Positive Behaviour Support Framework in Preschool

Introduction

The School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework promotes acceptable behavior expectations for children in schools to facilitate a safe, positive, and supportive learning culture. It teaches children acceptable behavior and provides enough support to improve academic, emotional, and behavioral needs (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Additionally, it creates respectful relations between children and the staff. This study will create a functional SWPBS for preschool children around four years old.

The SWPBS consists of tier one/universal tier, tier two/intensive interventions, and tier three/continuous progress monitoring. The universal level is created for the school’s general population and is effective for 80% of the population (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Tier two is made to support 10-15% of children that do not respond to tier one. Tier three is developed for 5-10% of children who do not respond to tier one or tier two.

Tier One/ Universal tier

Formulation and implementation of rules

In the first step, these are five classroom rules which all children should follow:

1. We must listen to the teachers.
2. We have to be nice to one another.
3. We should keep their classrooms clean.
4. We should play safely.
5. We should help each other.
6. We should not make noise in class.

Positive reinforcement strategies that will be used to increase the childrens’ probability of following the above mentioned behavioural rules:

1. The teacher will reward children who follow the rules.
2. The teacher will provide physical guidance to the children.
3. The teacher should spend time with children directing them on what do.
4. Posting the rules on class walls and reminding the children of them often.

Consequences for children who do not comply with the rules:

1. Withdrawing priorities from indisciplined children.
2. Verbal altercation with children who do not follow the rules.
3. Informing the parents of the destructive behavior.

After coming up with the rules, positive reinforcement strategies, and consequences for children that do not comply, they will have to be implemented. This step involves informing the children about the new rules. It is also important to tell the children of the positive reinforcement strategies such as the rewards for good behavior and inform them of the consequences for those who won’t obey. Since this SWPBS is for preschool children, the teacher has to remind the children about the rules because they can easily forget.

Identify at-risk children

Preschool children need careful evaluation to identify those with behavior disorders. The process that will be used to identify at-risk children is teacher nomination (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Teachers can notice behavior disorders in children, and since preschool children cannot be referred to the office, teacher nomination is the most effective method. Some of the behaviors that the teacher should be keen on to identify at-risk children are children who insult others, those who are not social in class with others, children who make noise in class, children with poor academic performance, and children who bully others. These behaviors are likely to provide an accurate evaluation of the at-risk children.

Continuous progress monitoring

The other method that the teachers will use to determine the effectiveness of the implementation program is continuous progress monitoring. Children who present persistent bad behaviors will be identified and marked for tier two. The teacher will use the data on the children, such as those found making noise, children who have been involved in bullying behavior, children who have been involved in accidents during play, and more data to determine whether the behavior is becoming more effective.

Universal screening

While the above two methods effectively determine and identify children with externalizing behaviors, they may not work effectively for those with internalizing behavior. For instance, if a child is very quiet and does not interact with other children, they may have an internalized behavior. The universal screening will be used to overcome this challenge and ensure that the progress is fair for every child. The Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) is a tool that uses a combination of teacher rating skills, direct observation, and teacher rating scales to determine children’s disorders (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). An example of the SSBD, which can assess preschool children, is shown below.

Externalizing behavior SSBD

Child’s Name: Class: Age:
Behaviors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Noise Making
Under controlled behaviors
Aggressive
Disruptive during class

⇐ High frequency –  Low frequency⇒

Internalizing behavior SSBD

Child’s Name: Class: Age:
Behaviors	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Anxiety
Antisocial
Depression
Withdrawal
Overcontrolled behavior

⇐ High frequency –  Low frequency⇒

After filling the table, children who have ranks of 1, 2, or 3 will be taken to the second gate for the teachers to use the Critical Events Index in ranking them. A child who will score high frequency by three behaviors or more in the externalizing and three or more in externalizing behavior will be taken for the second gate. The teacher will then evaluate children in the second gate through direct observation to determine if they will be taken to tier two. In this phase, the teacher will observe their behaviors during playtime, lunchtime, classroom and determine if they have disorder behaviors.

Tier Two/Intensive Interventions

Tier one is effective for 80% of the students; therefore, those who show behavior disorders can be taken for tier two. It enables teachers to be more focused on children at the risk of developing more advanced behavior disorders. They get more targeted interventions that help them change their behaviors at this level (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Some of the interventions which will be used in tier two are behavioral education programs, social skills training, and response-to-intervention.

Behavior education program

This is a method that will be used to reward the children based on their social behavior. The teacher will monitor the children daily in this tier by checking:

1. If they have been distracted by any teacher during their lesson.
2. If they have bullied any child during the day.
3. If they have littered the classroom.
4. If they have been directly or indirectly involved in harming others during play.
5. If they have been caught making noise during class time.

The teacher will organize a small meeting with the children after classes and reward them if they do not commit any of the stated bad behaviors to encourage them to embrace the good behavior. The rewards may include candies, reinstation of privileges, being given favorite toys, being allowed to play with other children, and much more. This method is more effective for externalizing behaviors because they can be easily noticeable by other teachers and peers.

Social skills training

Many children with internalizing behavior disorder have social skills problems, and therefore, they will have to be taught social skills. Social skills are essential in the later lives of someone because they help them to learn how to interact with people (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Being in a culturally diverse class, social skills are also essential because they enable children to understand that everyone is different. For instance, if an American child has been bullying an Asian child based on their race, using a behavior education program may not be enough to curb the behavior; the child will also require social skills training. Some of the strategies the teacher will use to train social skills are:

1. Arranging playdates and giving the children an opportunity to interact and play with one another.
2. Giving the children with internalization disorders roles to do in class. Such as asking them to lead in group discussions to boost their confidence.
3. Having face-to-face talks and encouraging them to express their feelings.
4. Playing board games with them and taking turns.

Response-to-intervention

Children that will demonstrate positive behavior will be taken to tier one, while those who will continue with their bad behavior will be taken to tier three. For instance, if a child stops making noise in class, interacts well with others, stops bullying behavior, listens to the teacher and does assignments on time, keeps their sitting place clean, and does not harm others, they can be taken to tier two. The others are then taken to tier three.

Tier three/ Continous progress monitoring

This stage involves the use of one-on-one counseling or instructions on children and sometimes may require the help of specialists. One of the best interventions used in this stage is wraparound intervention. This is a team-based intervention to help the children to change their undesired behavior (Shepherd & Linn, 2015). Therefore, children who will be taken to tier three will be assigned care manger among the teachers. The care manager will invite the child’s family and discuss the problem with them and choose a wraparound team that will be in charge of molding the child’s behavior. The family will develop a plan based on the desired outcomes for the child. For instance, if a child is tranquil in class and does not socialize with other children, the planned outcome may be to address the child’s social skills. Finally, the wraparound plan will be implemented by looking at the child’s background, any underlying conditions, ad other factors which may contribute to the behavior. This will continue until the child shows an improvement in their behavior.

Reference

Shepherd, T. L., & Linn, D. (2015). Behavior and classroom management in the multicultural classroom: proactive, active, and reactive strategies. Sage.