Effective Behavior Support (EBS):
"Where We Have Been- Where We Are Going."
Brenda Anderson
B.A, University of Victoria, 1986

Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Education
in
Multidisciplinary Leadership

The University of Northern British Columbia
April2009
© Brenda Anderson 2009

UNIVERSITY of NORTHERN
BRITISH COLUMBIA
LmRARY
Prince George, B.C.

1

Abstract
Effective Behavior Support (EBS) is a school-wide program that helps the school put
strategies in place to teach children positive behavior. Students and staff embark on
a journey together to make their school a rich environment for student learning.
Research has shown that if students behave positively in their school, their
academic performance can change. Over the past five years, our school has
embarked on the journey to engage students in positive behavior. This action
research project explored my school's current practices and allowed me to engage
in critical dialogue with my colleagues to gain new insight and explore new paths to
improve my practice for implementing the practices of EBS. As a coach of EBS , I felt
it was time to look deeper into what we have done, what we are doing, and where
we could go from here. There is a need to amalgamate our informatio.n, scrutinize
our data, and put together an action plan proposal in order to ensure that our school
stays on the positive behavior track on which it has been .
So, welcome to my journey.

11

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my family; husband Mac, and boys, Thane, Rylan and Garet for
persevering with me over the last 3 years to accomplish something on my "bucket
list". They have had to give up the "mom" and "wife" time and now will be looking
forward to having me back.
Thanks to Professor Bryan Hartman for his incredible support, great sense of humor,
and calmness to encourage me and to help me finish this project.
And finally thanks to my parents, especially my mom who has always highly
encouraged me to strive for a little more each time I take on a new challenge. I know
I would not be as educated today if it were not for her.

l1l

Table of Contents
Abstract
Acknowledgements

ii

Table of Contents

iii

List of Tables

iv

List of Figures

v

Chapter 1

1

Introduction
Significance of the Issue
Purpose and Question

4

Chapter 2

Literature Review

7

Chapter 3

Process
Procedures

19

20

Chapter 4

Results

36

Chapter 5

Implications

41

5

References

47

Appendices
A. Spark matrix
B. PAC presentation
C. 2003 - 2004 Data
D. 2004-2005 Data
E. 2005 - 2006 Data
F. 2006-2007 Data
G. 2007 - 2008 Data
H. School Plan for Student Success
I. EBS Booklet (2004-2005)
J. Southridge EBS survey: parents
K. EBS booklet (2008 - 2009)

51
51

52
56
59
62
65
68
71
75
86
88

lV

List of Tables
School-wide Themes (2004-2005)

25

2. School-wide Themes (2005-2006)

28

3. School-wide Themes (2006-2007)

30

1.

v

List of Figures
Figure 1

Effective Behaviour Support Zones

3

1

Chapter One
Introduction

"In the final analysis it is not what you do for your children but what you have taught
them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings."
-Anne Landers
Allowing children to feel safe, respected, and liked in a school environment
allows them to grow both academically and socially. Research has shown when
schools have a system-wide behavior plan in place; students perform better
academically and socially (Horner, Todd, Lewis-Palmer, Irvin, Sugai, & Boland,
2004 ). When students are taught the expectations within a school then they are able
to act in a fashion that is representative of what they are taught.

If you teach

children to read , they learn to read. Based on that premise then, if you teach children
how to behave, they learn to behave.
One of the ways to initiate change in student behavior is to implement a
school behavior plan. One such system that exists is called School Wide Positive
Behavior Support (SWPBS) or Effective Behavior Support (EBS). These programs
are based on the premise that if you set out the expectations for children to behave
and you teach , reinforce, and reward these behaviors, then children will engage in
this behavior.
In 1994, researchers at the University of Oregon initiated a program called
EBS in which they developed a school-wide program that teaches the expected
behavior to students. The program was implemented in conjunction with Guy Lake
Elementary School in Springfield Oregon and was studied to see if the behaviors
would change and become more positive both socially and academically. They

2

targeted school-wide behaviors with the hope that students would become "selfmanagers" (Todd, Haugen, Anderson, & Spriggs, 2002).
three school-wide expectations that were taught,

The school developed

reinforced,

and re-taught

throughout the year. The school rules consisted of "be safe, be respectful, and follow
directions of all school adults" (Todd et al., 2002). The EBS team then collected data
based on office referrals to determine where the problems of inappropriate behavior
took place. From these data they determined that problem behavior was taking place
at recess on the playground . They then focused on putting behavior expectations in
place. Staff members were trained to look for positive behavior and recognize it, as
well as to recognize when students were not following school-wide behavior
expectations for which there were consequences. A survey was then taken of the
staff members to see what their attitude was in terms of the implementation of the
program. The results showed the staff members were satisfied that behavior
changes had taken place and the program implementation was successful (Todd et
aL, 2002).
Effective Behavior Support recognizes three tiers of behaviors. A model of
these three tiers is presented as Figure 1. Tier one is primary prevention of behavior
which addresses school and classroom types of behaviors with all students
everywhere in the building. Tier two is secondary prevention which addresses a
smaller group of students who need more intervention with their behavior than do
those in the primary group. They are an at-risk group of students who need
intervention skills.

Finally, the third tier is considered tertiary prevention which

addresses the needs of those high-risk students who do not respond to primary or

3

secondary prevention types of interventions. A school whose system-wide behavior
plan is working effectively will have 80 percent green zone students (primary), 15
percent yellow zone students (secondary), and 5 percent red zone students
(tertiary). A school that matches these percentages is a school with a behavior plan
that is functioning successfully.

•

I \

/ ~ed Zone students 5%
\

~ellow
Zone students 15%
\
'
1 - - - - -'\
I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

\

\
\

~reen Zone students 80%

I

I

\

'

\

\

\

\

\
\

I

I

I

I

I

I

'\

\

\

\

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L------------------------------'
I

Figure 1.

\

Effective Behaviour Support Zones

The goal of EBS is to maintain a positive environment in which students fall
within these system-wide categories. The final goal is to get all students in the green
zone.

4

At present the school at which I am employed uses EBS strategies. We have
used the program for the last five years and are now into our sixth year. It initially
caused lots of excitement and energy in our school. Students were being taught how
to behave in a positive way in the school and playground. This led to students
behaving in a positive manner which then led teachers to be able to focus on the
academic part of the students' education. Over the past five years we have seen
students engage in socially appropriate behavior on a more consistent basis. It is
now time to reflect on the data, engage in critical discussions, devise an action plan
for the future, and share our school's results with other schools interested in this
program.
Significance of Issue

School violence, disrespectful behaviors, and a fall in academic achievement
have been a cause for concern over the past twenty years (Cohen, Kincaid, &
Childs, 2006; Horner, Sugai, & Horner, 2000; Scott, 2007). Student behavior in
general has caused alarm in people. Not just violent behavior but behavior that is not
conducive to a positive learning environment. As the research has shown, when
students understand the expectations set out by their school, and follow these, then
social and academic change will occur (Bohanon et al., 2000; Colvin, & Fernandez,
2000; Horner et al., 2000; Todd et al., 2002).
The University of Oregon's researchers developed a systems-wide approach
to expected positive school behavior. They felt that a school-wide program that
taught students how to behave in all areas of their school (class, hallways, gym, etc.)
would assist students and staff to have a positive attitude which would lead to

5

students feeling more successful. This became known as Effective Behavior Support
(EBS). It began at the University of Oregon and subsequently developed into a

national program in the United States.
Schools can send teachers or teams to the University of British Columbia
(UBC) to learn how to implement EBS programs. The training includes a week long
course (usually in August) with three follow up weekends throughout the year. As
well there is an annual conference held in November of each year in which EBS
information is shared from various schools throughout British Columbia; as well as
the EBS site from the University of Oregon.
Over the past five years my school has embarked on the EBS journey to
engage students in positive behaviour. Now in its sixth year, it appears to have
slowed down and has lost its initial enthusiasm. I firmly believe this program has
helped my school become a much more positive place to be and feel it is now time
to explore my school's current practice in order to gain insight into what we have
done, and reflect on what we need to do to refresh and put new excitement into the
program to ensure it continues on the path to success.

Purpose and Questions

I examined the data collected by my present school, determined what
changes in behavior took place over the past five years, and put an action plan in
place to identify where my school can go from here. Our present program has
suffered from a decline from the original level of enthusiasm and needs attention to
restore its effectiveness. Questions requiring consideration include: What do we

6

need to do to get teachers, students, parents, and our community back to supporting
the positive expectations of our school? How can we make it exciting and
intrinsically motivating to students to follow the rules and expectations of the school
and treat others in a positive way? For the project, I developed an action plan for the
next five years based on the data and information collected from school staff
members, students, and parents. Putting together an action plan of what has worked
and how it has worked was done in order that other schools may use the package.
The package will stay behind in the school to facilitate the continuation of the
program.

7

Chapter Two
Literature Review

Research has shown that there are many factors that influence children to
behave the way they do. In schools this behavior is at the forefront due to the fact
that classes of 15 to 30 or more children are interacting with each other and adults
for six hours a day, five days a week from September until June each year. If you do
the math, this works out to approximately 1200 hours throughout the school year.
That is a lot of time for these numbers of students to be together and be kind,
respectful, and cordial. It is imperative then, that these people get along.
Schools of today are required to look after children and teach them not only
the academic skills necessary to succeed, but also the social skills needed to deal
with how to cope with life. Children of today are exposed to much more aggressive
and violent behaviour through the news, movies, and video games than children
were years ago. The evidence is shown through school violence such as, that which
took place in Tabor Alberta, and Columbine Colorado in 1999. These events shook
the countries that they took place in and made school staff take notice and be much
more cognizant of what happens in their environments. In British Columbia, the
Reena Virk case ( 1997) in Victoria shows how violence among teenagers leads to
death.
In response to this, schools have taken on the challenge of teaching students
the skills necessary to deal with how to interact with each other in a positive and
respectful way. One such program that deals with teaching children positive
behaviour is the Effective Behaviour Support (EBS) program which was developed

8

at the University of Oregon in the early 1980's. This well designed behaviour
program deals with the prevention of problem behaviour rather than dealing with
discipline after the fact. This program has spread across the United States and
Canada since its introduction. The program espouses a systems approach to
teaching school-wide behaviour expectations to students. Research has shown that
this program leads to less discipline and fewer office referrals to students by using a
preventative and proactive approach to teaching students positive behaviour
expectations (Hawken, Macleod, & Rawlings, 2007; Horner et al., 2004; Irvin, Tobin,
Sprague, Sugai, & Vincent, 2004).
EBS is a systems approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to educate
all students, especially students with challenging social behaviours, by establishing
(a) clearly defined outcomes that relate to academic and social behaviour, (b)
systems that support staff efforts, (c) practices that support student success, and (d)
data utilization that guides decision making (Sugai, Horner, Lewis-Palmer, HaganBurke, Todd , &Tobin, 2001 ).
EBS is a broad range of systemic and individualized strategies for achieving
important social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behaviour. EBS is
an integration of (a) valued outcomes, (b) human behaviour science, (c) validated
procedures and (d) systems change. It is based on three levels of prevention (a)
primary, (b) secondary, and (c) tertiary. It is not a curriculum but a process for
individualized and sustained decision making, planning , and problem solving . It has
an instructional focus where emphasis is placed on: teaching behavioural
expectations directly, teaching social behaviours like academic skills, maximizing

9
academic engagement and success, and considering the influence of instructional
support. It is based on empirically sound practice and applications in schools. It uses
data to guide intervention and manage decisions (Sugai et al., 2001 ).
The EBS program deals with teaching students the skills to interact with each
other in a positive way. Through this program, school staffs teach children common
language and common behavioural expectations, thus resulting in their learning of
these skills (Fenty, Miller, & Lampi, 2008; Schoenfeld, 2008; Trussel, 2008). When
children are taught how to interact with one another positively in different areas of
the school, using lessons that are developed by their school, then the children learn
to act in this way.
Teaching social skills can be likened to learning academics; if you teach
children to read then they will learn to read. If you teach children to behave, then
they will learn to behave. You cannot expect children to behave if they have never
been taught to behave. If they are not taught to behave at home, the next most
logical place is the school. It is crucial then, that schools address these issues in
order for the children to be successful interacting members of societY:
In an article by Todd, Haugen, Anderson, & Spriggs (2002) it is suggested
that when students are taught these expected behaviours and rewarded (intrinsically
and extrinsically) they will behave in their school in a more positive and respectful
manner. They suggested that intervention was the key to preventing discipline
problems, and that the overall school climate could improve.
Promoting and supporting EBS through staff training and a team approach
leads to a successful EBS program and on overall improved climate within the

10

school (Clarke, Worcester, Dunlap, Murray, & Bradley-Kiug, 2002; Colvin &
Fenandez, 2000; Eber, Sugai, Smith, & Scott, 2002; Ervin, Shaughency, Matthews,
Goodman, & McGlinchey, 2007; Handler, Rey, Connell, Their, Feinber, & Putnam
2007; Murray, Clark & Worcester, 2002; Scott & Barrett, 2004; Todd et. al., 2002).
Promoting student success socially can increase the morale of the school
with both staff and students. If the children are happy to be at school , the staff can
be happy to be at school. When the staff and students have an input in saying what
they want their school to look like, then they feel more apt to "buy into" the program,
(Todd et al., 2002).
A key to a successful EBS program is the staff training and team approach
that it embraces. It is imperative for schools to have knowledge of, and training for,
at least a few members of the staff in order that they can then share the EBS
program philosophy and strategies with others. As stated in Colvin and Fernandez
(2000), "In general, the effective behaviour support system has significantly
increased the school's capacity to improve quality instruction and behaviour
management to its student body. It is this result that provides overall motivation and
reinforcement for staff to sustain the model" (p. 253).
Students of all diversities can benefit from the team approach that EBS
espouses (Clark et al. , 2002 ; Murray & Worcester, 2002). Classrooms that have
students with learning disabilities both physically and mentally can use the EBS
strategies to help these students feel more successful within the program . Clarke et
al. (2002) found that compared to conventional instruction, a severely autistic girl
was taught more appropriate social skills using a team approach and functional

11

based assessment. The young girl was given EBS strategies to cope with her
learning needs. Using the team approach and the assistance of peers resulted in
fewer outbursts of aggression that were typical in the past.
As successful as the program is, it also needs to be implemented properly,
which means that time and money are crucial. It has been found that schools need
time, money, and staff development to implement the program. Handler et al. (2007)
found that 40 - 50 hours were needed to put together an EBS plan that would
enable a staff to follow lesson plans, develop a matrix, and put strategies in place to
teach

students positive behaviour.

