Philosophy and Foundation of the TABI Campus Behavior Intervention Success Strategies (CBISS) Coaching Model — By RJ Boatman
The qualities of a Campus Behavior Intervention Success Strategies (CBISS) coach and an exemplary teacher are similar in many ways. Both work to help students realize their full potential academically, emotionally, socially, behaviorally and physically. Their focused energy and emphasis on high expectations nurture the realization of meaningful and attainable goals, always moving towards excellence. Most importantly, through a trusting and respectful relationship, the fragile or at-risk student begins to see the world in new ways that include them, rather than ignore, punish or leave them behind (Sprick, Garrison and Howard, 1998).
The utilization of praise and continuous opportunities to participate are critical to the success of the CBISS classroom. The CBISS coach continually delivers praise as positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors as well as providing multiple and diverse opportunities to participate in academic lessons and hands-on tasks and activities that foster a positive climate and a meaningful contribution to the campus. These researched-based teaching and learning and behavior-management strategies have been shown to improve student behavior and allow for increased academic success (Partin, Robertson, Maggin, Oliver and Wehby, 2010).
Self-esteem and responsibility are woven throughout the CBISS model. The CBISS coach mentors and models for all students, as well as other staff on the campus, the collaborative and respectful relationships necessary for student mastery of the most important social skills required for success in school and life (Scott, 1999).
The National Association of Secondary School Principals has examined the need to build relationships with students through their groundbreaking research entitled, “Breaking Ranks II: Strategies for Leading School Reform”. One of the key elements of NASSP’s work was the fact that school districts must focus efforts on building appropriate personal relationships with secondary students in order to increase academic rigor in the classroom (NASSP, 2004).
“Environments for Learning” reiterates this approach to building relationships with students by detailing how the brain makes connections in order to effectively engage in learning (Jensen, 2003).
In addition, students want a meaningful and responsive relationship with their teachers, knowing that someone cares about them and believes they are capable of successfully completing high school (Bridgeland, DuIulio and Morison, 2006).
The CBISS model utilizes a variety of proven approaches to teach desired social skills which include: role playing, practice, supplementary teaching, prompting and mentoring. With these newly acquired skills, students are more prepared to form positive social relationships with a wide variety of peers, teachers and other stakeholders where they feel more supported and understood (Seevers and Jones-Blank, 2008).
Researched-based instructional strategies are integrated into the CBISS classroom to promote higher levels of student engagement and critical thinking which subsequently lead to reduced discipline infractions (Marzano, Marzano and Pickering, 2003).
Modeling of expectations by the CBISS coach is a cornerstone of the CBISS classroom. According to “Social Learning Theory” (Bandura, 1977), effective modeling involves four key components which include: attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation.
Simply stated, in order for people to learn from modeling they must observe what the model is doing, remember what the model did, do what the model has done, and, at a later time, use what they learned from the modeling experience.
CBISS creates the perfect environment for effective modeling with minimal distractions to the campus and classroom. To provide for the multi-faceted needs of the whole child, the CBISS classroom is an educational laboratory where students have the opportunity to practice authentic academic and social skills which have a direct correlation to success in school and their daily lives.
The CBISS coach and classroom are focused on positive outcomes and structuring the learning environment to optimize the teaching and learning process. The classroom design, organization and CBISS coaching methods utilize best practices based on positive behavior supports and the benefits of quality facilities. Therefore, the CBISS coach intentionally promotes classroom universals to prevent problem behaviors.
These supports include, but are not limited to, the display of student work, classroom rules posted and visible, a structured and rigorous daily schedule posted and followed, the promotion of post-secondary education through college and university themes and an instructionally purposeful room arrangement that supports individualized attention and cooperative learning. The instructional variables utilized include: instructional feedback, wait time, positive prompts and an extremely high ratio of positives to negatives (Trussell, 2008).
While the CBISS classroom and coach are very positive and engaging, there will be times when a student requires redirection to a more appropriate behavioral response. The goal in these instances is to acknowledge the misbehavior and quickly move toward eliciting the desired positive behavior (McAllister, Stachowiak, Baer and Conderman, 1969).
CBISS focuses on Strength Building which highlights a student’s strengths rather than a student’s failures in order to promote higher levels of student achievement (Rath, 2007).
Students placed into alternative education settings often feel that they receive more focused attention in the alternative classroom and struggle with transition back to the regular classroom (Almeida, Le, Steinberg and Cervantes, 2010).
The CBISS coaching relationship is critical as students transition back to the regular classroom. CBISS students strive to meet or exceed the expectations established while in the CBISS classroom, while CBISS coaches provide on-going support to maximize their positive relationship with the students. This approach lessens the recidivism or repeater rate to the CBISS classroom because students do not feel they need to act out to be in further contact or receive additional support and affirmation from the CBISS coach.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) requires that districts implement a Response to Intervention (RtI) model that targets behavior and academic needs of students in a tiered system of support. This model provides universal interventions at Tier I, small group interventions at Tier II and individual interventions at Tier III. The goal of these interventions is to provide support and data at each tier that will allow for fragile and at-risk students to remain in the general education classroom. The CBISS model aligns with the Response to Intervention (RtI) model by focusing on Tier II intervention in the CBISS classroom. This allows for significantly less time out of the general education classroom and works to eliminate the need for off-campus placements. CBISS Tier III interventions provide students with an innovative, personalized learning model that replaces the traditional DAEP program.
When comparing students who have completed the CBISS model to a control group, the CBISS students showed significant improvements in the areas of discipline referrals, standardized testing scores and attendance rates.
At Sam Houston High School, Houston ISD, comparing two groups of eighty students, the CBISS group had ninety-eight percent fewer office referrals and eight percent higher standardized test scores.
At Hitchcock High School, Hitchcock ISD, comparing two groups of forty students, the CBISS group had ninety-six percent fewer office referrals, twelve percent higher standardized test scores and twenty-eight percent higher attendance rates.
At Estrada Alternative High School, San Antonio ISD, prior to the implementation of the CBISS model there were 26,734 days of student placement. In the school year, following the implementation of the CBISS model, there were 9,435 days of student placement. This change represents a sixty-five percent decrease or 17,299 fewer days of student placement at Estrada Alternative High.
For more information concerning the CBISS model, contact Support@TABISystems.org
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