Post by macrockett on Jul 21, 2009 12:06:13 GMT -6
Metea Valley High School's culture: Reward good behavior
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 7/19/2009 12:01 AM
When it comes to defining a new school's culture, especially a new high school, officials agree the conversation begins and ends with the discipline policy.
That's why many eyes in the education world will be on Metea Valley High School on Eola Road in Aurora when its doors open Aug. 20. Students will be introduced immediately to a program that focuses on teaching them good behavior, rewarding them for modeling it and keeping data to see if behavior improves over time with the positive reinforcement.
Founders of the program say it is not a curriculum, intervention or practice, but more of a "a decision-making framework."
The concept has worked well in elementary and middle schools, says Diane Fleischel, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 supervisor of student services.
"Basically, the program leads us to teach kids the correct way to behave, whether it's how to walk down the hallway while keeping their hands to themselves or responding to a friend in need," she said.
The reward system set in place at the lower grades require adults in the school to be on constant lookout for kids performing the newly learned or reinforced behavior. Those students are then rewarded with some sort of prize or trinket.
Such a process would likely have to be retooled into an age-appropriate discipline plan aimed at high school students who likely are no longer learning how to walk quietly down the halls or keep their hands to themselves. These students are more likely to be worried about peer pressure and the need to look cool, Fleischel said.
"Expanding the program to the high school level gives us the perfect opportunity to get a student and staff advisory committee in place to talk about the behavior expectations at Metea Valley," she said. "And once the message comes from their peers, that it's cool to behave and be prepared for class, well, that lesson is often taught better when it comes from peers than adults in authority positions."
Incoming Dean of Students Jennifer Rowe is responsible for implementing the reward and data-based plan. On the first day of school, students will complete lessons in each class to familiarize them with the new policy.
"The biggest thing is making sure we are modeling, for the students, the behaviors we want them to emulate, and make sure we're all on the same page," she said. "Too often we punish children without actually teaching them why what they did was wrong."
One thing Metea will emphasize is cutting down on tardiness, an issue that plagues many high schools. And students may be rewarded for a sincere effort, Rowe said.
She and Fleischel are prepared for parents or community members who may think high schoolers are too old to be rewarded - some might say bribed - to behave.
"Ultimately, we're using the program to focus on the fact that being positive produces better response than being negative," Fleischel said. "If a student is misbehaving and you send him out of the class, then he's missing class time and he didn't want to be there, anyway, so who got punished? In life we get a reward for what we do and when we do it well, so I don't see the harm in rewarding."
Rowe noted even adults need reminders to follow certain behaviors, and many respond well to tokens of appreciation.
"You know the speed limit, but do you follow it everyday? Most people don't," she said. "How many adults know what they shouldn't eat, causing 35 percent of them to be obese? Yet we know what we should eat. We can know, but if grown-ups can't follow proper diet, how do we expect the kids to follow proper behaviors?"
The data collected by staff will ultimately tell the story of whether the program has been a success - but not overnight or even in one year.
"This is an ongoing program, so we don't just quit. We need to achieve our goal and set it again," Rowe said.
Teams will meet biweekly and, eventually, monthly, to compare data and get a feel for progress.
"Hopefully, because this is data, we should be able to say, 'Hey in October we had a high number of suspensions,'" Rowe said. "In October 2011 we can look at the data and see if we decreased those suspensions and why."
Principal Jim Schmid, who comes to Metea after several years leading Waubonsie Valley, said his staff should also be rewarded for the work they've done adapting to the new plan.
"It's a culture-climate thing," Schmid said. "We hopefully will get the kids to understand what we expect from them to create a culture of high expectations and a certain level of behavioral expectations that Metea can be proud of."
---------------------------------------
Does anyone see the irony in the new culture? I hope it isn't the President of either the MV PTA or the IPPC doing the teaching...
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 7/19/2009 12:01 AM
When it comes to defining a new school's culture, especially a new high school, officials agree the conversation begins and ends with the discipline policy.
That's why many eyes in the education world will be on Metea Valley High School on Eola Road in Aurora when its doors open Aug. 20. Students will be introduced immediately to a program that focuses on teaching them good behavior, rewarding them for modeling it and keeping data to see if behavior improves over time with the positive reinforcement.
Founders of the program say it is not a curriculum, intervention or practice, but more of a "a decision-making framework."
The concept has worked well in elementary and middle schools, says Diane Fleischel, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 supervisor of student services.
"Basically, the program leads us to teach kids the correct way to behave, whether it's how to walk down the hallway while keeping their hands to themselves or responding to a friend in need," she said.
The reward system set in place at the lower grades require adults in the school to be on constant lookout for kids performing the newly learned or reinforced behavior. Those students are then rewarded with some sort of prize or trinket.
Such a process would likely have to be retooled into an age-appropriate discipline plan aimed at high school students who likely are no longer learning how to walk quietly down the halls or keep their hands to themselves. These students are more likely to be worried about peer pressure and the need to look cool, Fleischel said.
"Expanding the program to the high school level gives us the perfect opportunity to get a student and staff advisory committee in place to talk about the behavior expectations at Metea Valley," she said. "And once the message comes from their peers, that it's cool to behave and be prepared for class, well, that lesson is often taught better when it comes from peers than adults in authority positions."
Incoming Dean of Students Jennifer Rowe is responsible for implementing the reward and data-based plan. On the first day of school, students will complete lessons in each class to familiarize them with the new policy.
"The biggest thing is making sure we are modeling, for the students, the behaviors we want them to emulate, and make sure we're all on the same page," she said. "Too often we punish children without actually teaching them why what they did was wrong."
One thing Metea will emphasize is cutting down on tardiness, an issue that plagues many high schools. And students may be rewarded for a sincere effort, Rowe said.
She and Fleischel are prepared for parents or community members who may think high schoolers are too old to be rewarded - some might say bribed - to behave.
"Ultimately, we're using the program to focus on the fact that being positive produces better response than being negative," Fleischel said. "If a student is misbehaving and you send him out of the class, then he's missing class time and he didn't want to be there, anyway, so who got punished? In life we get a reward for what we do and when we do it well, so I don't see the harm in rewarding."
Rowe noted even adults need reminders to follow certain behaviors, and many respond well to tokens of appreciation.
"You know the speed limit, but do you follow it everyday? Most people don't," she said. "How many adults know what they shouldn't eat, causing 35 percent of them to be obese? Yet we know what we should eat. We can know, but if grown-ups can't follow proper diet, how do we expect the kids to follow proper behaviors?"
The data collected by staff will ultimately tell the story of whether the program has been a success - but not overnight or even in one year.
"This is an ongoing program, so we don't just quit. We need to achieve our goal and set it again," Rowe said.
Teams will meet biweekly and, eventually, monthly, to compare data and get a feel for progress.
"Hopefully, because this is data, we should be able to say, 'Hey in October we had a high number of suspensions,'" Rowe said. "In October 2011 we can look at the data and see if we decreased those suspensions and why."
Principal Jim Schmid, who comes to Metea after several years leading Waubonsie Valley, said his staff should also be rewarded for the work they've done adapting to the new plan.
"It's a culture-climate thing," Schmid said. "We hopefully will get the kids to understand what we expect from them to create a culture of high expectations and a certain level of behavioral expectations that Metea can be proud of."
---------------------------------------
Does anyone see the irony in the new culture? I hope it isn't the President of either the MV PTA or the IPPC doing the teaching...