A further two hours per month were

recommended to use as follow up for data collection and analysis. Putting a group of
people together to ensure a successful program is not an easy task and it is very
important to make it look attractive to the team. If you give them the tools and the
incentives to work together they will feel more inclined to do so (Clarke et al., 2002).
An interesting twist to looking at the success of the EBS program was to look
at financial rewards as shown in an article by Scott & Barret (2004 ). They found that
when EBS was employed that administrators had less discipline to deal with;
therefore, they had more time to do the "administrative duties," and that more
"teacher" time was used for the students because they were more consistently in the
classroom receiving instruction. Although the dollar figure was the important aspect
of this research , it is relevant to note that students also spend more time in the
classroom when they are not removed from it for discipline problems. That is
extremely relevant to students' learning.

12
An important facet of the EBS program is the prevention and pro-active
approach to decreasing discipline (Bohanon et al., 2006; Dobie, 2006; Dunlap,
Lewis, & McCart, 2008; Ellickson & McGuigan 2000; Sadler & Sugai, 2009; Gillis,
2002; Harnish, 2007; Hawken, Macleod, & Rawlings, 2007; Horner, Freeman, &
Nelson, 2008; Lewis & Sugai, 1999; Luiselli, Putnam & Sunderland, 2002; Maag,
2001; Horner, Sugai, & Horner, 2000; Metzler, Biglan , Rusby, & Sprague, 2001 ).
Research has shown that when students are taught and then demonstrate
appropriate positive behaviour at an early age then negative behaviour can be
prevented later on (Dunlap et al. , 2008). Children are keen to engage and try out
new behaviours at a young age. Teaching them early will help them practice and
employ these positive and appropriate social skills and allow them time to add these
skills to their repertoire of behaviours.
The proactive approach with EBS suggests to set up the school with matrixes
(charts throughout the school that list the types of behaviours are acceptable) and
then motivating students to exhibit these behaviours by rewarding them with
incentives. Incentives can be such things as "tickets" which can be turned into the
office and then random draws take place for prizes (decided by the EBS team).
Using a preventive approach as espoused by the EBS program allows for the
children to feel success with their own behaviour. This token system can be
eventually decreased when it becomes apparent that children are ready to take
responsibility for their own behaviour. When the time comes that o ~ incentives
may be necessary, you can bring back the token system and reward the students as
necessary.

13

Metzler et al. (2001) found that EBS resulted in decreased discipline referrals.
They found that socially aggressive behaviour decreased; and the level of praise,
reward, and recognition for socially appropriate behaviour increased. Positively
reinforcing students to behave rather than disciplining them later is far more effective
(Horner et al., 2000; Maag, 2001 ).
Many programs and strategies have been put in place to address the violence
within school settings, the most prominent being zero tolerance. It has been shown
however that this method actually does not reduce offenses; rather, it results in more
suspensions and expulsions (Horner et. al., 2000; Holloway, 2001; Maag, 2001 ). In a
study by Morrison and D'lncau (as cited in Holloway, 2001 ), they found that a zerotolerance policy targets the wrong behaviors and the wrong students. They found
that the policies put in place only targeted about twenty percent of the intended
group of students. Twenty-five percent of the students who ended up with expulsions
and suspensions were special needs students. This was not the intended group of
students who needed the behaviour changes. Holloway goes on to say that in some
instances zero tolerance policies actually resulted in "higher levels of delinquency."
Maag , (2001) states that:
Most approaches for dealing with student disruptions involve the
use of various forms of punishment such as removals from the
classroom, fines , restitution activities, in-school and out of
school suspensions, and expulsions. Although some of these
approaches may make school safer by removing the offending
students, they have little effect on encouraging students to
perform socially appropriate behaviors. (p. 173)
Maag's article also states that a lot of criticism of schools' attempts to deal with
inappropriate behavior rests on the fact that many schools have addressed these

14

behaviors by using "passing fads" rather than sustained methods that are supported
by educational research and theory. He found that until recently positive
reinforcements "have been and continue to be ignored and misunderstood" (p. 175).
If we want the behaviour to change, we need to teach the children how to change it.
We cannot rely on discipline to deter the child because this appears to have had a
negative effect.
The EBS research has also shown that students gain a better "quality of life
(QOL)" and social "dignity" using the tools laid out in the EBS framework (Carr,
2007; Scott, 2007).

One only needs to look at the drop-out and failure rates of

students within the school systems to realize that these issues need to be
addressed. When students are taught the appropriate and positive skills they need in
order to function in society, they then become the leaders of their own destinies
using the guidance they learned through the EBS program. Not only will the schools
function in a safer fashion , but also society as a whole will benefit from students who
have gained an understanding of becoming more productive and civil members of
society.
An article by Colvin and Fernandez (2000) related the situation experienced
at Clear Lake Elementary School. They found that the EBS program "significantly
increased the school's capacity to provide quality instruction and behavior
management to its student body" (p. 253). They go on to say that schools that have
their behavior expectations clearly defined can then focus on the academic
programs that the students need .

15

The article "Teaching Recess" by Todd et al. (2002) supports the initial
research on EBS. This article epitomizes what EBS attempts to do for a school. It
tells of the initial researchers at the University of Oregon helping the school of Guy
Lake Elementary put a system-wide set of positive expected behaviors in place for
their school. The team put together "three positively stated school-wide rules" (p. 47)
that the school was expected to support. The hope was that the students would
learn to become "self-managers" of their behavior. Teachers were expected to teach
the school rules both within the classroom setting and the school setting as a whole.
When students did not follow the rules, consequences were put in place to deal with
the students. These consequences ranged from "instructionally oriented" for minor
violations to "office-managed" for more serious problems. These office referrals were
written up and used as data to identify which behaviors were most vulnerable and
needed to be addressed. These were known as "office referrals" or "behavior
incident reports." As well, teachers were expected to recognize five positive
behaviors for every negative one. They were to recognize (reward) the students with
stickers or what was also known as "caught you being good

o en~

that could be

put in a draw for extra recess or free time. This was the major premise behind EBS.
Specifically, EBS recognizes that positive behavior needs to be focused on, while
negative behavior needs to be minimized and consequenced. After three years of
implementation, the office referrals indicated that recess behavior on the playground
was of concern . The EBS Coaches then targeted this problem area and taught both
staff and students how to behave on the playground. Because it was educational
assistants who supervised these areas, these supervisors were the ones who

16

helped oversee the implementation of expectations and gave the rewards for being
well behaved on the playground. The outcome of the teaching and implementation of
these behaviors resulted in a decrease in the numbers of both behavior problems
and office referrals.
Further research points to some conditions that help EBS function
successfully within a school. Three of these are: (1) the program must be supported
fully by the school's administrators; (2) at least 80% of the staff members must
support the program; and (3) an EBS team needs to be in place. Until you get this
type of consensus it is difficult to sustain the program (Cohen et al., .2007; Colvin &
Fernandez, 2000; Horner et al., 2000; Horner et. al., 2004; Todd et al., 2002). These
researchers point to the fact that a systems-wide approach is much more successful
when it is administrator driven and supported. The administrator must take an active
role in being a large part of the discipline and recognition components of the
program. If this person is not an active and influential member of the ·implementation
of the program, it will have difficulty functioning. The team must also be fully involved
in all decision making and be given the time needed to build and implement the
program. There are many steps involved and if the time and information needed are
not provided to build the program it will not be successful. The final piece of the
puzzle is to have eighty percent support from the staff. If this type of support is not
available from the staff implementing the program , it is unlikely that it will be
successful. It has been suggested that EBS teams have a trained coach who
facilitates the program in his or her school (Cohen et al. , 2007).

17
The coaches' training is a very intense program and is best learned in an
environment with other coaches and trainers who know the program. Another
problem that stemmed from being trained as a coach is the time given to implement
the program and provide the information for the staff. As a full time teacher, it is
extremely difficult to run this program as well as teach full time. It is highly
recommended that an administrator with a teaching time or a classroom teacher with
a reduced teaching load run these programs so that the time needed can be devoted
to them. The EBS program can be highly effective if its coaches are given time to
manage it and that time is allocated to planning and implementing.
The research has also shown that there is a link between positive behaviours
and academic performance (Horner, Todd, Lewis-Palmer, Irvin, Sugai, & Boland,
2004; Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinber, 2005; Mcintosh, Chard, Boland, &
Horner, 2006; Putnam, Horner, & Algozzine, 2008).
Mcintosh et al. (2006) found that when school-wide universal and behaviour
reading systems are in place students can feel successful in both areas.
EBS has also been linked to "time in instruction" where students who are in
the classroom rather than out of it for discipline receive the academic instruction
needed to achieve good grades (Putnam, Horner, & Algozzine, 2008).
Data collection is also an intrinsic facet of EBS. One of the most efficient
ways to deal with problem behaviour is to be able to define when and where it is
happening and who is initiating it. The ability to then look at the data and have a
leadership team make a plan for the school is crucial to the success of decreasing
the problem behaviour (Horner, Sugai, & Horner, 2008; Horner et. al., 2004; Irvin,

18
Tobin, Sprague, Sugai, & Vincent, 2004). Collecting of data allows the school to
determine what type of behaviour is being exhibited by the students including;
fighting, profanity, bullying, disrespect, etc. It also allows the school to determine
where and when the behaviour is most prevalent and concerning. A team can then
set forth a plan using the EBS strategies of lesson plans, behaviour examples, and
support to the students who need the reminders and/or consequences to deal with
their inappropriate behaviour (Promoting Safer Schools, 2009). Tracking these data
then allows schools to analyze whether or not they have been able to extinguish the
inappropriate behaviour.
The many facets of EBS contribute to a safe and orderly school. The
proponents of: common language, staff training and team approach, prevention and
pro-active approach, link between academic success and positive behaviours, and
data collection are key to a successful program. The research shows that these
components allow a school to feel the success that it is capable of when
implementation takes place. With the evidence and research in place, it is clearly a
program that is worthy of further study and implementation in all districts throughout
the Province and beyond.

