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analyze, and improve. Our school-wide PBIS system is double pronged. The system in place
handles both positive and negative behaviors through extrinsic rewards or consequences. The
customers for this system are the students and the workforce is the staff. The leadership team is
comprised of the principal, assistant principal, and school administration manager. The reason I
am choosing this system is because it uses extrinsic rewards and consequences which are short
term solutions. This approach is shifting the burden away from teaching intrinsic motivation
The PBIS system is defined as a joint effort of staff, students, parents, and community
members through the use of a proactive approach in promoting positive social behavior by
teaching appropriate expectations that in turn will provide a safe environment, reduce problem
behaviors, and promote learning for all students. This system is simplified for students into the
Rams ROCK mnemonic. R = Respect Others. O = Own Your Actions. C = Care About Others.
K = Keep Achieving.
This system is reinforced through the use of “U ROCK” tickets. These are small slips of
paper with the mnemonic mentioned above on it that have been signed by a staff member. For a
student to receive one, they must have done something that stands out from the Rams ROCK
dropped items in the hallway. The tickets can be used and traded for candy from a cart that
comes around to the classrooms every month or on prize drawings in the office every couple
months. There is no set timeline on when the cart or prizes will appear.
The other side of the PBIS system is discipline. If a student exhibits negative behaviors a
system of minors and majors is followed by staff and administration. A minor is given for
negative behaviors that are not stopped quickly by redirection or proximity. An example of a
minor in the classroom would be excessive talking. The first minor is considered a warning, and
the second requires notification about the minor to a parent or guardian by the teacher. If a third
minor is given, the teacher must issue a thirty minute detention and make a phone call home to
the parent or guardian. Any minors given after the third minor are directed to the administration
where they are handled on a case by case basis. A staff member can give a major which has the
same effect as giving a student their fourth minor. For this to happen the student behavior must
another person.
Once the staff member has entered a minor or major into the system on infinite campus
the school administration manager is the first to handle it. If the SAM sees a minor #1 or minor
#2 entered into the system they are quickly saved and locked into the database for parents and
staff to view if they want. The SAM doesn’t take time with these minors because they are
viewed as warnings to the student and parent contact should start to be made by the teacher. If
the SAM sees a third minor for a student she may inquire as to parent contact or pull the student
in for a conference if she deems fit. The fourth minor is when action must begin for the SAM or
the assistant principal who can also respond to minors or majors. They will pull the student in
for a conference, contact parents/guardians, contact teachers if necessary, and hand out
discipline.
The PBIS system has boundaries for time as well as the people that interact with it that
need to be taken into account. The system is implemented at the beginning of 7th grade when
the students enter the building to the day they leave 8th grade. It should be noted that this is an
extrinsic motivational system which can have far-reaching behavioral implications over time.
These implications and their boundaries are impossible to determine for all students, staff, and
leadership.
For this system to be seen as effective we should see a few factors. Teachers should be
well-trained in the “Rams ROCK” way and the utilization of the discipline system. The number
of minors being entered into the system should be low due to teachers utilizing the “U ROCK”
tickets to reinforce positive behaviors. Over the course of the year the number of minors should
decrease as the positive reinforcers take effect on behavior causing students to adhere to “good”
behaviors. From year to year the total number of students receiving minors should trend down as
the incoming 7th grade students benefit from a positive culture that is formed by previous
classes.
The archetype that illustrates this system is “shifting the burden.” I believe the PBIS
system was well-intentioned and the purpose to improve student behavior. The results are
showing that within the system the burden has been shifted away from intrinsic motivation
(symptomatic solution). This has led to a side effect of behaviors exhibited by a sizable portion
of the student body. During the first quarter, behaviors are low due to the extrinsic rewards and
consequences being utilized by the system. Throughout the course of the year the extrinsic
rewards do not change and the students become less and less interested in them leading to more
and more behaviors. The consequences only hold sway over the population of students who
would normally never receive a consequence in the first place. Those who do receive a
consequence/minor are much more likely to repeat with another later as it is only a consequence
There are some learning disabilities in the system that have made an impact in a
paralyzing way. From my observations and discussions amongst the staff and administration
over the last four years there are three learning disabilities at play. Many teachers in the school
want to just teach and if a student has a behavior, follow the discipline system given to them. “I
am my position” is a common problem amongst staff when asked whether they have taken the
time to call a parent and try to learn more about what the cause is of the behavior. The usual
response to the previous question is that they don’t have time or that is the administration’s job
to handle discipline.
