Positive Behavior Support Plan

Holly McDonnell
Towson University

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 This signature assignment is a Positive Behavior Support Plan (PBSP) for the Towson

University Early Childhood Special Education Program. The focus student for this assignment

will be referred to as M. This student is in the second grade, and just transferred to the school

from another in January 2017. The behavior that I have identified and observed is that: M calls

out without raising her hand and being called on to speak during whole group and small group

instruction in the language arts block. My mentor teacher also suggested I do this project on this

student, because even before I was interning at the school, this students behavior has disrupted

lessons multiple times. My mentor teacher and I do not have this student for math class, so I only

focused on her time with us in language arts. When M calls out without raising her hand and

being called on, it disrupts whole group instruction during language arts and it also disrupts small

group instruction during reading groups. When M calls out, her comment or question is usually

disruptive to me as I teach the whole class, or it disrupts other students who may be speaking

aloud. Sometimes when she does this, she will call out an answer aloud which then deprives

other students the opportunity to answer the question. When she calls out, it tends to frustrate her

peers and her teachers, and then she will be called out for speaking out without raising her hand

which is a negative consequence for her. M calls out very frequently during both whole group

and small group. This behavior happens mostly after my mentor teacher or I ask the group a

question aloud, and she will call out the answer or interrupt a peers answer. Although it happens

mostly after a teacher asks a question to the group, M also calls out during instruction when the

teacher is talking to the groups very frequently as well. Her calling out behavior occurs

throughout the entire language arts block from 9:10 am until 11:30 am. The only time I do not

find M calling out is when I am teaching a reading group that she is not in, and she is in her

writing, reading, or word work rotations. I have observed that she only calls out at times when a

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teacher is instructing an activity or lesson, but it does not happen during independent or partner

work.

Literature Review

In completing this assignment, I conducted a literature review of five sources. I reviewed

various sources discussing PBIS research, the functions of behaviors, and classroom

management strategies for students who call out. All five sources are below including the title of

the article, the literature review, and followed by the citation.

Article 1: Success for All? The Role of the School Counselor in Creating and Sustaining

Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Programs

This article is a peer reviewed and research-based article that contains information about a

study conducted at a diverse elementary school. The school believed that positive behavior

supports in the past had lacked incorporating supports that are correspondent to the students

culture. The study was implemented by a team including the principal, vice principal, teachers,

the school counselor, and other staff members. The team over various workshops to discuss how

to incorporate culture needs into behavior supports to eliminate biasness in the schools behavior

interventions and policies. After testing their program, the team conclude that identifying ways to

make culturally responsive behavior supports will help students of different diversities and

decrease problem behaviors.

Reference:

Betters-Bubon, J., Brunner, T., & Kansteiner, A. (2016). Success for all? The role of the school

counselor in creating and sustaining culturally responsive positive behavior interventions

and supports programs. Professional Counselor, 6(3), 263-277.

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Article 2: Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support Practices: Review of

Studies in the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions

This research-based and peer reviewed article focuses on the use of Schoolwide Positive

Behavior Interventions and Support (SWPBIS). The article discusses how the SWPBIS is a

multi-tiered approach that includes: describing and teaching behavioral expectations, approving

and awarding appropriate behavior, and building a regular continuation of outcomes for problem

behaviors. The study conducts using SWPBIS methods in schools over a course of a few years,

and compares traditional school discipline practices with the more modern use of positive

behavior supports.
Reference:
lm, K., & Vuran, S. (2016). Schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and support
Practices: review of studies in the journal of positive behavior interventions. Educational
Sciences: Theory & Practice, 16(5), 1693-1710. doi:10.12738/estp.2016.5.0264.
Article 3: Positive Behavior Support in Schools (PBSIS): An Administrative Perspective on

the Implementation of a Comprehensive School-Wide Intervention in an Urban Charter

School
This is a peer reviewed and research-based article that discusses the school-wide behavior

interventions in a charter school. The behavior intervention that was put into place for research,

was a reward system for good behavior. Staff in this school received extensive PBIS training, in

order to decrease the number of office discipline referrals and suspensions. In addition to

comparing results of the office referrals from previous years to the current year they tested using

PBIS, the study also conducted a student questionnaire to analyze the safety and climate of the

school viewed from the students perspectives. The study found that there were fewer office

referrals when using PBIS, and the percentage of students that claimed their school to be a safe

and positive environment increased.