19

Chapter Three
Process
In this action research paper I would like to look back on the five years of data
that we have collected in our school. I will use a mixed method approach focusing
on qualitative methods to explore my schools current practices and gain insight and
explore new paths to improve my practice of implementing EBS and its strategies.
The school at which I am presently employed opened in September of 1993.
It was a brand new school that was built in the newest subdivision in .Prince George.
Because the school was not ready as planned, we were forced to house in another
school, sharing all resources and space. In May of that school year (1994), we
marched up the hill to our new school and planted ourselves in the environment
which we would call our "new home." It was an exciting and adventurous time.
Fast forward 10 years.
As the school grew, so did the types of children attending it. We were finding
our enrollment increasing in size to the point that 400 children were being housed in
a school built for 250. Children and staff alike were struggling to find their niche. The
staff felt that we did not have a connection with the types of students that were
coming to our school. We searched for a way to identify what it was that we wanted
to do and finally an idea came forth. The staff felt that the students were behaving in
ways that were not positive or respectful. After hearing about a program being
introduced in the district entitled "EBS," we decided to research it and find out if
would meet the needs of our growing population of students. After fi'nding out more

20
about the program we decided to adopt it and train some of our staff to implement a
system-wide approach to improving student behavior, which would then improve the
morale of both students and staff members.
In August 2003, our school implemented ESS. As a grade 7 teacher, I
volunteered to take the training with another staff member from the primary group.
We went to USC for a week-long course and then were responsible for attending
three follow-up weekends during the school year. There was also an annual
conference held in November of each year for teachers, coaches, and/or anyone
else interested in learning about or expanding ESS programs.
Procedures
Year One (2003-2004)
During the five days at USC, we were overwhelmed with ideas on how to
implement this program . We came back to our school full of enthusiasm on how
other schools had created ESS programs at their schools. This led to ideas on how
we could implement a program at our school. It was an exciting and enthusiastic
training session .
During the first month of returning back to our school , we engaged in dialogue
with our staff about what types of behaviours we would like to see in our school. In
our initial September staff meeting, it was decided through input from staff, students,
and parents that we wanted the school to be safe , positive, achievement oriented,
respectful , and kind. The acronym "SPARK" was adopted to symbolize these
objectives. This acronym reflected the types of behaviours we wanted to see in our

21

school. S stood for safety, P stood for positive, A stood for achieve, R stood for
respect, and K stood for kind. Each type of behaviour was then defined in terms of
how it would look in our school. A matrix (see Appendix A) was also developed to
indicate where these behaviours needed to occur, for example the playground,
hallway, library, gymnasium, library, etc. Staff members were then asked where
they thought the problems of misbehaviour occurred in the school. They reported
that students had difficulty with their behaviour at recess and lunch. Groups of the
staff members were formed to discuss and brainstorm the following questions:
( 1) What do you like about how kids play at recess and lunch?
(2) What is it about their play that makes you uncomfortable?
(3) What could you do to make it better?
The premise of the EBS program is to focus on what staff and students
should do, not on what they should not do. After group discussion and feedback, the
ideas started to form about what our school should do.
A matrix was developed as a result of this consultation (see appendix A).
We posted the matrix in all classrooms, hallways, and areas where this behaviour
was expected. The behaviour expectations were taught to students during school
start up in September through lessons created and/or collected by the two coaches.
Primary and intermediate lesson plans were made available. The students were
broken up into family groups (primary and intermediate) and then were rotated
through lessons taught by the whole staff in 45 or 90 minute blocks. If possible, the
expected behaviour was role-played, then the students practiced the behaviour on
the playgrounds and in the classrooms as directed by their teacher. These

22
behaviours were re-taught periodically through the year when necessary (after
Christmas break, spring break, etc.). As well , some classroom teachers continually
re-stated and re-taught the expectations with the classes constantly through the
year. For example when the class was getting ready to walk to the gym, the students
were asked how they would walk through the hallways and how they would act when
in the gym. Student responses informed the teacher whether the students were
understanding and implementing positive behaviour expectations.
The students were then rewarded throughout the year with "SPARK" tickets
when they were observed performing the behaviours outlined by the matrix. Staff
carried SPARK tickets with them at all times in order to be ready to reward the
students. The tickets were then placed in a box and winners were drawn on a
weekly basis. Small toys, stickers, etc., were used as the incentives.
Information about students' misbehaviour was collected through office
referrals. These were labelled "Behaviour Incident Reports" (BIR) and were given
when students were not following expected behaviours. There were three levels of
misbehaviour: minor, moderate, and major. Each category listed the type of
behaviour not being followed, for example non-compliance, fighting, etc. It also listed
the action taken by the student in order to deal with the misbehaviour, for example
think paper, office visit, talking it out. After three SIR's the students were given
warnings about possible suspensions. After each BIR, parents were contacted to let
them know of the situation in which the students had placed themselves. Data were
entered into a computer program and their results were tabulated to determine what
the behavioural problems were, as well as where and when they were occurring .

23

After the program was initiated, we presented the information to the Parent
Advisory Council (PAC). This presentation included a hand out that outlined the EBS
program and how it would affect our school (see appendix B). It was important to let
the school community know what our school culture was. Throughout the school
year we looked at the data (see appendix C) in order to analyze what behaviours
were causing concern, when and where they were causing concern, and what were
their consequences. Through our analysis of these data we found that the months of
November, December, and February were the periods of time that were associated
with the largest numbers of Behavioural Incident Reports. The most common
problem was snowball throwing. During these three winter months, teachers were
reminded to address the problem by talking with their students about snowballs and
how dangerous they could be. As well, if there were any pertinent lessons learned
from these conversations, these were shared among the staff. Disrespect was also a
concern, but it tended to occur during the first couple of months of school. Teachers
were reminded to re-teach lessons on respectful behaviour that were initially taught
at the beginning of the school year. Re-teaching these lessons reinforced
behavioural expectations throughout the school. Finally, we reminded teachers to
continue to focus on the positive behaviour that was being displayed. An EBS
strategy was to recognize six to eight positive behaviours to every negative
behaviour. Although this is easy to do at the beginning of the school year, it
becomes more difficult as time passes because teachers get tired of observing and
recognizing student behaviours. For this reason, the use of this strategy needed to
be reinforced.

24

The EBS strategy espouses that a school must look after the staff in the
building as well as the students. During the school year, when we were able to meet
to discuss EBS (once a month during a staff meeting), we gave out coffee cups and
goodie bags to teachers who were noticed to be employing EBS strategies in the
classrooms and around the school. They enjoyed the little perks and we found it
beneficial to bring all staff on board with the program.
Data were also collected from staff members, students, and parents about
their opinions of EBS. These data were collected by means of a survey (see
Appendix J) conducted in February of each school year. It demonstrated that for the
most part parents were aware of our program and had discussed it with their
child/children. We also found from the data that parents shared the opinion that too
few students' names were drawn during our SPARK draws.
As the first year came to a close, we felt the EBS program had been
successful. The two factors that needed to be addressed to maintain and improve it
were to make sure at least 80% of the staff members supported it, and to provide
more time for the coaches to manage the program. The factors that had been
successful were the development of the matrix and the establishment of a culture of
school-wide positive behaviour. Year Two was ahead of us and we felt we had a
good start in establishing what we needed to do based on the above-mentioned
factors .

25
Year Two (2004-2005)
In year two, we began the school start up with two days of teaching and reteaching student social responsibility. In multi-age groupings, students were taught
the school-wide positive expectations. This occurred in ninety minute segments that
rotated throughout the day to teach lessons on respect, kindness, safety, and
positive behaviour. This took place until class placements were finalized. The
SPARK tickets were handed out daily, with the teachers remembering to focus on
six to eight positive behaviours to every negative one. Monthly themes again were
laid out for the school year (See Table 1).
Table 1
School-wide Themes (2004-2005)

September

November

December

Maple leafwrite your
name and
each point
identifies a
strength

Doves- to
recognize
Remembrance
Day

Cooperative Christmas;
banners in
gym; Salvation
ArmyHampers
Operation
Christmas
Child

Theme- fall

Theme - peace

Theme- Kind

October

January

26
We also tried to implement painting classroom windows each month to reflect
a SPARK theme; however, this was not accepted by the majority of the staff. As
well, we thought about highlighting some light and personal information about two
staff members, but this did not come to fruition due to time constraints. Although the
ideas were there, it was difficult to implement them due to the fact that they took time
to implement and we were not given the time to do so. The themes noted in Table 1
were initiated because they did not take a lot of organizational time. Throughout the
year, SPARK tickets were given out and biweekly draws for small prizes continued
to occur.
I met with the other EBS coach every month for approximately 45 minutes to
determine if we were meeting the goals that we had set in September. Some months
this meeting did not occur due to other commitments throughout the school. In
November, we met to discuss January because this seems to be a month that
students need reminders on the positive behaviour expectations that our school
follows . We decided that a SPARK blitz should occur the first week of January, and
the re-teaching of the positive expectations throughout the school should also occur.
Staff members were reminded about this blitz and asked to follow through with their
parts of it during the first week after Christmas vacation . Referring to the data, it
appears evident that we were able to keep the students focused on ~

e

behaviour (see Appendix E). An EBS handbook was also developed during this
academic year. The administration took the information that we had worked on and
converted it into a handbook (see Appendix 1).

27
In June of this year, we had a final EBS meeting to wrap up the year and
determine the direction for the upcoming year. It was decided to continue teaching
the SPARK expectations to students in multi-age groups and in 45 minute segments.
We continued to share with the staff whether or not the students were hearing the
same SPARK "language" from all staff members so the expectations would be
school wide.
Year Three (2005-2006)
The school year started again with two days of teaching students the positive
behaviour expected at our school. The students were again put into the multi-age
groupings, elementary grades four through seven and primary grades one through
three. We focused on safety and respect to self, others, and the environment.
Throughout the year students again received "SPARK" tickets when ~e were
"caught" displaying the expected behaviours.
I met with the other EBS coach to determine what types of activities we could
run this year that followed the philosophies behind the program. We again decided
to employ monthly themes (see Table 2).

28

Table 2
School-wide Themes (2005-2006)

September

October

November

December

January

Introduction to
safety and
respect

Positive
Attitude

Respect
(Remembrance
Day)

Kindness
(Operation
Christmas
Child)

Review all
SPARK
behaviour

Introduction to
the problem
solving model
WITS
February

March

April

May

June

Academic
Achievement

Academic
Achievement

Respect

Kindness

Kindness

We also surveyed the staff and asked for their input this year about the startup days in September. We were interested to know if the staff liked the start-up days
or wanted something new. The survey consisted of seven questions:
( 1) Does the format work for you?
(2) What would you change?
(3) What would you like to keep the same?
(4) Would you prefer pre-planned lessons?

29

(5) Do you want to change the focus? For example, to positive and kindness
lessons?
(6) Would you like to focus on the problem solving model during these days?
(7) What would you like the two day start up to look like? Would you prefer one day
and do something different the second day?
Responses came from about ten out of twenty staff saying they would like to
do something different. They wanted only one day devoted to social responsibility,
and they wanted to stay with family groupings of students.
We followed the monthly themes and monitored student behaviour through
the Easy Discipline software. This software allows the school to input .the type of
behaviour, when it took place, the action taken, and then print monthly data. The
software displays the data in tables and arranges it in order for it to be analyzed in
terms of where and when it occurred, and who was involved.
The Behaviour Incident reports showed that students were "unsafe and
rough" and "disrespectful." These behaviours occurred in the months of November
through January. We did not review the data on a monthly basis because there was
just not enough time to do this. In February when we did review the data, we
realized that for the following year the data must be reviewed on a regular monthly
basis so the problem behaviours could be addressed . If we did not look at the data
on a regular (monthly) basis, it was difficult to determine what the problem
behaviours were and where they were occurring.

30
Year Four (2006-2007)
Students were put in family groups of intermediate and primary students.
Students filtered through one day of 45 minute lessons based on the core values of
SPARK. The other EBS coach and I again laid out a yearly plan to focus on SPARK
attributes (see Table 3).
Table 3
School-wide Themes (2006-2007)

September

October

November

December

January

Start up days
to teach
SPARK
expectations

Assembly
(grade 7 to do
pep rally song)

Remembrance
Day

Review Wits

Operation
Christmas
Child

Continue with
Operation
Christmas
Child Salvation
Army

Kindness Meto-We Club
SPARK
banners
revealed

February

March

April

May

June

Contributing to
classroom and
school
community

Achieving

Review
expectations of
SPARK values

Solving
problems in
peaceful ways

Have mission
statement
finished

This year Social Responsibility was a "focus" in our school. Our "School Plan
for Student Success," which is a large part of how the school will focus itself, was
based on socially responsible behaviour (see Appendix H).

31

The school now had a goal with social responsibility as a primary focus. It
centered on having students become responsible in their school to promote positive
behaviour and make a positive difference in other people's lives. The whole school
became involved in supporting the plan once it became a school initiative.
Year Five (2007-2008)

This year started off a little differently. Students were put in grade groups and
were filtered through a day and a half of lessons centered on a literacy goal and a
social responsibility goal. Primary students focussed on safety and intermediate
students focussed on metacognition and SPARK values. We chose the movie,
"Bridge To Terabithia," then showed it to students in small parts. We then discussed
meta cognition and SPARK values with the students using parts of the movie.
We reminded staff members to teach and re-teach the positive expectations
throughout the school year. We also reminded to them to make sure they were
reminding students on a daily basis how to show the positive behaviours in our
school. Reminding the students how to go down the hallways would be an example;
i.e., quietly, single file, and hands to yourself.
It was fortunate this year that we were able to attend the "Making
Connections" conference in November. This conference is held each year in
November and is sponsored by BC Case. During this conference one of the initial
founders of EBS, George Sugai, headed up the conference and offered advice and
strategies to initiate the program and explain how to keep it going after it has been
implemented. That experience was refreshing and we came back with some ideas to

32
refresh the program, engage our colleagues, motivate the students, and have some
new "fun" with the program. Initially we came up with developing a new matrix
because the old one appeared to be too detailed. We narrowed down the areas to
"inside, outside, and everywhere." Although we were hoping to initiate the new
matrix in this school year, it did not occur until the end of the school year so we
could have it in place for the 2008-2009 year. We had staff fill in a "blank" matrix with
ideas on the behaviours that should be emphasized by means of positive language
expectations. This was the same procedure that was followed when we initially
implemented the program and had the matrix based on every area ofthe school.
The school year ended with us having developed the new matrix and looking forward
to refreshing the program.
At the end of year five for our EBS program, it had become apparent that EBS
had taken a back seat to other initiatives in our school. Initiatives emphasizing
"Numeracy" and "Literacy" had become focal programs for our school. We were
proud that the initiatives of EBS had resulted in our positive school environment;
however, after discussion with the other EBS coach in my school, we realized that
we needed to prepare a formal plan based upon what we have done and where we
could go. We needed to present a report that shows what the school looks like today
and how it got there so that if someone else came to the school and the EBS
coaches were no longer there, the program could continue. We also needed to get
the staff back on board with focusing on the initiatives of EBS. It appeared that we
needed to focus on positive behaviour by teaching, modelling , and continually reteaching our expectations so that students would continue to see what positive

33
behaviour should look like throughout the school - inside, outside, and everywhere
at all times.

