Teaching Positive Behavior Before Students Get into Trouble, Gets Good Reviews

Teaching kids how to behave, before they get in trouble.

It's a concept that seems to be working in some Minnesota schools.

Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports, or PBIS, aims to keep kids in the classroom and out of the principal's office.

If students need a break, they take it.

"We take the stigma away from having to take a break, the idea that everybody is going to have issues during the day, we're going to take a moment to re-set ourselves so we can get back into our academics," says 5th grade teacher Eric Western.

Fellow teacher Caili Mellow adds, "I think its made things easier, I feel really good about managing students, and I think they feel good too about being able to stay in the classroom."

Since the start of PBIS at Valentine Hills Elementary School in Arden Hills four years ago, there's been a 60% decrease in the number of students taken out of the classroom for behavior problems.

 

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