The Syllabus is similar to the syllabus for a course. It is your primary reference for information regarding the module. The online capability of the module allows you to access information directly from Levels II and III of the module, but selected elements of those levels also appear in the syllabus to give you a single source for key information. You may find it helpful to have a hard copy of the syllabus available for reference.

There are five major goals for this module. Upon completion of this module, you should be able to do the following:

1. Describe how positive behavioral support is implemented at a systems level.



2. Describe the type of environment that promotes effective classroom management, staff development, and school-wide discipline.



3. Identify the key issues and specific classroom management strategies used to promote a learning environment.



4. Explain why it is important to consider staff development when looking for a teaching position in a new school.



5. Describe the critical features of school-wide discipline.

The Content Outlines are specific to lessons in this module. They allow you to preview the content to be covered in each lesson and to note how the content for the several lessons combines at the module level to meet the goals for the module. You will also find that the Content Outlines will serve as a useful review feature. Later when you have completed the module and wish to review what was covered in the individual lessons you can return to the Content Outlines.

1. Classroom Management Strategies
   1. Classroom management
      1. Procedures used to establish and maintain a learning environment
      2. Traditionally described how to respond to problem behavior
      3. Successful classroom managers spent more time preventing problems
      
      
   2. Key issues related to classroom management
      1. The level of classroom structure should depend upon type of skills taught
      2. The key issue is how values and beliefs affect implementation
      3. Choice and self-determination are important elements in the classroom
      4. Building a positive climate is an important consideration
         1. Engaging in positive social interactions
         2. Accepting students' ideas
         3. Emphasizing enthusiastic teaching styles
         4. Creating a sense of predictability
         5. Establishing clear expectations
         6. Ensuring students experience success
         7. Modeling and providing opportunities to participate in a democratic community
      5. Values and beliefs impact classroom management strategies
      
      
   3. Specific classroom management strategies
      1. Research-based classroom management strategies
         1. Creating a comfortable pace and flow of activities
         2. Dealing with two or more situations simultaneously
         3. Maintaining a high level of awareness
         4. Intervening before a situation escalates
         5. Preparing for transitions
         6. Providing a signal before a transition occurs
         7. Describing the positive behaviors expected
         8. Establishing a routine of starting activities
         9. Arranging the classroom to decrease disruptions
         10. Designing the classroom so that visual contact is maintained
      2. Positive behavioral support and classroom management
         1. Manipulating events preceding problem behavior
            1. Incorporating student preferences
            2. Creating tasks that have a functional outcome
            3. Breaking tasks into smaller units
            4. Scheduling high preference tasks after less preferred activities
            5. Providing breaks
         2. Setting event interventions
            1. Eliminating the setting event
            2. Implementing strategies after setting events occur
         3. Teaching new skills
            1. Teaching communication
            2. Teaching social skills
      
      
   4. Improving classroom management strategies over time
      1. Practicing and gaining experience in the classroom
      2. Engaging in dialogue and collaboration with colleagues
      3. Evaluating current classroom management strategies
      4. Incorporating staff development systems
      
      
   
   
2. Staff Development
   1. Characteristics of staff development in education
      1. Ambivalence about providing staff development opportunities in education
      2. An assumption that preservice training provided all of the knowledge a teacher needed
      3. Offered as a discrete event outside of a teacher's regular job
      4. An over-reliance on one day workshop approaches
      
      
   2. Current perspectives of staff development are changing
      1. Providing opportunities for dialogue, feedback, and reflection
      2. Reorganizing school cultures and practices to support teachers' staff development needs
      3. Understanding the important features of staff development to find a supportive work environment
      
      
   3. Why it is important to find schools that value staff development
      1. Change is more likely in certain contexts
         1. Opportunities for collaboration
         2. Time available to engage in dialogue and reflection
         3. The major goal of staff development is to unite school staff
         4. The development of trust and willingness to try new ideas
      2. Creating positive learning opportunities
         1. Time for teachers to work together
         2. Time for teachers to observe each other
         3. Time to engage in dialogue and reflection
      