Year Six (2008- present)
We have new administrators this year. They have encouraged the EBS
program to continue and they look to the two coaches for information about how it
works and is implemented.
This year followed with the first day of school in grade groups whereby the
grade teachers took their students and taught SPARK lessons. The students again
were filtered through 90 minute lessons teaching the SPARK core values. Older
students were focusing on kindness and respect, whereas younger (primary)
students focused on safety, especially playground safety.
Teachers were reminded to hand out SPARK tickets to students exhibiting
positive behaviours. Staff members were to recognize 6-8 positive behaviours to
every negative one. At a recent staff meeting, the staff was reminded to hand out the
"SPARKs" and to remember to recognize students for the good behaviour they are
exhibiting around the school. We have new staff members at our school and the
EBS program was quickly explained to them. It is crucial to make sure when new
staff enter your school that they understand what EBS is and how it applies to the
school. Our staff handbook on EBS is a great idea to share with the incoming new
staff members. Inviting them to our team meetings will also occur.
The other EBS coach and I have been able to meet only once this year.
There have been cutbacks to the leadership blocks that allowed us to meet monthly

34

in previous years. To date we have not laid out our yearly plan. Our vice-principal left
on an early maternity leave and we now have a new vice principal who is not yet
familiar with the programs at the school. We will need to give both him and the new
principal time to find out if EBS fits well into our school plan.
Upon Reflection of the Last Five Years.
Overall the program has been a success. For the most part the students who
have been part of the school for the last five years understand and follow the schoolwide expectations that we have put in place. They have been taught and re-taught
these expectations for several years. From this experience students know what is
expected at school and how to behave in a positive fashion. I feel the students who
have been at the school for the last five years have a good understanding of what
being safe, positive, achieving, respectful, and kind looks like. For the most part, the
students enjoy the SPARK tickets and the draws that occur weekly. Through general
observations it appears the older students are not as keen and we ne.ed to ask the
new EBS team to look at what we could do to keep the older students involved. In
my classroom I use lesson plans and projects to keep my grade seven students as
actively involved as I can. Some of the activities I have done are: run school-wide
SPARK assemblies with dance routines and cheers, organize Technology Fair
projects with SPARK themes, and make short story booklets for our little buddies
with SPARK themes. I feel that it is important to keep the older students actively
engaged in EBS activities to keep them constantly thinking of the positive behaviour
on which it focuses. Sharing these ideas with the whole school has helped keep the

35

school aware of how positive behaviours and expectations can be taught and shared
with others.
The new matrix with a simplified version of "inside, outside, and everywhere"
will help the students to be aware of the behaviour expectations in the building . The
staff input concerning the types of behaviours will be a refresher for everyone as a
reminder of the types of behaviours expected in our school.
The problem behaviours appear to be most prevalent on the playground. After
looking at the data for the last five years, this is the area of most concern. It is time
to address this area of concern and put the action plan in place to determine how
best to remedy this problem area.

36

Chapter Four
Results
Using a mixed methods approach with a focus on qualitative methods, I have
summarized the data from the last five years at my school. I have taken each year
and made comments on the data and how it demonstrated what behaviours took
place each year. From looking at these data over the past five years I was able to
see how the behaviours have changed and/or developed over time. It was apparent
in our first year that misbehaviours were prevalent. Since that time, the misbehaviour
has changed dramatically and has now appeared to remain at a constant level. I find
it a bit ironic to talk about misbehaviour in this fashion when EBS focuses on what
we should do in terms of behaviour rather that what we should not do. However, one
of the strengths of EBS is to analyze the data and then put an action plan in place to
deal with the misbehaviour in order to extinguish it. My thoughts on what has
happened over the past five years are reflected in the following pages.
Year One (2003- 2004)

The data from year one (see Appendix C) indicated that students struggled
with maintaining appropriate positive behaviour on the playground . Disruptions,
throwing objects, and disrespect appeared to be the most prevalent problems. The
majority (60.5%) of this behaviour took place on the playground. Looking back, it
appears that we were not doing a very good job of teaching students appropriate
behaviour on the playground. Most of the inappropriate behaviour was taken care of

37

through problem solving discussions and detentions. Some children had lunch
restrictions due to their inability to behave positively during lunch time.
One of the reasons that playgrounds were difficult areas could have been that
students did not see noon hour supervisors as staff members and felt that they could
get away with not acting appropriately. This is assuming that the inappropriate
behaviour took place at lunch and not recess. One point to mention here is that the
type of data collection used did not indicate the time of day such behaviour took
place. It could also be that since we have supervisors on the playground at
lunchtimes, they may not be trained appropriately to deal with the students who are
struggling to act positively. Noon hour supervisors did not attend the staff meetings
where most EBS strategies were discussed. It would be beneficial to have had them
trained with the rest of the staff in order to assist them to recognize positive
behaviour and teach positive behaviour to students who needed such· reminders.
Year Two (2004-2005)

Data from this year (see Appendix D) indicated again that playgrounds were
problem areas, with dangerous behaviour, disrespect, and fighting being the most
serious problem behaviours. The months of January, February, and· May appeared
to be the months causing the most concern. The action taken to deal with the
inappropriate behaviour was problem solving discussions with the staff and students
involved and recess/lunch restriction for those students who had difficulty behaving
appropriately. Again the data do not reflect what time of day the actions took place;

38

therefore, it is difficult to determine if recess or lunch was the major period of
concern.
This year we did a parent survey (see Appendix J). The parents were
surveyed to find out their knowledge of the EBS program. We found from the survey
that the program was not being discussed at home among children and their
parents. Although they agree that social responsibility was a useful goal (95%),
some parents did not know that it was tied into the EBS and SPARK program (70%).
This showed that we needed to include more parents in the process and have their
feedback in order that they would support it at home. It is interesting to note that
although parents find it important, only one-half (56%) of the parents who responded
would support it at home. Maybe if they had been part of the process early on they
would have been more interested in it.
Year Three (2005-2006)

Playgrounds were the principle problem areas, while disrespect, unsafe, and
rough behaviour were the principle behaviours of concern during the months of
December and January (see Appendix E). It was not able to be determined if the
behaviour occurred at recess or lunch because the SIR's did not have a category to
indicate when the behaviour took place. Most often problem solving discussions took
place with the students in order that they could reiterate the positive expectations of
the school. Reminders of the "school code of conduct" were also used when dealing
with the inappropriate behaviour of the students. The category that was labelled
"other'' involved in-school and out-of-school suspensions.

39

An area to be looked at in terms of the SIR's is that a category should be
included to determine if the behaviour took place at lunch or recess. This information
will allow teachers to know how much attention is required by each period, and if the
practice of having the noon hour behaviour supervised by teaching assistants rather
than teachers is a contributing factor.
Year Four (2006-2007)

This year we saw unsafe and rough behaviour. This occurred mainly on the
playground. The month of May saw the most behaviour problems. It is difficult to
determine from the data if it occurred during recess or lunch. Again, it would be
worthwhile to categorize this in order to find out when the problem occurs most
frequently, and if it is due to the fact that during recess teachers supervise, while at
lunch, noon hour supervisors look after the students (see Appendix F).
Year Five (2007- 2008)

The final year of the five year implementation saw the playground as a major
area of concern (see Appendix G). In January, February, and May, the school saw
unsafe and rough behaviour as a huge concern. As discussed from previous years'
data, it would be beneficial to have the time of day the behaviour took place be
noted and classified on the print-out of data.
During the first year of the program, 2003-2004, the majority of the SIR's
identified disrespect towards staff. The next year, this number declined. The data
showed that through the implementation of teaching positive behaviour to students,
they respected both themselves and others. It appears that since year three,

40

disrespect has again become an area of concern. The data from the past year have
reflected that the behaviour of the students has declined and reverted back to
disrespect that goes as far as physical violence. It became evident through looking
at the data over the five year period that it was time to address again the problem
behaviour areas in the school and engage the staff in following the EBS strategies
that made our school a safe, positive, kind, and respectful place.
However, having noted these changes, it is also apparent that there has been
an overall decrease in misbehaviour since the inception of EBS. The cycle has been
a bit up and down over the past five years, but it has seen a dramatic decrease
since year one. This is a milestone for my school and it adds support to the fact that
EBS has worked in my school in a systems-wide fashion, and we now need to
address certain areas that appear to need more support than do others.
We have not surveyed the staff in the last two years to find out if they are
happy with the program. This will be something to be done next year when we
refresh the program. It has suited the needs of our school and has run quite
positively over the past 5 years. The EBS program needs 80% support from the staff.
This has been a struggle over the years. Some staff feel that their classroom
management works for them and they are not keen to take on something new. Other
staffs engage in the EBS strategies and then fall back on routines that have worked
for them in the past rather than continuing to focus on positive expectations. As
some research has suggested, it is easier to deal with misbehaviour through
reactionary measures (Maag, 2001 ), rather than continually re-teach, model, and
support what positive behaviour should look like.

41

Chapter Five
Implications
Where Can We Go?
Based on the data, it appears that some aspects of our program need assistance.
1. Our BIR's need to have the time of day recorded on them. We need to be
able to disaggregate the data so we know if the types of behaviour are
occurring at recess or lunch. The reason for this is so that we can see if
students are struggling with their behaviour while teachers are on the
playground or while noon-hour supervisors are on the playground. Teachers
also have a stronger relationship with students and a common .language
because they are with the students for much longer periods of time than are
the noon-hour supervisors who work with the students only during that time
period and may not have access to EBS materials and resources to deal with
the students.
2. Looking at the data on a monthly basis would help put a plan in place to deal
with students who need extra assistance. We could analyse where and when
the students were struggling and then do some re-teaching before the
negative behaviour took place. For example, January appears to be a month
that students lapse into forgetting positive behaviour fundamentals. Reteaching in the first week of January of all expected positive behaviour, as
well as blitzing SPARKS so we focus on what the students are doing well
should be mandated for all staff in order that students have subtle and

42

positive reminders of how they should behave. Although this has been
attempted previously, it has not been consistently continued or completed.
3. A manual very similar to the EBS manual we have needs to have more
information for staff. In particular it needs to specify the types of lessons that
can be delivered to students. This is to ensure that when students are
struggling, teachers have lesson plans at their finger tips to indicate and
reinforce the positive behaviour expected at our school.
4. A manual for noon-hour supervisors could be put together. They have a more
difficult job with the students because they do not have the connections to the
students or the access to the professional development opportunities or EBS
resources that teachers have. One of them could be on the EBS committee in
order that he or she could be trained to understand the program and serve as
a leader of it for the other supervisors. This could allow supervisors to be
represented and to offer their suggestions for building improved relations with
the students.
5. The EBS program also needs to renew the support of staff members by
providing new lesson plans, recognizing their commitment, and rewarding
their successful contributions. These initiatives combined with sharing the
data used to evaluate the long-term results of the program will help them to
see its lasting changes and success.
6. Formation of an EBS team with teaching staff, administration, and noon-hour
supervisors in order that the team holds monthly meetings to analyze data,

43

suggest strategies to deal with problem areas (playground) and problem
times (January and February).
7. Continue professional development and attend the "Making Connections"
conference in order to learn, refresh, and invigorate the program with the EBS
team.
8. Include parents and students in EBS meetings to seek their input and ideas
on the EBS program and how it can be implemented and used successfully.
9. Playgrounds appear to be the most problematic area at our school. It is time
to have the EBS team look at how we can re-train the staff to deal more
appropriately with this area. Some examples of this retraining are: (1) having
the leadership students put together games for the students so they are
actively engaged in a structured activity while on the playground, (2) retraining staff to reward more of the positive behaviour, and (3) initiating a
more intense action plan for students who consistently misbehave on the
playground.
Conclusion

My journey ends here. After looking at the data and the progress and
implementation of the program, it appears that we have some work to do. Year six
has been a "holding" year for lack of a better expression. With the new
administration, the loss of one of the school EBS coaches, and the lack of time
commitment by the remaining coach (who went back into the class full time) we have
some work to do.