Reference:
Christofferson, R. D., & Callahan, K. (2015). Positive Behavior Support in Schools (PBSIS): An
Administrative Perspective on the Implementation of a Comprehensive School-Wide

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 Intervention in an Urban Charter School. Education Leadership Review Of Doctoral
Research, 2(2), 35-49.
Article 4: Behavior Management: Examining the Functions of Behavior
This article discusses the different functions of behavior that can occur in the classroom when a

child acts out. The article describes the definitions and examples of four functions of behavior:

attention, escape, access, and sensory stimulation. The article also gives helpful information

about how to fill out and implement an ABC chart to collect behavior data.
Reference:
Alstot, A. E., & Alstot, C. D. (2015). Behavior Management: Examining the Functions of
Behavior. JOPERD: The Journal Of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86(2), 22-28.
Article 5: How To Handle A Student Who Habitually Calls Out
This is a web-based article posted in May 2013. The article states that the behavior of a student

or students calling out during instruction without raising their hand is a common disruptive

behavior in many classrooms. The article discusses the importance of explaining when it is

appropriate to be able to speak without raising a hand, such as during partner work. An important

point the article states that is essential in getting the student to raise their hand instead of calling

out is to show that student that you are consistent with only calling on students who have their

hands raised. This way, the student is shown that they can be successful and express themselves

by not calling out.

Reference:
Linsin, M. (2014, April 08). How To Handle A Student Who Habitually Calls Out. Retrieved
April 3, 2017, from https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2013/05/11/how-to-
handle-a-student-who-habitually-calls-out/.

Baseline Data Collection

In order to collect data on Ms behavior, I decided to record my observations of the behavior

using ABC charts. The ABC charts include the date and time that the behavior was observed, the

antecedent to the behavior, the behavior, the consequence(s), and the response to the

consequences. The ABC charts that I used to collect the data are attached to the end of the paper.

The data that I collected was over a period of seven school days from February 7th 2017 to

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February 15th 2017. All data that I collected were during the language arts whole group lesson

block from approximately 9:10am to 9:40 am, and during reading small group from

approximately 10:00am to 10:15 am. I chose these times because during other rotations M did

not call out, and she is not in our math class in the afternoon. I would record what time and day

the behavior happened, and descriptions of all times M called out in the mornings.

After collecting all seven days worth of data of Ms calling out behavior, I have analyzed the

information. According to the data, M calls when my mentor teacher or I asks the whole group a

question aloud during the language arts block and during small group reading rotations. M will

also interrupt her peers when they are answering a question that I have called on them to answer.

After I acknowledge M for calling out by either asking her to not call out again, or by asking her

to raise her hand the next time, she will give two different responses. Sometimes, M will stop,

and raise her hand and I will then call on her to answer, but based on the data collected, doing

this does not help encourage her to raise her hand to answer in future situations. M will also give

the response of being quiet and stop talking, usually because her answer was already given. In

the first few days of my data collected, I noted a few times that M would get up and walk around

or get a tissue during work or group instruction. This behavior wouldnt last very long, and she

would sit back down if my mentor teacher told her to come back. M did not carry this behavior

to the next few days of my data collection. On February 7, 2017, M got up to get a tissue;when

my teacher ignored her called-out answer and called on another student who had their hand

raised,M looked slightly upset after this and got up for the tissue. Based on what I observed and

recorded, when M would be surprised or upset that her answer she called out was ignored, she

would get up to walk around or get something. After being ignored a few times because she

wasnt raising her hand, M tried to talk about her ear bleeding, which is was not, during this

