Which Comes First? The Behavior Chicken or the Academic Egg? 11 May 2010 Rachel Brown-Chidsey,...

Which Comes First?The Behavior Chicken or the Academic Egg?

11 May 2010

Rachel Brown-Chidsey, Ph.D., NCSPIride Piechocki, M.S.

Susan Smith

© 2010

1RTI: Chicken and Egg

2

Review of key RTI featuresImportance of behavior for learningImportance of learning for behaviorWhere to start?The consequences of not addressing bothFamily connections and support

Overview

RTI: Chicken and Egg

33

GeneralAcademic Instruction

& Assessment

SupplementarySupplementaryAcademicAcademic

InstructionInstruction& Assessment& Assessment

IntensifiedInstruction

& Assessment

DATA

DATA

DATA

DATA

SPECI

AL

EDUCATI

ON

15%

15%

80% 80%

5%

Positive Behavioral

Interventions & Supports

SupplementarySupplementarySocial SkillsSocial Skills InstructionInstruction

& Assessment& Assessment

Con

tinu

um o

f Aca

dem

ic

Inte

rven

tion

s

Continuum

of Behavior

Interventions


RTI: Chicken and Egg 4

Which Comes First? Both academic skills and pro-social skills are

important for school success Less clear is which of these should be taught

“first” Studies show that when both are taught

explicitly student outcomes improve The absence of one or the other affects the

partner skill Big idea: academic skills and pro-social

behaviors are both equally essential for school success


Importance of Behavior for LearningWhen students have adequate pro-

social skills they do better in learning academic skills

Teaching pro-social behavior helps students do better learning other skills

(Masetti & Bracken, 2010; Todd, Maureen, Terrance, Paul, Brian, & Ann-Marie, 2010)


7

Effective instruction of academic skills improves students’ pro-social behaviors and reduces problem behaviors

When academic skills instruction is at a student’s learning level, fewer problem behaviors are seen

(Partin, Robertson, Maggin, Oliver, & Wehby, 2010; Spaulding, Irvin, Horner, May, Emeldi, Tobin, et al., 2010)

Importance of Learning for Behavior


88

RTI A and B

There are two equal parts to RTI: A and B

RTI A = RTI for AcademicsRTI B = RTI for BehaviorBoth are equally importantNeither can replace the other


Big Idea:

Children do well if they can.


Children do well if they can

All children will do the best they can in schoolNo child seeks to do poorly in reading, math, or writingNo child seeks to become a behavior problemChildren will do as well as the learning environment allows themWhen we improve learning environments we improve outcomes for children


Where to Start?The unit of change is the schoolTeachers & administrators must collaborateUse data to identify the biggest area of need at the school level


Let Data be Your Guide School-wide data can show where the

biggest current needs are Examine school-wide data to learn if

students need the most help in Academic skillsPro-social behaviorsBoth?!


Good News

RTI for behavior will improve some academic skills

RTI for academic skills will improve some pro-social skills

Once one is initiated, starting the next one is way easier!


Types of Academic Data

Curriculum based measures (CBM) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) New England Common Assessment

Program (NECAP) Other standardized measures

completed by ALL students Needs to be standardized so that

comparisons across students are valid


Types of Behavior Data

School-Wide Information System (SWIS) Records all office discipline referrals (ODR)

Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) Brief rating scales on all students

Sociometric scales Teacher or student rankings of students

Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD) Comprehensive rating scale


Interpreting Data

Once universal screening data are in hand, a school-wide team needs to determine the area of greatest need

This can be based on the urgency or consequences of actions Urgency = so many office referrals that the

principal never goes to the bathroom

Consequences = student reading scores are so low that most students will not be ready for the next grade


The Consequences of Not Starting Both academic and behavior data can

reveal important information about students’ likely futures

When students are severely behind in academic skills and/or pro-social skills there are real consequences that will affect the student, school, and community

It’s essential to start somewhere


Early Intervention is Best

Both academic and behavioral interventions increasingly lose effectiveness after 3rd grade Juel, (1998); Kazdin, (1987); Walker & Severson, (1992)

Some researchers have suggested that the window of opportunity to intervene begins to close at age 9 when there is a history of chronic aggressive or antisocial behavior Hemmeter, Ostrosky, & Fox (2006)

Highlights the importance of early intervention to avert more severe challenges Good, Simmons, & Kame’enui (2001); Sugai & Horner,

(2002)19RTI: Chicken and Egg

The Type of Intervention Matters Exclusion and punishment are the most

common responses to conduct disorders in schools.