44

It is now March 2009 of Year Six. An EBS team has been formed with five
members. One of the new members is a noon hour supervisor who can share the
information from the team with her colleagues. Because the team is newly formed,
we will be having meetings just to get to know the program better. One of the new
team members is already trained in EBS strategies from a previous school. It will be
an exciting time to have the team start focussing on all strategies that EBS employs.
The only drawback is the administration has not joined the team. They have made
time available for the team to get together; however, it has not been enforced by
those involved. We are in the process of focussing on the playground area at recess
and lunch to see if we can brainstorm activities for students to keep themselves and
others busy in a respectful way. The team will meet in early May to make a list of
these games and activities and find ways to have them supervised and
implemented.
One of the exciting things to have happened this past year is the formation of
the EBS team which the school has never had. It had solely relied on the two
coaches to implement, plan, and deliver all the activities to the staff. Now that more
members are on the team, the delivery process can be divided among those
involved and more activities may take place headed up by different members of the
team. At the first meeting, the excitement that was being generated by the team was
something that had not happened in the last year. Ideas were flowing and people
were willing to take on new roles and find out information from others in the district
that they knew may give suggestions for different events to try, such as PEP rallies,
house team celebrations, playground game booklets, leadership students' activities

45
surrounding SPARK, and others. I look forward to being part of this team that has
brought some enthusiasm back to the program and will help take ownership of
making it as exciting and adventurous as was during the initial start up of the
program six years ago. Now that a team has been put in place, they can share their
enthusiasm with others; in turn, this will have a ripple effect in drawing others into
the program in a more consistent and stronger fashion. Rather than having just two
people always sharing the ideas, now five can share and bring their new ideas into
the program. Because the staff have been exposed to the past five years of EBS
ideas, they can help assess what they feel has worked and what they feel needs
work using fresh "eyes" to do that. This is an exciting time for me. I feel very
passionate about this program and now have colleagues who are starting to feel the
same. Maybe my enthusiasm has started to take hold on others. I look forward to
this new journey with my colleagues. Working with the new team may help invite
others to join the team and/or find a renewed interest in the program in order to gain
the 80% staff support needed to keep the program as successful as it can be.
Engaging the older students in leadership roles and on the EBS team may
help gain their interest. Students could organize playground games and be involved
in the setting up of events, for example SPARK assemblies in order to assist with
EBS activities. To inform and engage parents in the program, it may help to have an
open house at the beginning of the school year in order to familiarize the parents
with EBS and the SPARK philosophy within the school.
It is also time to re-engage the staff with a stronger commitment to the
program . In our EBS team meetings this will be a topic of discussion to see if we can

46
come up with some ideas on how to engage the staff in continuing to teach, reteach, and recognize when students are engaging in positive behaviours. It is
evident that students like to be praised for doing a good job; therefore, it is also
evident that staff members need to be recognized as well. It may be time to bring
back small treats for staff members who have been "caught" engaging in SPARK
activities. The EBS team will also be asked what types of activities can it do to make
sure we have 80% buy in from the staff and how will we know if this is occurring.
These discussions will take place in the upcoming months and early next school
year.
A new 5 year plan and an EBS booklet have been put together (see
Appendix K). It is now time to act on the suggested ideas using the new team, new
ideas, refreshed old ideas, and some energy from a group of people who have
committed to employing and implementing the strategies of EBS that have made our
school the successful one it has become.

47
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48

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50

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51

Appendix A
Spark Matrix

SPARK

All Settings

Hallway/
Foyer

Playground

Washroom

Library

Gym/
Change
Rooms
Computer
Lab
Office Area

Be
Safe

Be
Positive

Achieve

Soar
To
Success

Be
Respectful

Be
Kind

52

AppendixB
PAC Presentation
Sept. 16, 2003
Effective Behaviour Support
EBS is:

- a school wide positive beahviour support system
systematic and individualized strategeies to achieve social and learning
outcomes
preventative (problem behaviours)
not a curriculum. It's a process for decision-making, planning and problem
solving
behavioural expectations are taught

SPARK

- S is for Safe. We' ll promote safety in all areas of the school. We'll take
2 weeks and focus just on safety.
P is for Positive. We'll teach what "positive" looks like. Children will be
recognized for behaviours they're doing correctly (spark tickets).
A is for Achieve. An important focus for out school.
R is for Respect and Responsibility.
K is for Kind

SPARK tickets

These will be given out by all staff members to student whoa re meeting
the behavioural expectations in our school. The goal is fm: all staff to
interact with as many students as they can at all times, not just at recess
and not just the students in their class.

Levels of behaviour. Level 1 will be dealt with by the classroom teacher and these
behaviours are usually defined by one time offenses.
Level 2 are chronic behaviours exhibited by students who have not
responded to the waming(s) they were initially given about their
behaviour.
Level 3 behaviours are immediate referrals to the office (fighting, etc.)

53
EBS allows for and teaches social responsibility to all members of a school system from
administration, to the students themselves, as well as the parent community. We must teach
positive expectations to students. We can't assume all students know. It is our responsibility
to help them remember. And for every 1 warning to a student about inappropriate behaviour,
we will give 6-8 positive "sparks" to those students who are following the behavioural
expectations as outline in our behaviour matrix.
In a school of 400+ students, it is extremely important that students feel safe and secure in
order to improve their ability to learn. EBS will allow us to do that.

54

E.55 promotes a positive school climate
What is E_I)S?
E_I)S stand tor E_ttective I)ehaviour Support. It is a team approach
including entire staff, students and communit!.:J, building consensus to assess
a school's needs and develop the following components:

*Mission statement
*fositivei!.:J state behaviour expectations or rules (matrix)
*Strategies tor encouraging rule expections (SfARKS)
*Strategies tor discouraging rule violations
*f roceducre s tor monitoring and record keeping

55

What is SPAru<. and what does it Stand for?

SPAru<. is an acronym for school wide expectations within
southridge ElementarY. It Stands fOr S= Safe, 'P='POSitive,
A=AChieve, R=Respect, and K=Kind. Students are taught
expected behaviours and then when theY are caught exhibiting
these behaviours, theY are rewarded with a coupon, which we
have labelled SPARK. on the coupon it maY Stat WhiCh part Of
SPAru<. the student is rewarded for and it also has the teacher
and Student name on it. These coupons are then put into a
Classroom or school-wide draw and the Students' names are
drawn weeKlY or monthlY and theY win small prizes.

The expectation for this "reward SYStem" is that initiallY students
Will be excited about receiving rewards and recognition for their
behaviour. EventuallY, these "reward coupons" will be phased
out and the Student will intrinsicallY follow the school wide
expectations for SPAru<..

56
Appendix C

2003-2004 Data
Year 1

Summary of Behaviours by Location
2003/2004 Southridge Elementary School

Location

Count

0

Class

83

34.2%

Gym

1

0.4%

Hallway

5

2.1%

Washroom

0

0.0%

Playground

147

60.5%

En Route

1

0.4%

Bus

0

0.0%

Other

5

2.1%

Total Records

243

100%

/o

57

Year 1

Total Action Taken Summary
2003/2004 Southridge Elementary School
Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Problem Solving
discussion

0

2

7

11

5

6

7

11

5

1

55

Think Paper

0

2

2

2

1

6

1

0

1

2

17

Time Out

1

1

2

4

0

4

1

5

2

0

20

Recess/Lunch
restriction

0

0

8

13

7

10

1

8

3

0

50

Detention

0

0

23

7

1

9

3

1

0

0

44

SBT Referral

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

Other

0

0

0

2

4

14

0

0

0

'2

22

Monthly Totals

1

6

43

39

18

49

13

25

11

5

210

58

Year 1

Total Minor Referrals Summary
2003/2004 for Southridge Elementary School

Unsafe

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

0

1

11

22

3

4

1

5

2

0

49

Minor Vandalism

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

3

Out of assigned area

0

2

2

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

5

Throwing Objects

0

0

25

10

2

37

3

1

2

3

83

Disruptions

1

1

4

17

9

11

2

6

5

1

57

Indifference

0

1

0

2

0

0

0

0

2

0

5

Hands On

0

1

1

0

0

7

4

12

1

2

28

Chewing Gum

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Profanity

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

1

1

0

4

Arguing

0

1

2

1

0

4

0

2

0

0

10

Chronic Tardy

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Disrespect

0

8

10

8

5

6

7

2

1

1

48

Non-compliance

1

5

2

1

3

8

3

2

4

0

29

Other

0

1

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

4

Monthly Totals

2

22

58

65

22

78

20

32

18

8

325

59

AppendixD

2004-2005 Data
Year2

Summary of Behaviours by Location
2004/2005 Southridge Elementary School

Location

Count

%

Class

47

28.7%

Gym

2

1.2%

Hallway

6

3.7%

Washroom

4

2.4%

Playground

81

49.4%

En Route

7

4.3%

Bus

0

0.0%

Other

4

2.4%

Total Records

164

92%

60

Year2

Total Action Taken Summary
2004/2005 Southridge Elementary School
Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Problem Solving
discussion

15

8

10

7

9

21

1

10

14

10

105

Think Paper

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

1

6

4

13

Time Out

0

0

0

4

1

1

1

1

1

1

10

Recess/Lunch
restriction

5

0

8

2

1

0

1

4

4

0

25

Detention

2

8

4

0

2

0

0

1

1

1

19

SBT Referral

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Other

1

1

2

2

1

3

0

3

1

6

20

Monthly Totals

23

17

24

17

14

25

3

20

27

22

192

61

Year2

Total Major Misbehaviours Summary
2004/2005 for Southridge Elementary School

Bullying

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

4

0

1

7

2

0

15

0

9

Dangerous
Behaviour

0

2

0

1

3

4

1

2

Disobedience

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

1

Disrespectful

0

1

0

0

1

3

3

3

8

0

19

Fighting

1

0

0

2

1

2

0

3

5

2

16

Hands On

1

0

0

0

0

4

2

0

1

0

8

Lying

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Snowballing

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Swearing

1

0

2

0

0

1

0

0

1

0

5

Theft

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Vandalism

0

0

3

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

4

Tardy

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Drugs/Alcohol

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

Other

1

0

0

0

1

0

2

3

1

2

10

Monthly Totals

6

4

5

4

7

16

8

17

25

5

97

7

62

AppendixE
2005-2006 Data
Year 3

Summary of Behaviours by Location
2005/2006 Southridge Elementary School
Location

Count

o;o

Class

28

17.3%

Gym

3

1.9%

Hallway

7

4.3%

Washroom

9

5.6%

Playground

98

60.5%

En Route

10

6.2%

Bus

0

0.0%

Other

6

3.7%

Total Records

162

99%

63

Year 3

Total Action Taken Summary
2005/2006 Southridge Elementary School
Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Problem Solving
discussion

2

9

ll

18

8

7

1

0

2

0

58

Think Paper

0

0

2

1

0

0

1

2

0

0

6

Mandatory Home
Contact

0

0

4

2

1

3

0

2

0

0

12

Recess/Lunch
restriction

3

3

8

3

2

1

0

5

4

0

29

Community Service

1

1

6

5

8

5

3

3

1

0

33

Reminder of Code of
Conduct

0

0

0

0

29

10

2

8

5

1

55

Other

0

2

13

12

17

1

3

13

5

2

68

Monthly Totals

6

15

44

41

65

27

10

33

17.

