PBIS and SEL: An Urban High School's Journey
Presentation Abstract
Maynard Jackson High School is a public high school of approximately 1300 students located in the city of Atlanta. MJHS was designated as a Priority School in 2011 because of academic performance in the lowest 5% of schools in Georgia. A comprehensive turnaround strategy was embarked upon in 2012-2013, focused on changing the culture of the school both academically and behaviorally.
In 2012-2013 SWPBIS was implemented at MJHS. The focus of SWPBIS included proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create a positive school environment. In 2015-2016, SEL (Social Emotional Learning) was implemented district-wide. SEL is the process through which individuals acquire and apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
The MHJHS leadership looked at areas of convergence and divergence of PBIS and SEL through available literature. The commonalities included: obtaining high levels of administrative commitment, coaching, establishing representative teams with defined roles and distributed leadership, auditing current practices and outcomes, and establishing priorities for change. Both approaches support the need to use evidence-based practices and standardized approaches. These approaches support a continuum of interventions as student needs become more intense. A point of divergence between both approaches relates to connections with standards and the specificity of strategies taught.
After much consideration, it was determined that the initiatives would be best implemented by integrating both programs under one governing team. The team aligned the meeting times and agendas, integrated the curriculum, reviewed pertinent data, developed goals, planned lessons and activities, and evaluated the effectiveness of the integration. This presentation documents the journey of implementation and integration through trials and successes
Recommended Citation
Murdock, Donavin D., "PBIS and SEL: An Urban High School's Journey" (2018). Georgia Association for Positive Behavior Support Conference. 78.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gapbs/2018/2018/78
PBIS and SEL: An Urban High School's Journey
Maynard Jackson High School is a public high school of approximately 1300 students located in the city of Atlanta. MJHS was designated as a Priority School in 2011 because of academic performance in the lowest 5% of schools in Georgia. A comprehensive turnaround strategy was embarked upon in 2012-2013, focused on changing the culture of the school both academically and behaviorally.
In 2012-2013 SWPBIS was implemented at MJHS. The focus of SWPBIS included proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create a positive school environment. In 2015-2016, SEL (Social Emotional Learning) was implemented district-wide. SEL is the process through which individuals acquire and apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
The MHJHS leadership looked at areas of convergence and divergence of PBIS and SEL through available literature. The commonalities included: obtaining high levels of administrative commitment, coaching, establishing representative teams with defined roles and distributed leadership, auditing current practices and outcomes, and establishing priorities for change. Both approaches support the need to use evidence-based practices and standardized approaches. These approaches support a continuum of interventions as student needs become more intense. A point of divergence between both approaches relates to connections with standards and the specificity of strategies taught.
After much consideration, it was determined that the initiatives would be best implemented by integrating both programs under one governing team. The team aligned the meeting times and agendas, integrated the curriculum, reviewed pertinent data, developed goals, planned lessons and activities, and evaluated the effectiveness of the integration. This presentation documents the journey of implementation and integration through trials and successes