      
   4. Effective staff development
      1. Provides theoretical and conceptual information
      2. Creates opportunities to actively apply knowledge and skills
      3. Fits within the culture of the school and classroom
      4. Acknowledges the developmental pace of learning
      5. Allows time for reflection and dialogue
      6. Promotes an awareness of how new strategies fit with current values and beliefs
      7. Includes both internal and external staff development processes
      8. Includes democratic processes for deciding staff development topics
      
      
   5. Examples of staff development strategies
      1. Peer collaboration strategy
         1. Identify a specific concern
         2. Summarize the concern, the teacher's response, and aspects of the concern that the teacher can control
         3. Generate at least three possible interventions, predict outcomes, and reflect on potential benefits
         4. Develop an evaluation plan that describes what kind of data will be used to observe whether the intervention was successful
      2. Mentorship programs for new teachers
      3. Coaching strategies
      4. "Trainer of trainers" model
      5. Peer coaching teams
      6. Building systems-level staff development systems
      7. Evaluation of staff development
      
      
   6. Issues related to staff development and positive behavioral support
      1. Comprehensive curriculum
         1. Establishing a collective vision
         2. Collaborating and building teams with families and community members
         3. Conducting a functional assessment
         4. Designing and implementing positive behavioral support
         5. Monitoring and evaluating positive behavioral support plans
         6. Considering broader systems issues
      2. Important staff development features
         1. Classes or workshops occurring on a longitudinal basis
         2. Inservice training that provide opportunities to apply information
         3. Multidisciplinary focus, possibly designed around an interdisciplinary team and real student
         4. Assistance identifying and intervening at a systems-level
      
      
   
   
3. School-Wide Discipline
   1. Challenges schools face
      1. Expectations to do more with less
      2. Frequent introduction of new initiatives
      3. Growing diversity of students
      4. Increases in problem behaviors
      
      
   2. Punishment strategies and school-wide discipline
      1. Traditionally the major component
      2. Exclusive use of punishment is ineffective
      
      
   3. Advances in school-wide discipline
      1. Reducing the number of negative consequences
      2. Preventing problem behavior
      3. Teaching and supporting appropriate behavior
      4. Enhancing student success
      
      
   4. Effective school-wide discipline
      1. Including classroom and nonclassroom settings
      2. Emphasizing collaborative processes
      3. Including student, parent and community members
      4. Incorporating values of positive behavioral support
         1. Improving quality of life for every one
         2. Redesigning the environment and teaching new skills
         3. Emphasizing teamwork and collaboration
         4. Identifying the function maintaining problem behavior
         5. Placing expectation for change on entire social network
      
      
   5. School-wide discipline continuum of support
      1. Primary prevention
         1. Universal supports
            1. Modifying academic curriculum
            2. Improving classroom management
            3. Embedding social skills instruction
            4. Implementing school-wide social skills instruction
            5. Identifying a simple set of rules and expectations
            6. Including students in decision making
            7. Creating multiple opportunities for positive behavior
            8. Creating a warm school climate
         2. Prevent new cases of problem behavior
      2. Secondary prevention
         1. More intensive intervention strategies
         2. Reduce the number of students engaging in problem behavior
      3. Tertiary prevention
         1. Long-term, comprehensive positive behavioral support
         2. Reduce the intensity and frequency of problem behavior
         3. Interagency collaboration and ongoing support
      
      
   6. Assessment of school
      1. Each school has individual needs
      2. Development of long-term goals and short-term objectives
      3. Include a variety of assessment measures
         1. Office referral data
         2. Current school-wide discipline policies
         3. Number of suspensions, detentions, and expulsions
         4. Survey measures for students and staff
         5. Current student academic performance
         6. Pre-test as part of staff development
      4. Qualitative and quantitative data
      5. Assessing specific routines and settings
      
      
   7. Action plan
      1. Documentation of long-term goals and short-term objectives
      2. Individual's responsibilities with dates for completion
      3. Timeline for implementation
      4. Evaluation process and ongoing review of data
      5. Description of activities and meetings
         1. Social skills lesson plan development
         2. Discussion forums
         3. Issues related to data collection
         4. Plans for obtaining additional resources
         5. "Trainer of Trainers" Model