3

261

64

Year 3

Total Major Misbehaviours Summary
2005/2006 for Southridge Elementary School

Bullying

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

5

0

0

7

5

3

50

0

19

Unsafe/Rough
Behaviour

5

4

8

8

8

5

1

3

Disobedience

0

1

0

4

8

5

1

0

Disrespectful

0

3

4

7

8

3

3

5

7

0

40

Fighting

0

2

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

4

Disruption

0

0

0

0

2

2

0

0

1

·0

5

Lying

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

1

3

Snowballing

0

0

4

0

19

4

4

0

0

0

3I

Swearing

0

0

1

2

I

0

0

0

I

1

6

Theft

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Vandalism

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Truancy

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Drugs/Alcohol

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Other

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

I

1

4

Monthly Totals

5

10

I8

23

48

I9

9

I7

15

6

170

0

65

Appendix F
2006-2007 Data
Year4

Summary of Behaviours by Location
2006/2007 Southridge Elementary School

/o

Location

Count

0

Class

23

22.8%

Gym

2

2.0%

Hallway

8

7.9%

Washroom

3

3.0%

Playground

54

53.5%

En Route

0

0.0%

Bus

0

0.0%

Other

8

7.9%

Total Records

101

97%

66

Year4

Total Action Taken Summary
2006/2007 Southridge Elementary School
Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Problem
Solving
discussion

1

1

5

1

0

4

7

1

0

0

20

Think Paper

0

0

0

1

0

1

2

0

0

1

5

Mandatory
Home Contact

1

0

0

0

2

2

2

1

1

2

11

Recess/Lunch
restriction

2

2

1

2

1

7

4

0

3

4

26

Community
Service

1

1

4

2

0

0

2

0

4

0

14

Reminder of
Code of
Conduct

6

12

9

6

0

9

5

0

11

3

61

Other

3

4

4

0

0

2

4

0

9

2

28

Monthly Totals

14

20

23

12

3

25

26

2

28

12

165

67

Year4

Total Misbehaviours Summary
2006/2007 for Southridge Elementary School

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Bullying

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

7

0

8

Unsafe/Rough
Behaviour

7

9

5

0

2

2

1

0

4

1

31

Disobedience

0

0

3

1

0

0

0

0

5

15

Disrespectful

0

3

4

3

0

4

6

0

8

2

30

Fighting

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

0

2

Disruption

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

3

5

Lying

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Snowballing

0

3

2

8

0

4

0

0

0

0

17

Swearing

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Theft

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

1

Vandalism

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

0

4

Truancy

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Drugs/Alcohol

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

·o

0

Other

0

I

0

0

0

1

0

0

3

2

7

Monthly Totals

9

16

14

12

2

11

9

1

33

13

120

6

68

Appendix G

2007-2008 Data
Year 5

Summary of Behaviours by Location
2007-2008 Southridge Elementary School
Location

Count

0

Class

28

20.0%

Gym

6

4 .3%

Hallway

6

4.3%

Washroom

4

2.9% ·

Playground

91

65 .0%

En Route

0

0.0%

Bus

0

0.0%

Other

5

3.6%

Total Records

140

100%

/o

69

Year 5

Total Action Taken Summary
2007/2008 Southridge Elementary School
Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Year

Problem Solving
discussion

5

4

0

5

4

5

9

11

2

0

45

Think Paper

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Mandatory
Home Contact

1

2

1

2

0

1

2

2

0

0

11

Recess/Lunch
restriction

3

4

4

7

4

4

4

11

3

0

44

Community
Service

0

2

1

3

1

0

2

0

4

0

13

Reminder of
Code of Conduct

6

5

4

8

15

17

22

19

17

2

115

Other

1

0

0

2

3

3

4

14

6

2

35

Monthly Totals

16

17

10

27

27

30

43

57

32

4

263

70

Year 5

Total Misbehaviours Summary
2007/2008 for Southridge Elementary School

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar Apr

May

Jun

Year

Bullying

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

3

1

0

5

Unsafe/Rough
Behaviour

7

4

4

8

13

13

2

6

15

2

74

Disobedience

0

0

0

0

1

0

5

1

1

0

8

Disrespectful

2

0

0

2

3

2

1

10

5

3

28

Fighting

0

2

0

2

0

0

2

2

0

0

8

Disruption

0

0

0

0

0

3

0

0

1

3

7

Lying

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

0

0

2

Snowballing

0

0

0

0

0

2

14

0

0

0

16

Swearing

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

Theft

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Vandalism

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Truancy

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Drugs/Alcohol

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Other

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

Monthly Totals

9

6

5

12

17

20

25

25

23

8

150

71

Appendix H
School Plan For Student Success
Southridge Elementary
School Plan For Student Success
2006-2007
Goal2:

To improve Social Responsibility

Objective 2.1 Primary and intermediate student will demonstrate socially responsible
behaviour within a safe, orderly environment.

Strategies:
1. School-wide expectations will be consistently taught to each student the first week of

school in

September; these expectations will also be thoroughly reviewed the first week after
Christmas and after Spring Break
1. In September, the students will be placed in multi-age teru,ns for one day
and will participate in a school-wide common curriculum focused on
social responsibility.

2. The next day, the school will come together as a group and interact with a
motivational speaker to further emphasize our social responsibility goals.
2. SPARK core values (Safety, Positive Attitude, Achievement, Respect, and Kindness) will
be re-introduced as school-wide monthly themes at student-led assemblies. The schedule is
as follows: September Focus - Safety; October Focus- Positive Attitude; November FocusRespect; December Focus - Kindness; Focus on Achievement in all months ..
3. "SPARK" tickets will be used in September to recognize and reinforce positive student
behaviour, with a particular focus on safety.
4. The social responsibility goal will continue to be a focal point in the culture of the school:
- the Southridge Code of Conduct (Matrix) and SPARK core values have been printed on
large posters and placed throughout the school (office, foyer, gym, new wing); smaller
posters are in each classroom;
- SPARK banners will be created and posted in the gym;
- the revised mission statement will be displayed on a sign in the front foyer

72
5. Students will self-evaluate their performance at the beginning and end of each term.
- In September, all students (grade 1-7) will receive explicit instruction on using the Social
Responsibility standard (Contributing to the Classroom and School Community, Solving
Problems in Peaceful Ways, Valuing Diversity/Respect, Exercising Responsibility). The
primary focus will be on the first social responsibility strand, Contributing to the Classroom
and School Community.
- In September, all students (grade 1-7) will receive explicit instruction on the rating scales of
the Social Responsibility Standard: 1 -not yet; 2 -minimally meeting; 3 -fully meeting; 4exceeding.
-Student from grades 1 - 7 will use a "friendly" self-evaluation form for goal setting and
self-monitoring. Teachers will receive a "draft" outline in September that can be modified to
suit the specific needs of their classroom community. The outline will refer to the strands and
rating scales of the Social Responsibility Performance Standard.
- From the self-evaluation form, students will create a Social Responsibility Action Plan for
Primary students will focus on "Working and Playing Together"
each term.
Intermediate students will focus on "Making A Difference"
(see objective 2.3)
-At the end of each term, students will assess their progress related to their Individual Action
Plan and based on this assessment, create a new plan for the following term.
Objective 2.2 Primary and Intermediate student will demonstrate knowledge of how to solve

problems in peaceful ways.
Strategies:

1. In October 2006, in conjunction with the school-wide theme on "Positive Attitude"
students will receive explicit instruction on the "problem solving" model, WITS: Walk away,

Ignore, Talk it out, Seek help.

Instruction will be consistent with the format established in September and will focus
specifically on the social responsibility strand, Solving Problems In Peaceful Ways.
2."SP ARKs" will be used in October to recognize and reinforce positive student behaviour
with a particular focus on appropriate problem solving behaviour.
3. In term two (January) all students will complete the Focus on bullying Lessons assigned to
their grade. Lessons will include a correct and clear definition of bullying/teasing/being
picked on and "fairness". As well guest speakers will give age-appropriate presentations to
student son bullying, exclusion and/or racism.
4. Kindergarten students will continue to participate in the Roots of Empathy program (if it's
still available) that focuses on raising levels of empathy in children, resulting in more
respectful and caring relationship and reduced levels of bullying and aggression.

73
5. The Behaviour Incident Report will be revised to compliment BCeSIS.

Objective 2.3 Primary and Intermediate students will demonstrate respect for themselves,
others
and the environment in a community focused on "healthy eating and active living".
1. In November 2006, in conjunction with the school-wide theme on "Respeyt" students will
receive explicit instruction on ways to respect themselves, others and the environment.
Instruction will be consistent with the format established in September and will focus
specifically on the social responsibility strand, Valuing Diversity.
2."SPARKS" will be used in November to recognize and reinforce positive student
behaviour, with a particular focus on respectful behaviour.
3. Throughout the year, Primary and Intermediate students will develop and maintain
"Healthy Eating and Active Living" strategies (respect for self).
- All students will participate in Action Schools BC a best practices physical activity model
designed to assist schools in promoting healthy living.
- Southridge staff will examine the healthy living programs, Act Now and Healthy Buddies
to determine ifthere is a "fit" with present goals. Both programs focus on the healthy eating
component ofhealth and wellness.
- Students will be encouraged to participate in school-wide activities that focus on healthy
lunches, proper hand-washing techniques, and walking to and from school in the Fall and in
the Spring.
- Students will be encouraged to participate in noon-hour and extra-curricular activities
sponsored by staff, parent volunteers, playground supervisors, and student leaders.
-Walking program.
- Southridge student will continue to participate in the Diabetes Study in conjunction with the
medical faculty ofUNBC. This project monitors students at Southridge School for predetermining factors ofType 2 Diabetes.

Objective 2.4 Intermediate students will demonstrate leadership and a service ethic at
Southridge School.

Strategies:
1. In December, 2006 in conjunction with the school-wide theme on "Kindness- Making the
World A Better Place" student will receive explicit instruction on ways to demonstrate
responsibility towards the classroom, school, community and world.
Instruction will be consistent with the format established in September and will focus
specifically on the social responsibility strand, Exercising Responsibility.

74
2. Student leaders from grades 5 - 7 will meet regularly with the Student Leadership Team to
plan, implement, and assess school initiatives. They will initiate various activities designed to
encourage their personal leadership skills and develop school spirit. They will:
-plan and implement school events and activities such as "special days", noon-hour clubs,
and a playground program for younger students at lunchtime;
-assist with the planning and running of House Team initiatives such as the following:
weekly SPARK draws, school spirit challenges, and Friday "spirit rallies" (e.g. Survivor)
- participate in public speaking activities such as morning announcements and student-led
assemblies;
-have the opportunity to attend at least one leadership conference/retreat per year;
Tutor younger students upon request.
3. Student leaders from grades 1- 4? Me to We Club?
4. Intermediate student will fulfill a school service component as part of their Social
Responsibility Action Plan.

75

Appendix I
EBS Booklet (2004-2005)

AN INTRODUCTION TO
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (PBS)
Promoting A Positive School Climate

What is PBS?
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) is a collaborative approach that focuses on the creation of
a safe, caring, and orderly school climate. The Positive Behaviour Support system includes
staff, students and community in first assessing a school's needs and then developing and
implementing a comprehensive school-wide plan to meet these needs.

Components of PBS
•

Mission statement

•

Clearly defined, positively stated behavioural expectations (i.e. the SPARK matrix)

•

Procedures for directly teaching these expectations

•

Strategies for encouraging and maintaining expected behaviours (i.e. SPARKS)

•

Procedures for monitoring, record keeping, and decision-making

Operating Assumptions
PBS is based on the following assumptions:
•

Behaviour is learned

•

Behaviour is predictable

•

Behaviour can be changed through an instructional approach

Goal of a School-Wide PBS System
The PBS system is designed to promote a positive school culture where the focus is on

teaching and learning social skills in order to create an environment that:
•

Supports sustained use of effective practices

•

Improves the fit between what the problem is and what we do about it

•

Maximizes student achievement and social competence of students.

Benefits of a School-Wide Approach

76

•

Consistency from staff member to staff member

•

No questions as to "who deals with what"

•

Data-driven

•

Community supported

COMPONENTS OF
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
The Mission Statement

At Southridge School, our focus is on
the learner.
Our goal is to provide the best
possible learning experiences for
each student within a respectful, safe
and caring environment.

''Soar To Success''

77

....

o

~

~

..

COMPONENTS OF
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Clearly defined, positively stated behavioral expectations: the SPARK Matrix
SPARK is an acronym for school-wide expectations within Southridge Elementary.
•

S is for Safe

•

P is for Positive

•

A is for Achieve: "Soar to Success!"

•

R is for Respect

•

K is for Kind.

The behavioural expectations for Southridge have been developed by staff and students in
conjunction with the parent community. They have been condensed into a set of clearly
defined, positively stated "rules" and placed on a grid called the "SPARK matrix" (see next

page).

The SPARK grid has been printed and laminated for each classroom. It should be posted in
each class and discussed thoroughly at the beginning of the year and after Christmas and
Spring Break. Large posters have also been printed and will be displayed in prominent areas
of the school as a visible reminder of Southridge behavioural expectations.

78

SPARK

Be
Safe

Be
Positive

Keep yourself to
yourself

Take pride in ourselves. others,
and our school
Greet people in a friendly
manner

Walko!
appropriate
pace on the
right side
Keep yourself to
yourself

Greet people
Be polite

Play safe
Hands and feet
to yourself

Cooperate
Clean up
Share
Choose positive activities

Use facility
quickly and
quietly

Use facility quickly and quietly

Walk
Keep yourself to
yourself

Treat books and equipment
with care

Listen carefully to
directions and
follow them
Keep yourself to
yourself

Play fairl y
Display good sportsmanship

Listen carefully to
directions and
follow them
Keep yourself to
yourself

Treat equipment with care

Walk quietly
Pay attention to
where you are
going

Use good manners

All Settings

Hallway/
Foyer

Playground

Washroom

Library

Gym/
Change
Rooms

Computer
Lab

Office Area

Achieve

en

0

•
IIIII

~

en
c

n
n

••
•

Be Respectful

Be polite
Use appropriate
language
Honour others '
beliefs and
differences
Give everyone a
fresh start each day
Greet people
Be polite
Move quietly
Remove hats and
outside shoes

Use garbage cans
Listen respectfully to
supervisors and
follow directions the
first time they are
given
Respect others '
privacy

Be
Kind
Help each
other
Use
appropriate
language

Represent
our school
positively

Use
appropriate
language
Get help if
needed
Take turns
and share
equipment
Use facilities
appropriatel
y
Help others if
necessary

Use quiet voices
Treat books with
respect

Share books

Follow routines and
play safely

Display good
sportsmanshi
p

Treat equipment
with respect

Help others
when
necessary

Greet office staff
respectfully
Wait patiently

Use good
manners
Wait
patiently

79

COMPONENTS OF
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Procedures for directly teaching the expectations
PBS is instructionally based. Consequently, expected behaviours must be taught consistently
throughout the school. School-wide expectations will be introduced to students during the
first two days of school. At that time, students will be placed in grade groups (primary and
intermediate) and will participate in a social responsibility curriculum entitled "Building
Community''. These expectations will also be thoroughly reviewed the first week after
Christmas and after Spring Break.