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lessons turn and talk to a partner. There is one time that M tries to continue to talk or explain

her answer even after the teacher had told her to stop and raise her hand. This happened on

February 9th 2017, when M called out an unnecessary comment about my mentor teachers

handwriting on the board. M wanted to call out that the e in Home looked like a p, and my

teacher told her that was unnecessary to call out and to please be quiet for directions. M

continued to argue her point how the e looks like a p meanwhile my mentor ignored her

comments and she stopped. In addition to this collected data, Ms parents requested a parent

teacher conference. During the conference, Ms parents also shoed concern in Ms constant need

to be in control at home. This information confirms that similar behavior occurs at home as well.

Hypothesis of Functional Intention

Based on the observations I made and the data I have collected, I am stating that Ms functional

intention is to exercise control and power. Each time the student calls out without raising her

hand to be called on, she seems very confident in her comments and calling out. When she calls

out and my mentor or I tell her to raise her hand, she rarely talks back and continues to talk over

us. Instead, she will stop talking or raise her hand right away to be called on. If she had talked

back every time in response to either of us telling her to raise her hand, then I would be led to

believe that she is doing it to gain attention. Although because her behavior lacks in her arguing

or talking back to us to aggravate us more, and she fixes her behavior almost right away, I

believe she just wants control and power in answering the question first or commenting first.

When she does call out, she does not say it in an angry or mean tone, she seems to just be very

motivated and determined in answering with her comment first.

Replacement Behavior

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 The replacement behavior I chose to use for this project is: M will raise her hand to be called

on during the large and small group instruction in the language arts block. This replacement

behavior will be taught during the entire language arts block every day from 9:10am until

11:30am. I will teach this replacement behavior by first explaining the reward system and how

that works. I will explain to M that for every ten minutes during the morning that she raises her

hand instead of calling out, she will earn an M Money that will be saved in her bank and can be

cashed in for a reward. Then, I will explain how I will use the visual aid during small and whole

group instruction. I will explain to her that if I feel she needs a reminder to raise her hand I will

simply hold up the visual or point at it to remind her to raise her hand.

Positive Behavior Supports

In order to reinforce the replacement behavior, I have put three positive behavior supports

into place. The first positive behavior support I put into place was a money-ticket reward system.

The money that I used for this was different colored neon cardstock, cut into rectangles. The

money was labeled as M Money, because based on what I know about this student, she would

really enjoy that the money had her name in it, which I was hoping would motivate her more.

The money-ticket system was to be used as a reward for when M did not call out in class. I told

M that for every ten minutes of instruction that she did not call out, she would earn an M

Money which would be placed into a labeled bag to be used as a bank. The second positive

behavior support I put into place was a cash in menu. I created an M Money cash in menu for M

to use when she has collected enough M Money to trade it in for a reward. On this menu, I made

it look colorful, it listed all the rewards, and I included a visual next to each reward to offer a

visual support in motivating her to not call out in order to earn M Money. This menu was kept at

my desk, so she could look at it whenever she wanted to. The rewards on the menu varied in cash

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in prices to make it more interesting for her. In order to make this plan more motivating for M

and to get her interested, I sat down with her previously to discuss what types of rewards she

would want to earn in exchange for the M Money. This way, the rewards are specific to Ms

interests and what motivates her. The last positive behavior support was a visual aid to remind M

to raise her hand if she is about to or already is talking aloud without raising her hand. The visual

aid is a small 3x5 notecard that has the phrase Raise your hand is you moustache a question. In

the middle of the phrase there is a moustache instead of the actual word moustache.I had picked

out two different visuals to use, one being the moustache phrase and another was a picture of a

hand and it said Please raise your hand. I decided to use the moustache phrase visual aid

because when talking to M, she wanted to use that one. She found it funny, and was excited to

use that visual aid. From what I observed from M, that visual would be useful for her, because

even just seeing the moustache first, she would know what it meant. Also, I knew using this

visual wouldnt have a negative effect on her behavior at all, which was something I had to

consider. I did not want the visual to encourage the behavior or another behavior of goofing off

when she sees it. The visual aid was to be with me at all times during instruction. If M was about

to call out or had called out, I would simply raise or point to the visual and she would know to

stop, and raise her hand to be called on.