Lane & Murakami, (1987) Rose, (1988) Nieto, (1999) Sprick, Borgmeier, & Nolet, (2002)

Exclusion and punishment are ineffective at producing long-term reduction in problem behavior

Costenbader & Markson (1998)



Dropping out Adds up High school graduates earn an average of $290,000 more

during their lifespan than high school dropouts Graduates pay $100,000 more in taxes Estimated that State and local governments lose $3.1

billion dollars in tax revenue for each cohort of high school dropouts per year

Estimates that each year California has 120,000 dropouts They will lose approximately $46 billion in taxes or 2.9%

of their Gross State Product over the cost of a lifetime

The Price We Pay Clive Belfield and Henry Levin (2007)


School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports Bully Prevention Programs

Effective Classroom Management Effective Instruction Staff Development Screening/Identifying at-risk youth

Guidance, teachers, etc.

Parent Involvement

Universal Behavioral Interventions

Family Perspectives

Copious research confirms that family-school partnerships yield better outcomes for children

When family members are “tuned in” to what is happening at school, students are stronger both academically and behaviorally

As at school, families cannot choose between a behavior chicken and an academic egg

Both are essential for school and life success


Family Connections with Schools The “right” role for family members in

promoting student academic and school success has been debated for years

What does not work is when teacher and parents blame each other for a student’s problem

Frequent communication and active problem solving are essential for effective family-school partnerships


Common Teacher Concerns

“Teaching behavior is the family’s job”

“I have too much to do each day, I cannot help the student to catch up”

“The student is absent too often for my instruction to work”

“What do you expect? The parents were just like this”


Common Family Concerns

“The teacher only cares about some students.” “Teachers get paid a fortune, but they don’t

do anything.” “What does the teacher expect me to do? I see

the same behavior at home.” “Helping with homework is not my job. I

already went to school and I don’t need to do it again.”

“The teacher does not understand our family traditions and culture.”


Six Types of Parental Involvement, Epstein, et. al. 2002.Six Types of Parental Involvement, Epstein, et. al. 2002.

Getting Past Excuses

Blaming each other does not help the student

When a student has both academic and behavior concerns, family members and teachers must work together toward the common goal of student success

Just meeting each other face-to-face is an important first step

Next, find one common goal that everyone can assist in meeting


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SummaryBoth academic and behavior success

are important Neither the behavior chicken nor

academic egg can be addressed in isolation

Both are equally importantSchool-wide screening data show which

is the most urgent or has the most concerning consequences

Implementing RTI for both requires teamwork and family collaborationRTI: Chicken and Egg

ReferencesBrown-Chidsey, R., Bronaugh, L, & McGraw, K. (2009). RTI in the classroom:

Guidelines and recipes for success. New York: Guilford.

Massetti, G., & Bracken, S. (2010). Classroom academic and social context: relationships among emergent literacy, behavioural functioning and teacher curriculum goals in kindergarten. Early Child Development & Care, 180(3), 359-375. doi:10.1080/03004430801917401.

Partin, T., Robertson, R., Maggin, D., Oliver, R., & Wehby, J. (2010). Using teacher praise and opportunities to respond to promote appropriate student behavior. Preventing School Failure, 54(3), 172-178.

Spaulding, S., Irvin, L., Horner, R., May, S., Emeldi, M., Tobin, T., et al. (2010). Schoolwide social-behavior climate, student problem behavior, and related administrative decisions. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12(2), 60-85.

Todd, H., Maureen A., C., Terrance M., S., Paul T., S., Brian R., B., & Ann-Marie, O. (2010). A comparison of three types of opportunities to respond on student academic and social behaviors. Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, 18(1), 27-40.


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