Instruction Timeline:
Teachers will introduce the SPARK core values during the first term as school-wide themes:

Be Safe - We will promote safety in all areas of the school throughout the year. As well,
safety is the instructional focus in September.

Be Positive- Positive attitude will be highlighted in October.
Achieve - Achievement is the fundamental focus of every school. It will be continually
promoted throughout the year.

Be Respectful - Respect will be highlighted in November.
Be Kind - Kindness is the focus of the month of December.
During terms two and three, teachers will present focused lessons on social responsibility that
will include:
•

The language of SPARK

•

A correct and clear definition of bullying/teasing

•

Solving problems in peaceful ways (using WITS)

•

Empathy skills for boys and girls

•

Respect and valuing diversity

80

COMPONENTS OF
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (continued)
Strategies for encouraging expected behaviour: SPARKS
Spark tickets (SPARKs) will be given out by all staff members to students who are meeting
the behavioural expectations in our school. The goal is for all staff members to interact with
as many students as they can at all times. Staff members are encouraged to give SPARKs to

any students modeling the requisite social skills, not just to the students in their class.
Students are taught expected social skills and rewarded on an intermittent basis when they
exhibit these behaviours. On the SPARK coupon it may indicate which part of SPARK the
student is rewarded for; the coupon is then put into a classroom or school-wide draw.
Student names are drawn weekly or monthly for small prizes.
Emphasis is on positive reinforcement: for every 1 warning, we give 6-8 positive "sparks" to
those students who are following the school-wide behavioural expectations as outlined in the
matrix.
The expectations for this "reward system" is that initially students will be excited about
receiving recognition and/or rewards for their behaviours with the hope that eventually these
"reward" coupons will be phased out and the students will be intrinsically rewarded by
following the school-wide expectations for SPARK.

81

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Procedures for Monitoring, Record Keeping, & Decision Making

Behaviour Incident Report
Students who are not meeting school-wide behavioural expectations will be written up on an office referral
form, Behaviour Incident Report (BIR). This form is to be filled out by the attending staff member for minor
and major incidents. The BI Report is in triplicate: the office receives the top copy, the classroom teacher
receives the second copy, and the student may receive the third copy to take home, have signed by a parent, and
return the next school day.

Minor Incident:
•

Level One and Level Two Behaviours

•

Concentration should be on the behaviour and consequences rather than the child

•

Consequences will be assigned by the supervising teacher (reminder, brief conference, loss of
privileges, detention, time-out, community service, apology, short term behaviour contract); and may
be followed up by the homeroom teacher

•

3 minor incidents in one term = 1 major

•

Repeat offences might result in an in-school suspension, or full suspension, depending on the nature of
the incidents, their frequency, and the history of consequences. Every effort should be made to solicit
parental support and involvement when dealing with repeated inappropriate behaviour.

Major Incident:
•

Level Three Behaviours (or three Minor Incidents in one term)

•

Consequences will be given by an Administrator

•

Disciplinary procedures may include the following : a discussion, a phone call to the parents, a
reflective paper, an in-school suspension, a letter to the parents, a conference with parents, an action
plan for restitution, a behaviour plan/contract, a report or referral to the District Student Conduct
Review Committee (SCRC).

•

Formal Suspension will be issued in extreme cases (drugs, alcohol, or after numerous efforts have
proven ineffective). This may range from 1-5 days.

82

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Procedures for Monitoring, Record Keeping, & Decision Making (continued)

Level 1 Behaviours
Teasing, swearing, disruption, littering,
spitting, unsafe/rough play,
lack of cooperation, put-downs, tardiness,

Action
1.

2.
3.
4.

Reminder of behavioural expectation
Restitution by the student
Documentation {BIR) by the teacher
Optional: home contact by the teacher

incomplete homework, writing on desks,
gum chewing, etc

Level 2 Behaviours

Bullying, theft, disrespecting teacher's
personal

space & belongings,

non-compliance with staff requests,
repetitive Level 1 behaviours,

Action

I.
2.
3.
4.

Reminder ofbehavioura1 expectation
Restitution by the student
Documentation {BIR) by the teacher
Home contact by the teacher

disrespecting other students, cheating, etc.

Level 3 Behaviours

Chronic Level 2 behaviour,
violence, threats, vandalism,
harassment, weapons, blatant defiance,
swearing at staff, inappropriate internet sites,
drugs & alcohol, endangering safety, etc.

Action

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Major Referral to Administration
Documentation
Discipline procedures followed
Home contact by teacher or
administration
Restitution by the student

83

SUMMARY OF EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
EBS is ...
•

A school-wide behaviour support system

•

Proactive, positive, preventative

•

Assessment driven

•

Instructionally based

•

Systematic and individualized strategies designed to achieve social and academic
leaming outcomes

•

A process for decision-making, planning, and problem solving, rather than a
curriculum

Closing Remarks
In a school of approximately 400 students, we believe it is extremely important that all
students feel safe and secure. EBS is a responsive and collaborative approach to creating a
safe, caring, and orderly school climate. We cannot assume that students know the expected
behaviour and, as a result, must educate them regarding desired social conduct. As well, this
positive student behaviour should be recognized and reinforced.
EBS is not a static set of rules and procedures; rather, it is a dynamic process that allows for
continual, school-wide growth through appropriate assessment and monitoring, informed
decision-making, and strategic planning by the critical stakeholders - the staff, students, and
parent community of Southridge Elementary School.

Attachments
1 - Behaviour Incident (BI) Report
2 - Southridge Elementary 5 Year Plan for EBS

84
Attachment 1
Behaviour Incident Report

BEHAVIOUR INCIDENT REPORT
Grade:
Div:

Student:
Teacher:
Time:
Date:
Referred By:
Location:
0 Classroom
0 Gym
0 Hallway

0 Washroom

0 Other

0 Playground
0 EnRoute

Behaviour:

0 Minor
0 Major (circle one - fighting, endangering safety, noncompliance,
disrespect, classroom disruptions, chronic academic indifference,
repeated minors, drugs/alcohol, harassment, swearing, vandalism,
theft, bullying, other )
Details Of The Incident:

Action Taken:

0 Detention

0 SBT Referral

0 Think Paper

0 Community Service

0 TimeOut

0 Other:

0 Recess/Lunch Restriction
0 Problem Solving Discussion
Parent Signature (optional)

85

Attachment 2
Five Year Plan
Five Year Plan: Effective Behaviour Support
Year One (2003-2004)
• Introduce staff and parents to EBS philosophy
• Brainstorm what a successful school looks like in terms of student behaviour
• Create draft Code Of Conduct (SPARK matrix)
• Post the large scale matrix in 3 areas of the school
• Teach expected behaviours
• Recognize and reward expected behaviours
•
Implement "positive reminders"
•
Create a survey for parents and students and students
• Collect and analyze data regarding student behaviour and EBS program
• Evaluate and establish EBS strengths and weaknesses
• Develop a 5-year plan
Year Two (2004-2005)
• Review expectations with returning students
•
Orient new staff
• Revisit the matrix, including students and community in the process
• Identify at-risk students in the Yellow Zone (15%)
• Develop behavioural intervention and support plans
• Collect lesson plans and resources to teach desired behaviours
• Continue to practice, re-teach expected behaviours
•
Continue to strive for full participation
Year Three (2005-2006)
• Review expectations with returning students
• Orient new staff
• Focus on 5% kids in the Red Zone, Create behaviour interventions and support plans.
• Continue Year Two objectives
• Evaluate data
• Vary the rewards
Year Four (2006-2007)

•
•
•
•

Review expectations with returning students
Orient new staff
Evaluate the data: has green zone increased? Have red and yellow decreased?
Continue to encourage staff to participate fully

Year Five (2007-2008)

•
•
•
•
•

Review expectations with returning students
Orient new staff
Evaluate long-term data for trends: Have referrals decreased? Have minors/majors lessened?
Evaluate successes, challenges: What worked? What did not work?
Create a new plan

86
Appendix J
EBS Parent Survey
Southridge School EBS Survey: Parents
The Social Responsibility Team of Southridge Elementary School is currently evaluating the
implementation our Social Responsibility goal. Please take few moments to answer the following
questions. This will help us to determine where we are in terms of parent support and knowledge.
Please have your child bring this survey back to school. You are welcome at any time to drop by the
school and look at the SPARK displays.
When this survey is returned to the school, your child(ren) will be eligible for a draw prize. The
deadline for forms is Thursday, February 9th.
Thank you sincerely from the EBS team'''
N
s u A
A=Always
N =Note yet
U=Usually
S = Sometimes
I am familiar with Southridge Elementary School's social
responsibility goals.
My child talks about social responsibility at home ( eg. Being respectful
etc).
I have heard about SPARK.
I know what a SPARK ticket is.
My child is excited about the SPARK_program.
I can name three of the values my child has been taught at Southridge.
My child has had his/her name drawn from the SPARK draw.
I have read about Social Responsibility and SPARK in our school
newsletters.
I have noticed SPARK related information/activities when I visit the
school.
I think social responsibility is a useful school goal.
I would like to know more about our social responsibility goal.
My child has spoken about the WITS program for solving problems.
I talk about values with my children at home.
We talk about respect/being respectful at home.
If I knew more about EBS/SPARK I would support and talk about it at
home.
My child enjoys the House teams and I know the color of his/her team.
My child is either a student leader or enjoys activities sponsored by the
student leaders.
My child feels safe at school.
My child feels safe on the playground.
000

87

Southridge School EBS Survey: Parents
The Social Responsibility Team of Southridge Elementary School is currently evaluating the
implementation our Social Responsibility goal. Please take few moments to answer the following
questions. This will help us to determine where we are in terms of parent support and knowledge.
Please have your child bring this survey back to school. You are welcome at any time to drop by the
school and look at the SPARK displays.
When this survey is returned to the school, your child(ren) will be eligible for a draw prize. The
deadline for forms is Thursday, February 9th.

...
Thank you sincerely from the EBS team'''
N =Note yet
U=Usually
S = Sometimes
A=Always
I am familiar with Southridge Elementary School's
social responsibility goals.
My child talks about social responsibility at home (eg.
Being respectful etc).
I have heard about SPARK.
I know what a SPARK ticket is.
My child is excited about the SPARK program.
I can name three of the values my child has been
taught at Southridge.
My child has had his/her name drawn from the
SPARK draw.
I have read about Social Responsibility and SPARK in
our school newsletters.
I have noticed SPARK related information/activities
when I visit the school.
I think social responsibility is a useful school goal.
I would like to know more about our social
responsibility goal.
My child has spoken about the WITS program for
solving problems.
I talk about values with my children at home.
We talk about respect/being respectful at home.
If I knew more about EBS/SP ARK I would support
and talk about it at home.
My child enjoys the House teams and I know the color
of his/her team.
My child is either a student leader or enjoys activities
sponsored by the student leaders.
My child feels safe at school.
My child feels safe on the playground.

N

s

u

A

T%

3%

13%

28%

56%

84%

1%

28%

41%

29%

70%

0%
3%
3%
3%

1%
1%
18%
6%

18%
14%
23%
19%

81%
82%
57%
71%

99%
96%
80%
90%

34%

43%

4%

19%

23%

1%

6%

23%

70%

93%

5%

14%

29%

51%

80%

1%
13%

0%
14%

4%
22%

95%
51%

99%
73%

45%

21%

15%

19%

34%

0%
0%
3%

3%
1%
18%

13%
6%
23%

85%
92%
56%

98%
98%
79%

5%

11%

14%

70%

84%

19%

23%

19%

39%

58%

0%
0%

2%
5%

26%
32%

72%
63%

98%
95%

88

Appendix K

EBS Booklet 2008-2009

Southridge Elementary School

Effective Behaviour Support

Staff Handbook

September 2008 to June 2009

89

AN INTRODUCTION TO
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (EBS)
Promoting A Positive School Climate

What is EBS?
Effective Behaviour Support (EBS) is a collaborative approach that focuses on the creation of a
safe, caring, and orderly school climate. The Effective Behaviour Support system includes
staff, students and community in first assessing a school's needs and then developing and
implementing a comprehensive school-wide plan to meet these needs.

