching the Think Sheets  Zones Think Sheet
Behavior	Home/School Behavior Communication
Behavior	Steps for Planning Behavior Change & Goal Template.pdf
Behavior	Behavior Reward List.docx
Behavior	STAR.docx
Behavior	Social Story - Hispanic Heritage Month Assembly
Behavior	Be a good Listener Visual
Behavior	Behavior Rewards / Earning Contract
Behavior	Behavior Pros and Cons Break Card  SEL Check-In Journal Worksheets Feelings Thermometer Worksheet Recess Plan Visual Stop and Think English  Stop and Think Spanish Stop and Think Activity Fill In
Behavior	Think Sheets Self-Esteem: Strengths Journal Self -Esteem
Behavior	Sticker chart to motivate
Behavior	Superstar Punch Card Behavior Plan
Behavior	Daily Expected Behavior Chart
Staying on Task	One Subject Behavior Chart
Attending to Task	Morning/Afternoon Work Chart
Behavior	Raise your hand visual cue
Behavior	Visual Behavior Reminder Cards

Reading Strategies
Phonemic Awareness	https://ufli.education.ufl.edu/foundations/toolbox/
Phonemic Awareness	Heggerty online lesson videos for additional practice at home.
Phonemic Awareness	Resource also has decoding and encoding data sheets OrtonGillinghamLessonplansCOMPLETELevel3WordsSentencesDIGITAL-2.pdf
Decoding	Students are given a list of decodable words on a single focused sound pattern with increasing difficulty. For example, students begin with word families with a different consonant initial sound followed by a change in beginning blends, then mixed word family lists.
Decodable Passages	DecodableReadingFluencyPassagesAlignedtoOrtonGillingham-1.pdf
	Students work on writing “word chains” where they begin by writing a word that follows a spelling pattern that they are working on.  Then, one sound is changed, and the student writes the new word.  This continues, changing one sound at a time until a long chain of words is produced.  Students can also read back their chain to practice decoding. Example for r-controlled vowel pattern /ar/ “Start by writing the word art. Now add a sound and make art say dart.  Now change the beginning sound and make dart say mart.  Now change the end sound and make mart say mark…”
Retelling	Description of Intervention
Retelling	Students stop throughout a text at designated points to retell what has happened so far. If unable to retell, students reread up until that point.
Retelling	Students write a one sentence gist at the end of a chapter. Students then use all of their one sentence gists to create a retell, choosing only the most important parts. Stop and Jot Chapters.pdf
Retelling	Students reading in books J-L can use chapter titles to help retell. At the end of each chapter students answer the question, “why was this chapter titled ____?”
Retelling	Retelling Nonfiction
Retelling 2nd Grade	Students can use this retell slideshow to help them understand structured format for a retell. Retell Slideshow
Developing Character Theories	Studying a Character Through a Book Chart
Character Change	Keeping Track of Character Changes
NF-Retelling 3rd Gr.	Retelling Nonfiction
Grade 4 Retell	Reading Prompts for Retell (Adding text evidence)
Comprehension	Description of Intervention
Grade 1 Thinking about reading by making predictions	Reader’s Prediction Checklist
Writing About Reading Extension Tool	When a student has an idea on a post-it, such as a character theory, they can use this Pushing Our Thinking chart to help them extend and explore their thoughts about their idea.
Gr. 2 Main Idea and Details	Whole Group or Small Group Main Idea and Details Lesson.
Reading Response_Gr.3	Using Sentence Frames-Reading Response
4th grade character reading response	Character Change and Character Trait Prompts
5th grade reading response	Strong Reading response with evidence
Grade 5 Prompts to push thinking writing about reading or book conversations	Prompts to push thinking and write more
Reading Responses	Character Response
Comprehension Check	Comprehension Check - Post-it
Writing About Reading	Before, During, After - Reading
Any Comprehension Skill	Jen Seravallo’s Reading Strategies Book

 

Writing Strategies
Grade 1/2 Opinion Writing	Opinion Writing Sentence Starters
Grade 1 Dialog Tags Chart	How Did They Say It?
Grade 1 Improve sentence organization	Say it, Write it, End
Grade 1 Letter cards with visual cues	AlphabetSoundPictureCardsIncludingLongVowels-1.pdf
Grade 1 How To Book Introduction Sentence Starters	How To Introduction Sentence Starters & Example
Grade 2 Opinion Writing	Steps to Help Write Stronger Opinion Pieces
Grade 2 Narrative	Elaboration: Adding Setting Clues to Your Story
Grade 2 Narrative	Elaboration: Adding Step-by-Step Action
Grade 2 Narrative	Word Choice
Grade 4 (can be used in 3 or 5) Narrative	Show Don’t Tell
Grade 4 - Text Dependent Questions	RACES Writing Template  - Great tool for writing about reading/using evidence. Applicable for 3rd and 5th grade, too!
Grade 5 Narrative	Planning small moment stories
Grade 5 Narrative	Strong Narrative Openings
Grade 5 - Transition words and phrases	Transition words and phrases chart
Grade 3 Narrative	Types of Leads - Narrative
Grade 3 Opinion	Oreo opinion writing
Grade 1	Modify writing to teach sentence structure and make it one sentence per page before moving onto elaboration.  Use 4 star sentences-capital, punctuation, 1 finger space and word wall.
Grade 4-5 Opinion/Essay	Planner/Graphic Organizer
Information Writing Grades 1-5	Oral Rehearsal Steps
Opinion Writing Grades 3-5?	Teaching the common vocabulary words in the opinion writing units in a 4 day series of lessons
Writing Goals	Daily check in

 

Math Strategies
	www.splashlearn.com  you can assign a specific math standard.
2 Step Word Problems	2 Step Word Problems
Basic Math Fact Reinforcement and Practice	Name That Number Students can play this game to help them reinforce their math fact fluency.
2nd Grade Multi-Step Problem Solving	Whole Class or Small Group Lesson Plan Multi-Step Problems
100 Questions To Push Math Discourse	Talking About Math
Gr 3 Math Support	charts/websites
Math operations key words chart	Operations key words chart
Virtual Math manipulatives	Virtual Math manipulatives
Division/Multiplication	Divisibility Rules Chart
Division Strategies	Division Strategies
Grade 4/ 5 multiplication and division guided practice	Multiplication Pal   Divide Pal
Steps for Solving word problems	Steps for Solving Word Problems Grade 1/2 Steps for Solving Word Problems
Adding and Subtracting fractions	This work mat allows students to draw the fraction out as well as solve with numbers. This powerpoint has the steps for adding fractions and this one is for subtracting fractions.
Powers of 10	Reinforcement and practice

Art Strategies
	http://art-design-thoughts.blogspot.com/2012/04/case-for-intervention-strategies-in-art.html
	https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1150543.pdf
	https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/College%20Board%20Research%20-%20Child%20Development%20Report.pdf
	https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ826486.pdf