Data Collection and Visual Representation

Included with this paper are my original data collection sheets for the implementation of the

positive behavior supports. The data was collected from March 28th 2017 to April 21st 2017, and

all data was collected from the 9:10am to 9:45 am language arts block and the 10:00am to 10:15

am reading group block. Below, on the next page are two visual representations of the data

collected throughout the thirteen days:

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 PBSP Data Chart

# of call outs WG: 7 WG: 5 WG: 4 WG:4 WG:1 WG:0 WG:0 WG: 2 WG: 1 WG: 0 WG: 0 WG: 0 WG
Whole group: RG: 3 RG: 3 RG: 3 RG:2 RG:3 RG:3 RG:0 RG: 1 RG: 1 RG:0 RG:0 RG:0 RG:
9:10-9:45am
Reading group:
10-10:15am

Time 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 m
period(mins) mins mins mins mins mins mins mins mins mins mins mins mins

$ earned 0 0 0 1 4 4 5 1 2 5 5 5 5

Total tickets 0 0 0 1 5 9 14 15 17 22 * 10 15 20
cashe
d in
$17

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 PBSP Data 2
Raised hand

5 5 5 5

4 4

1 1

D a0y 1 D a0y 2 D a0y 3 Da y 4 Da y 5 Da y 6 Da y 7 Da y 8 Da y 10 Da y 1 1 Da y 12 Da y 1 3

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Data Summary and Interpretation

I implemented the positive behavior supports starting on March 28th, 2017 through April 21st,

2017. The week before I implemented the supports, I met with the student to discuss the details

of the supports. I explained that I wanted to try something new, and reward her for raising her

hand in class every day. Also, her and I discuss and created the reward cash-in menu for her to

choose rewards from when she has enough money to exchange for them. On the first three

days of the implementation, M earned no M money, because during the language arts period and

reading group, she called out without raising her hand. On these days, I put into place the

moustache raising hand visual, but the student still called out. After the third day, I talked to

the student and showed her what the M Money looked like, and ever since then, the replacement

behavior increased. I continued to use all supports I had implemented for the rest of the days that

I implemented this assignment. On day four, the student successful raised her hand to ask a

question or give a comment once within a ten minute time period. I placed the M Money in the

bank I used to collet her rewards. Days five and six, the student earned four M Money dollars

because she successfully raised her hand for two ten minute periods in whole group on day four

and three ten minute periods on day five. Both days, however, the student did not raise her hand

during reading group enough to earn M Money. On day six, I decided to discuss raising her hand

during reading group, to reinforce the idea of an extra way to earn M Money. On day seven, M

raised her hand every time she had a comment or question to make, earning herself five M

Money to make a total of fourteen M Money as of day seven. On day eight, M successfully

raised her hand once during the 35 minute period, earning one M Money, and earning no M

Money during reading group because she did not raise her hand within the fifteen minutes. Day

nine, M only earned two M Money. M raised her hand twice during whole group that day. When

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reflecting on days eight and nine, and why M using the replacement behavior had regressed

some, I made the assumption that the events going on those days may have had an effect on her

behavior. On day eight, the second grade had an in-school field trip that day, and all the children

were excited and the behavior in the classroom was harder to manage. Also day nine, was a half

day of school before spring break. I made the assumption that those two days had exciting events

going on and the schedule was abnormal, causing her behavior to regress some. Although when

we came back from break, M earned all five M money possible and raised her hand during whole

group and small group the last four days of the implementation. When we came back from the

break, I made sure to review the supports with her to make sure she did not regress more. On day

ten, M cashed in her M money for the reward of: help a buddy with their classroom job. When

she earned this reward, I believe it only motivated her to continue to raise her hand.