Components of EBS

Mission statement

•

Clearly defined, positively stated behavioural expectations (i.e. the SPARK matrix)

•

Procedures for directly teaching these expectations

•

Strategies for encouraging and maintaining expected behaviours (i .e. SPARKS)

•

Procedures for monitoring, record keeping, and decision-making

Operating Assumptions

EBS is based on the following assumptions:

•

Behaviour is learned

•

Behaviour is predictable

•

Behaviour can be changed through an instructional approach

Goal of a School-Wide EBS System
The EBS system is designed to promote a positive school culture where the focus is on teaching

and learning social skills in order to create an environment that:
•

Supports sustained use of effective practices

•

Improves the fit between what the problem is and what we do about it ·

•

Maximizes student achievement and social competence of students.

Benefits of a School-Wide Approach
•

Consistency from staff member to staff member

•

No questions as to "who deals with what"

•

Data-driven

•

Community supported

90

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
The Mission Statement

At Southridge School our focus is on the learner.
I

Our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible learning
experiences for each student within a respectful safe and
I

caring environment .
..Soar To Success"

COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Clearly defined_ positively stated behavioural expectations: the SPARK Matrix
SPARK is an acronym for school-wide expectations within Southridge Elementary.
•

S is for Safe

•

P is for Positive

•

A is for Achieve: "Soar to Success!"

•

R is for Respect

•

K is for Kind.

The behavioural expectations for Southridge have been developed by staff and
students in conjunction with the parent community. They have been condensed into a
set of clearly defined, positively stated "rules" and placed on a grid called the "SPARK
matrix" (see next page). The SPARK grid has been printed and laminated for each
classroom. It should be posted in each class and discussed thoroughly at the beginning
of the year and after Christmas and Spring Break. Large posters have also been
printed and will be displayed in prominent areas of the school as a visible reminder of
Southridge behavioural expectations.
·

91

SPARK Code of Conduct
Everywhere

Safety

Inside( Gym, hallways,

Outs ide(Piaygrounds,

washrooms, computer lab,

basketball courts, fields, to

library, classrooms)

and from school)

Keep yourself to

Keep yourself to yourself!

Keep yourself to

yourself!

Walk quietly, in single file,

yourself!

Listen and follow

to the right

Follow playground rules

instructions

Use facilities quickly and

Seek help when needed

Be nut aware

quietly

Use equipment

Use WITS and make

Turn off personal

appropriately

wise choices when you

electronics and store in

Walk bikes on and off

have a problem

backpacks

the school grounds
Leave all other wheeled

Keep SRES

equipment at home

electronics-free

Positive Acts

Be responsible

Greet people in a

Show leadership

cheerful manner

Smile and complement

Choose appropriate and

Know what SPARK

others

positive outside activities

expectations are and

Participate in and

Demonstrate good

model these at all

contribute to classroom

sportsmanship

times

and group activities

Provide service to the

Take pride in yourself,

Celebrate success for

school

others, and in your

yourself and others!

school

Soar to Success
"Present your best self everyday"

Achieve
Respect

Kindness

Use respectful

Respect rules for each

Respect our environment

speaking and body

area

(eg ., use garbage cans
and recycling bins)

language (eg ., make

Remove hats and outdoor

eye contact)

shoes and boots when

Listen to the

Give everyone a fresh

entering the school

supervisors/staff and

start everyday

Respect the rights of

follow instructions

Clean up after yourself

others to a quiet work

Treat equipment with

Support others if they

space

respect

are treated unfairly

Use inside voices

Go home directly after

Make healthy choices

Leave candy and gum at

school unless in a

(eg ., respect yourself)

home

supervised activity

Be welcoming , friendly,

Treat others the way you

Care for others (eg ., our

kind and helpful

want to be treated

younger students)

Use polite manners

Find ways to help or

Take turns and share

include others

equipment

92
COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT

Procedures for directly teaching the expectations

EBS is instructionally based. Consequently, expected behaviours must be taught
consistently throughout the school. School-wide expectations will be introduced to
students during the first two days of school. At that time, students will be placed in
multi-age groups (primary and intermediate) and will participate in a social
responsibility curriculum entitled "Building Community". These expectations will also be
thoroughly reviewed the first week after Christmas and after Spring Break.

Instruction Time line:

Teachers will introduce the SPARK core values during the first term as school-wide
themes:

Be Safe- We will promote safety in all areas of the school throughout the year. As
well, safety is the instructional focus in September.

Be Positive- Positive attitude will be highlighted in October.
Achieve - Achievement is the fundamental focus of every school. It will be continually
promoted throughout the year.

Be Respectful- Respect will be highlighted in November.
Be Kind- Kindness is the focus of the month of December.
Weekly posters reinforcing these themes will also be introduced to students and then
placed on the bulletin board in the foyer. During Terms Two and Three, primary
teachers will present focused lessons on social responsibility that will include:
• The language of SPARK
•

A correct and clear definition of bullying/teasing and "fairness"

•

Solving problems in peaceful ways

•

Empathy skills for boys and girls

•

Respect and valuing diversity

Emphasis will be placed on empathy and solving problems in peaceful ways.
During Terms Two and Three, intermediate teachers will present focused lessons that
include:
•

The language of SPARK

93
•

A correct and clear definition of bullying/teasing and "fairness"

•

Solving problems in peaceful, respectful, and appropriate ways

•

Empathy skills for boys and girls

Emphasis will be placed on respect, valuing diversity, safety, and bully-free cultures.

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Strategies for encouraging expected behaviour: SPARKS
Spark tickets (SPARKs) will be given out by all staff members to students who are meeting the
behavioural expectations in our school. The goal is for all staff members to interact with as
many students as they can at all times. Staff members are encouraged to give SPARKs to any
students modeling the requisite social skills, not just to the students in their class.

Students are taught expected social skills and rewarded on an intermittent basis when they
exhibit these behaviours.

On the SPARK coupon it may indicate which part of SPARK the

student is rewarded for; the coupon is then put into a classroom or school-wide draw. Student
names are drawn weekly or monthly for small prizes.

Emphasis is on positive reinforcement: for every 1 warning , we give 6-8 positive "sparks" to
those students who are following the school-wide behavioural expectations as outlined in the
matrix.

The expectations for this "reward system" is that initially students will be excited about
receiving recognition and/or rewards for their behaviours with the hope that eventually these
"reward" coupons will be phased out and the students will be intrinsically rewarded by following
the school-wide expectations for SPARK.

94

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Procedures for Monitoring, Record Keeping, & Decision Making

Behaviour Incident Report
Students who are not meeting school-wide behavioural expectations will be written up on an
office referral form, Behaviour Incident Report (BIR). This form is to be filled out by the
attending staff member for minor and major incidents. The BI Report is in triplicate: the office
receives the top copy, •the classroom teacher receives the second copy, and the student may
receive the third copy to take home, have signed by a parent, and return the next school day.

Minor Incident:
•

Level One and Level Two Behaviours

•

Concentration should be on the behaviour and consequences rather than the child

•

Consequences will be assigned by the supervising teacher (reminder, brief conference,
loss of privileges, detention, time-out, community service, apology, short term behaviour
contract); and may be followed up by the homeroom teacher

•

3 minor incidents in one term = 1 major

•

Repeat offences might result in an in-school suspension, or full suspension, depending on
the nature of the incidents, their frequency, and the history of consequences.

Every

effort should be made to solicit parental support and involvement when dealing with
repeated inappropriate behaviour.
Major Incident:
•

Level Three Behaviours (or three Minor Incidents in one term)

•

Consequences will be given by an Administrator

•

Disciplinary procedures may include the following: a discussion, a phone call to the
parents , a reflective paper , an in-school suspension, a letter t o the parents, a
conference with parents, an action plan for rest itution, a behaviour plan/contract, a
report or referral to the District Student Conduct Review Committee (SCRC).

•

Formal Suspension will be issued in extreme cases (drugs, alcohol , or after numerous
efforts have proven ineffective). This may range from 1-5 days.

95

COMPONENTS OF
EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
Procedures for Monitoring, Record Keeping, & Decision Making (continued)
Level 1 Behaviours
Teasing, swearing, disruption, littering,
spitting, unsafe/rough play,
lack of cooperation, put-downs, tardiness,
incomplete homework, writing on desks,
gum chewing , etc

Level 2 Behaviours
Bullying, theft , disrespecting teacher's
personal space & belongings,
non-compliance with staff requests,
repetitive Levell behaviours,
disrespecting other students, cheating, etc.

Level 3 Behaviours
Chronic Level 2 behaviour ,
violence, threats, vandalism, blatant
defiance, swearing at staff, accessing
inappropriate internet sites , drugs

& alcohol , endangering safety of others,
etc.

Action
5. Reminder of behavioural
expectation
6. Restitution by the student
7. Documentation (BIR) by the
teacher
8. Optional: home contact by the
teacher

Action
5. Reminder of behavioural
expectation
6. Restitution by the student
7. Documentation (BIR) by the
teacher
8. Home contact by the teacher

Action
6. Major Referral to
Administration
7. Documentation
8. Discipline procedures
followed
9. Home contact by teacher or
administration
10. Restitution by the student

96

SUMMARY OF EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT
EBS is ...
•

A school-wide behaviour support system

•

Proactive, positive, preventative

•

Assessment driven

•

Instructionally based

•

Systematic and individualized strategies designed to achieve social and academic
learning outcomes

•

A process for decision-making, planning, and problem solving, rather than a curriculum

Closing Remarks
In a school of approximately 400 students, we believe it is extremely important that all
students feel safe and secure. EBS is a responsive and collaborative approach to creating a
safe, caring, and orderly school climate. We cannot assume that students know the expected
behaviour and , as a result , must educate them regarding desired social conduct. As well, this
positive student behaviour should be recognized and reinforced.

EBS is not a static set of rules and procedures; rather , it is a dynamic process that allows for
continual , school-wide growth through appropriate assessment and monitoring, informed
decision-making, and strategic planning by the critical stakeholders - the staff, students, and
parent community of Southridge Elementary School.

Attachments
l(a) - Behaviour Incident (BI) Report
2(a)- Southridge Elementary 5 Year Plan for EBS

97

Attachment 1 (a)
Behavior Incident Report
BEHAVIOUR INCIDENT REPORT
Student:

Referred By:

Teacher:

Grade:

Date:

Time:

D

Classroom

D

Div:

D

Washroom

Computer Lab

Level 1 - Mild (please circle)

Action Taken:

Unsafe/Rough Behaviour,

D

Reminder of Expectations

Disrespectful Communication,

D

Restitution (Service etc.)

Snowballing, Non-Compliance,

D

Problem Solving Discussion

Disrespect of Property, Disruption,

D

Recess/Lunch Restriction

Truancy, Dishonesty

D

Other (Think Paper etc.)

Level 2 - Moderate (please circle)

Action Taken:

Bullying, Theft, Cheating, Fighting,

D

Reminder of Code of Conduct

Repeat Level 1 Behaviours,

D

Restitution (Service etc.)

More Serious Level 1 Behaviours

D

Problem Solving Discussion

D

Recess/Lunch Restriction

D

Other (Think Paper etc)

D

Mandatory Home Contact -CT

Level 3 - Severe (please circle)

Action Taken:

Chronic Level 1/2 behaviours that

D

warrant SBT and a behaviour plan,
Threat Making, Violence, Blatant
Defiance, Drugs and Alcohol, Weapons
Details of the Incident:

Parent Signature

Major Referral to AO (see Major
Discipline Referral)

D

Mandatory Home Contact by CT
or AO

98

Attachment 2 (a)
Five Year Plan

Five Year Plan: Effective Behaviour Support
Year Six (2008- 2009)
•
•
•
•
•
•

Review expectations with returning students
Orient New Staff
Revisit the matrix and simplify
Evaluate data
Develop new five year plan based on; What's working? What's not? What's next?
Continue to incent staff to participate fully

•
•
•

Review expectations with returning students
Orient new staff
Set yearly plan to celebrate and focus on SPARK goals (i.e., er
~ Christmas Child,
Salvation Army donations) and explore other Kindness acts.
Explore new ways to celebrate EBS (spirit rallies; SPARK blitz three times a year;
involve leadership students in helping others celebrate positive behaviour).
Evaluate the data (3 times per year i.e., November, February and May)
Attend "Making Connections" EBS conference
Continue to incent staff to participate fully

Year Seven (2009- 2010)

•
•
•
•

Year Eight (2010- 2011)
•
•
•
•
•

Review expectations with new students.
Orient new staff.
Revisit the matrix including students and parents in the process
Develop behavioural intervention based on data (What's working? What's not? What's
next?)
Continue to incent staff to participate fully

•
•
•
•
•

Review expectations with new students.
Orient new staff
Attend "Making Connections" EBS conference
Evaluate data
Continue to incent staff to participate fully

•
•
•
•

Review expectations with new students.
Orient new staff
Evaluate data
Continue to incent staff to participate fully

Year Nine (2011 - 2012)

Year Ten (2012 - 2013)