School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management: A PBS Implementation Guide

An integrated, comprehensive approach to positive behavioural supports and interventions.

How do you help students who “act out” or “shut down” due to academic frustration or whose social and emotional issues keep them from achieving success in school? Based on Project ACHIEVE, a nationally recognised model of school effectiveness and continuous improvement program, this book shows you how. Educators will find a pragmatic, easy-to-follow blueprint for Positive Behaviour Support Systems (PBSS) implementation that integrates academics, instruction, and achievement with discipline, behaviour management, and student self-management.

Award-winning author Howard M. Knoff provides guidance on:

• Implementing a school wide discipline and safe schools program
• Teaching students interpersonal, social problem solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional coping skills
• Guiding professional development, staff and student buy-in, and evaluation
• Strengthening parent and community outreach and involvement

Included are classroom charts and posters, implementation steps and worksheets, and action plans and checklists. Case studies from more than 20 years of research and practice demonstrate how the book’s strategies create positive climates, pro-social interactions, and effective management approaches from classroom to common school areas. The results? The students involved are more co-operative and academically engaged; have fewer disciplinary problems; are more socially successful; and earn higher grades and test scores.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Raymond J. McNulty

Preface and Acknowledgments

About the Author

1. Integrating a Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Support System (PBSS) Blueprint Into an Effective Schools Process
2. School Readiness and the Steps for PBSS Implementation
3. The School Discipline/PBSS and Other Committees: Effective Team and Group Functioning
4. Behavioral Accountability, Student Motivation, and Staff Consistency
5. Teaching Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills
6. School Safety and Crisis Prevention, Intervention, and Response
7. Teasing, Taunting, Bullying, Harassment, Hazing, and Physical Aggression
8. Functional Assessment and Why Students Become Behaviorally Challenging
9. Behavioral Interventions for Students With Strategic and Intensive Needs
10. Evaluating and Sustaining PBSS Outcomes

References

Index

"Grounded in research-based principles, proven and effective practices, and validation through implementation in schools across the country, Dr. Knoff has created a model blueprint for creating and maintaining a Positive Behavioral Support System (PBSS) that results in more effective schools, behaviorally, socially, and academically. As a former state director of special education who worked with Dr. Knoff to successfully establish and implement PBSS in public schools throughout our state, I witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of this PBSS model in producing desired outcomes. The proof is in the ‘doing,’ and Dr. Knoff’s Project ACHIEVE and PBSS model clearly accomplish that. We should do what works, and this works. Isn’t that what we all want?"
- Marcia Harding, former Director of Special Education, Arkansas Department of Education

"Dr. Howie Knoff blends his decades of academic and practical experience to offer teachers, administrators and school support professionals practical steps for improving student behavior in a manner that is research-based and building-level applicable. As student behavior challenges increasingly permeate all school grade levels while resources to prevent and intervene become more scare, Dr. Knoff's book can serve as a one-stop-shop reference which educators can use to put immediate measures to work for improving school climate, safety and educational achievement."
- Kenneth S. Trump, President, National School Safety and Security Services

"This book provides extensive and practical ways to implement school-wide approaches that result in positive and engaged classrooms, proactive and consistent staff, and safe and successful schools. Its focus on building and sustaining students’ interpersonal, social problem solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional coping skills reminds us that 'discipline' problems often reflect students’ lack of self-management skills. A national expert and past president of NASP, Howard Knoff has written a practical guide that includes step-by-step checklists and procedures to help schools implement successful Positive Behavioral Support systems. This book will be relevant for many years to come."
- Susan Gorin, Executive Director, National Association of School Psychologists