Dr. George Sugai- An opportunity to hear an expert speak

On September 28, 2010, I attended a conference where Dr. George Sugai, nationally and internationally known expert in the field of PBIS, was the keynote speaker.

His warm, gently, positive personality filled the room and put a very diverse group of learners (new and experienced teacher, BOCES representatives, PBIS teams, guidance counselors, school social workers and school psychologists), administrators, and a parent (me) all at ease.
His words and slides from his PPT had us all scratching on our papers taking notes as rapidly as the ink would flow, so as not to miss one syllable of his presentation.

He frequently referred to the Response-to-Intervention triangle and the triangle of logic. These are references as the variety of needs that students have. The largest percentage of students (80%) deserve PBIS benefits as do the top 5% or the students with the most need for interventions.
He made implementing PBIS seem as necessary as serving school lunches to the health of a school's community. There were light breezes through the room of skepticism but most often there were gusts of approval and agreement for his words.
He made it seem immediately doable. He emphasized, though, the absolute need for parent involvement in implementing PBIS in its most effective manner.

I felt honored to be among such a group, a 10-year veteran parent but not yet an official teacher. I felt welcomed and respected by the other attendees that I met and felt part of a grassroots-type of group. I learned that some districts have had PBIS in place for 9-10 years with great success. The representatives of schools with younger programs envied their successes even though they were experiencing their own successes, albeit slowly.
The afternoon ended with a workshop in district groups to evaluate their need to implement PBIS or their need to improve or ramp up the PBIS programming already in place. My kids' home district is in its 3rd year of PBIS with very positive results in the reduction of office referrals.
This is an exciting philosophy to be a part of and with the extensive research available providing a solid evidence base, conclusions are being made that PBIS is as important in all grade levels as any other instruction that goes on. In fact, PBIS allows teachers to reclaim more instructional time than they even realize. A statistical analysis was even given by Dr. Sugai suggesting how many hudreds of instructional hours teachers can reclaim for instructional time when disciplinary issues are effectively controlled.

I could just go on about this but my fingers are tired of typing.
Here is the web address for the national PBIS site: www.pbis.org You need to check this out!
Wendy