The previous learning disability leads into “the enemy is out there.” Those same staff
members blame anyone but themselves for a child’s behavior in the classroom. They look for
reasons why the administration did not give a student a harsh discipline and complain to their
colleagues which can have a snowball effect amongst the staff. The administration in turn
probably view these teachers as part of the cause for the rise in behaviors. After all these
teachers are kicking out students for small things while others never write up a referral all year.
The last and most glaring learning disability is the “fixation on events.” We as a school
system are guilty of focusing in on things such as tardies, excessive talking, sleeping in class,
and others while not looking at the causes for these events. This year we gave out UROCK
tickets to every student who showed up on time to 7th hour on a Monday the second week of
school. This was done to acknowledge and reinforce positive behavior for being in class on
time. Instead shouldn’t we have been looking for the reason why students weren’t going to their
To analyze the root cause of my systems problem I delved into the past two years of
disciplinary data for our PBIS system to determine its effectiveness. I found that the total
number of students who received a minor in the year 2015-16 and 2016-17 was largely the same.
2015-16 2016-17
This data shows that the system was largely ineffective from year to year when
measuring effectiveness as it relates to improving the culture for the incoming 7th graders. Next,
I looked at the year 2016-17 by quarter and how many discipline referrals were made. The chart
1 870 398
2 1559 473
3 1130 396
4 1658 509
This data shows that the system was ineffective at lowering the total number of
referrals/minors throughout the school year. The number of minors actually came close to
doubling from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. The number of students rose by about one
hundred within that same span as well. I believe the root cause is the extrinsic motivators being
utilized in the PBIS system for things that are valued by students intrinsically such as getting to
class on time. I believe what is happening is called the overjustification effect. We are giving
students extrinsic rewards for things they already do and find value in doing. This can cause a
diminishing of the underlying intrinsic motivation. Over time with enough rewards given, the
system will backfire. Students will rely on the rewards instead of their long gone intrinsic
motivation. Not long after the first quarter the rewards are not “shiny” enough and the behaviors
become worse than ever before because the intrinsic motivations are diminished.
I believe what we need to do is stop utilizing the UROCK tickets first and foremost as
motivators. We need to be training our students how to have a vision for success, growth
mindset, and find the joy in learning. We need to use more time getting to know our students on
an individual basis so that when a behavior does crop up we have more knowledge about what to
do and where to begin. We need to be steering our teachers toward books to read from people
like Simon Sinek, Carol Dweck, and Peter Senge. To sum up, we need to address the
fundamental issue of intrinsic motivations for students each and every day.
The strategy that I would employ to implement the above ideas would be an ongoing
process. The first step and only easy part of the strategy would be to stop using the extrinsic
motivators or “U ROCK” tickets. Then I would get the staff together to discuss the
mission/vision of Rams ROCK and see if that still holds true, because I believe that this mission
statement is rooted in intrinsic values. Then I would give the staff opportunities for training in
brain-based theories such as David Langford’s “24 Elements of the Learning Code for
Education” or “Tool Time for Education.” I would also offer up opportunities for differentiation
amongst the staff in how they would like to learn more about intrinsic motivation. This would be
the time when I would inquire from my staff how they would or already do teach intrinsic
motivations in their classroom. Some staff may prefer to read “Growth Mindset” from Carol
Dweck while another staff member may want to learn from a colleague how they utilize mission
statements as part of their classroom culture through a breakout session. For anyone concerned
about this being a compliance issue, I would reinforce the idea that students and staff have the
right to joy in their work. I should model that by allowing them the freedom to choose how they
Over the next school year what we will do is to continue to collect referral data on
students to look for patterns. The data will continue to be collected through infinite campus by
the staff and administration. The PBIS system will remain intact with the exception of the
UROCK tickets and any external rewards for behavior which will cease. At the beginning of the
school year staff will start brain-based theory training and their choice of intrinsic motivation
learning as mentioned above. Each quarter one two hour professional development day will be
allotted to staff for their choice of intrinsic motivation learning. A google document will be used
to keep track of progress towards learning and which teachers want to give break-out sessions.
Once a month the administration will collect data on the number of referrals and the number of
students receiving those referrals to present to staff. This time will be used to look for patterns
and improvements in the system. At the end of the year the administration and teacher
leadership team will study the results to prepare for the following year’s goals and look for any