Reflection

As a result of completing this assignment, I have grown as a future educator. This project has

helped me understand what behaviors to look out for in the classroom, and how to observe these

behaviors in order to collect data on them. I gained experience in using a common behavior data

collection sheet known as the ABC Chart. I now know how to accurately observe and record

behavior on the charts, and that many charts will be needed in order to collect enough data for a

span of about seven to ten days. I recorded the dates I was collecting data for, and the times they

occurred. By recording the times they occurred, I could make conclusions based on if there was a

certain subject or time of the day that the behavior occurred frequently, which is important to

remember for future behavior data collections. I also gained experience in recording the

antecedent to the behavior, and how to use that information in creating my positive behavior

supports. In my students case, she would call out any time a teacher asked a question or was

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explaining directions. I found it was important to remind all students to listen quietly to

directions and to raise their hands if they had any questions afterwards. It was important for me

to understand observing and recording the antecedent to a behavior because the antecedent is the

source of what is causing the behavior. Sometimes the antecedent is easier to point out if you

start an ABC chart to document the behavior. Then, as an educator, I can determine ways to

avoid the behavior by implementing positive behavior supports during the frequent antecedent

times or routines. I also discovered that certain responses that the teacher can give, will either

escalate or defuse the behavior. From my data, I have found that ignoring the student when she

calls out will cause her to keep calling out or become upset and distract herself by walking

around the room and not staying on task.

Another important aspect to classroom management that I learned in this project was how

essential resources were to understanding the behavior and ways to replace the behavior. By

conducting the literature review, I learned more about my students behavior of calling out,

various ways that PBIS can be implemented to replace the behavior, and how to determine the

function of a behavior. I believe using research articles to help me understand the specific

behaviors in my classroom and strategies to replace the behavior is an essential piece to

successful classroom management. I also learned that it is very important to stay consistent to

your classroom rules. By allowing M to call out and respond to her saying she made a good

point, will decrease encouragement for her to raise her hand in class. Instead, I found that I have

to make sure I am aware of the behavior and that I reinforce the positive behavior supports

constantly and consistently, otherwise it will not? be successful.

The last thing I learned from this assignment is that it is extremely beneficial to allow your

student to choose the reward options if you plan to use a reward system for a positive support.

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The student and teacher can collaborate to create the rewards to encourage the student and to

ensure that the reward is appropriate. From my project, my student was very motivated and

encouraged to raise her hand in class after we had set the different rewards for her to cash in M

Money for. It was also very beneficial to use the two visual supports of the reward menu and the

reminder to raise your hand when you ask a question, because the reminder was subtle and

positive and the reward menu kept her motivated. If I were to continue these positive supports, I

would add an easier way to collect data of when she calls out other than using my computer, and

I would have the chart already printed out so I could mark on the chart right away rather than

later. The reward system for M Money was very successful in motivating her to raise her hand in

order to receive rewards she wanted. Eventually I would change he amount of time of her only

raising her hand and not calling out to about every twenty minutes instead of ten. I would keep

increasing the time when she became consistently successful with raising her hand within the

time periods.

Two things that I would change about the project if I had to do it again would first be to edit

my ABC charts to be larger and sectioned. I had to draw the different sections on the original

chart in order to accurately collect all data. It would have been more helpful to have edited the

chart on the computer to customize it how I wanted it to be for this particular project. Another

thing I would change is I would consult the school counselor throughout the project. I believe

that collaboration with colleagues is very beneficial to any educator, and the schools counselor

could have given me more information regarding the behavior and successful strategies to use.

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ABC Data Sheets Below

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