WV Department of Education - Office of Healthy Schools

February 2 Notes

Elementary Opportunities

  • Data-Grants
  • Parent Conferences
  • Same page
  • Empathy-team work
  • More time for admin to deal w/whole picture
  • Change behavior in a positive light
  • Sense of community within School
  • Buy in by whole staff
  • Help from community agencies
  • Law enforcement involvement
  • Bring the community into the school in a different way-interaction
  • Mentors
  • Home-school connection
  • Time to re-teach
  • Rapport between student and teacher-mutual respect (principals involved)
  • Gives chance for students to shine
  • Conduct grades have meaning now
  • Helps teachers improve classroom management skills
  • Food for new teachers
  • Allows room to grow
  • Less stressful learning environment
  • Teaches between tattling and reporting
  • Gives student opportunity to stop behavior
  • Gives parents daily feedback via logbook, etc.
  • SAT-Core teams coordination
  • Teachers deal with behavior not principal-empowers teacher

Middle School Opportunities

  • Rubric
  • Tracking kids-Pocahontas: stamp/agenda
  • Stamps-BIF-for teachers use agendas
  • Transition: Clip Boards/notebooks for pink BIF
  • School visitation-see work
  • Incentives-share
  • Helps families use “family files” can see trends
  • Can increase quality of intervention, build support system
  • Meta-cognitive, self-taught “I learned this because____”
  • Class ownership w/peers
  • Intrinsic motivation
  • External reward

High School Session Opportunities

  • Must pay for time (SAT)
  • Will get better elementary-middle
  • Must continue for more than few years
  • More statewide consistency
  • Interact with community resources

Elementary Strengths

  • Can see immediate difference: discipline, clear expectations for kids, clear consequences
  • Teaching opportunities-modeling
  • Parents aware
  • Positive communication
  • Student responsible to all teachers/staff part of school community
  • Accountability
  • Documentation
  • Children self-monitor; peer monitor
  • Everyone responsible for all children
  • Old way principal was disciplinarian
  • Linkage and connections to community
  • Classroom management gets better; teacher empowerments
  • Holds children accountable
  • Shifts accountability back-back to parents
  • Puts students, teachers staff on same page-clearly defined expectations/consequences
  • Core team-strong advocates for programs
  • Know what violence is…
  • How quickly the students caught on
  • Consistency-speak same language
  • Empowerment
  • Kanawha-already doing much
  • Transient continuity
  • Documentation for parents/individuals
  • Aligned w/#4373-SCC
  • Parents informed
  • Teaching tool for homes
  • Rewards
  • Data
  • Uniform training
  • Widespread adoption across schools-all students understand expectations/consequences
  • Good strong school climate
  • Teachers can teach-concentrate on academics
  • Eliminated excuse
  • Documentation Improves community communication

Middle School Strengths

  • Documentation (records for meetings)
  • Demonstrate patterns of behavior
  • Acknowledge rewards/kids choose well
  • Helps with alternative placement
  • Increased parent contact ( know stgl-à conference “let me know” see file)
  • Responsible student
  • Writing BIFS

High School Strengths

  • # of BIDS declining
  • Good feedback from administration
  • Data
  • Potential fairness to all students
  • Consistency of each infraction deal with easy
  • Those who use like it administration buy into participating

Elementary Weaknesses

  • Substitutes untrained
  • No consequences
  • Better system for conduct grade
  • SCC 4373-Aligned w/program
  • Reporting on WVEIS
  • Some consequences do not match codes
  • WVEIS codes don’t match with consequences
  • Funding for rewards
  • Limited time to study best practices-travel to other sites
  • Funding for travel to other sites
  • Core teams across county need to meet-consistency
  • Buy-in
  • Consistency
  • Time restraints-time consuming at times
  • Parental Buy-in
  • Must have a strong core team
  • Documentation plan must be well conceived
  • Street rules v. school rules-different rules at home
  • Forms if alterations needed have to wait until end of year to change
  • Flexibility can create inconsistency

Middle School Weaknesses

  • Conduct grades
  • Consistency
  • Parental Support
  • Chronic Offenders: legal system, lack of coop, DHHR/Sp. Ed.
  • Outside Mentors
  • Meetings w/upper level DHHR, Sp. Ed., law enforcement, Juv. Parole, WVEIS codes, legal system
  • Correlation between conduct grade and point system
  • Parents won’t come in-no enforcement?
  • Managing “connector” part of system, getting parent buy-in
  • Need Consistency among staff
  • What do you do w/a non-supportive teacher?
  • Do subs have training?

High School Weaknesses

  • Not everyone buying into it
  • Follow through
  • Subs not trained
  • Communication
  • Not everyone trained
  • Expensive
  • Time for SAT common time
  • Parental under standing inconsistency between schools

Elementary Threats

  • People afraid of change
  • Teachers
  • Students
  • Community
  • Parents
  • Note:  Children are more adaptable to new things!
  • Funding
  • Staff Development
  • Teachers, principals turn-over
  • When communication with parents goes bad:  parent turns against teacher with too many BIFS.
  • Negative vocal community reaction
  • Funding
  • Grants-Funding gone, program gone
  • Parents pick-up kids early on reward days if not allowed to participate
  • Protecting rewards day activities due to curriculum demands
  • No principal buy-in
  • Teachers don’t want responsibility
  • Confidentiality
  • Stuff turnover
  • Insufficient counselors and other staff
  • Subs not trained
  • No drivers trained
  • Newer teachers reluctant to pull cards/parental contacts

High School Threats

  • Parent support
  • Money
  • Short-lived program
  • Central office interference overrunning school policies
  • Lack of matrix use state/county diversities

How Does What You Do Improve School Climate?

  • Teachers become models for behavior
  • Universal expectations
  • Respect is a 2-way street
  • Students feel safe to come to school
  • Improves attendance and academics
  • Rewards and fun-Earn recognizes good behavior

Middle School Interventions

  • ISS
  • OSS
  • Excessive absences, reports sent home
  • Misbehavior- Chr. Offender-sent home
  • Bus misbehavior (students status level)
  • Seat Change
  • Denial of par.(activities denied)
  • Hallway restrictions (leave several minutes early or later-no contact with other students
  • Law enforcement (chr. Offenders met with law enforcement)
  • Classmates (law enforcement)
  • Kids call with parents with administration cover teachers
  • Judges (conference with parent, child, (county office)
  • Director of Safe and Drug Free at central office with selected/approved personnel
  • Safe and Drug Free Coordinator and county support management with chr. offenders]
  • Informal adjustments-prosecuting attorney child/parent counselors/teacher
  • Juvenile petitions if “informal adjustments” don’t work probationary period for action in school
  • City Schools- Mayor
  • Be in attendance
  • Visible
  • Rural-County Commissioner
  • Disturbing the peace ordinance $100.00 fine kids fighting, etc.

Middle School Interventions Core Team

  • Letter after____BIFs
  • Teacher Conference
  • Time Out
  • Written Contract
  • Parent note (planner)
  • Call
  • DetentionRecessLunchIntramural
  • Team meeting with student
  • SAT ref.
  • Official/Principal conference
  • Counselor ref.
  • Mentor ref.
  • After school character ed. (second step)