From Wall to Practice: Implementing Schoolwide Teaching Matrices to Build Positive School Culture

Presenters

• Crystal Ceresani, Clemson UniversityFollow
• Sarah Miller, Clemson UniversityFollow

First Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

EdD

Year First Presenter's Degree Was Awarded

2025

First Presenter's Field of Study

Educational Leadership

Institution Where First Presenter Received Highest Degree

Capella University

First Presenter's Institution

Clemson University

First Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Crystal Ceresani, EdD, is the Program Manager for Curriculum Development and School Climate Programming with the Behavior Alliance of South Carolina (BASC), bringing extensive experience supporting schools and districts in strengthening MTSS-B frameworks. With a background that includes roles as a state-level MTSS specialist, regional MTSS education specialist, school administrator, PBIS/MTSS coordinator, instructional coach, and middle grades teacher, she brings a comprehensive understanding of systems change and sustainable implementation. Crystal partners with school and district teams to build capacity through professional learning, coaching, and data-driven problem-solving. Her work focuses on developing effective MTSS for behavior Tier 1 practices, improving school climate, and empowering educators to create positive, consistent, and inclusive learning environments where all students can succeed.

Second Presenter's Institution

Clemson University

Second Presenter’s Email Address

sdm9@clemson.edu

Second Presenter's Highest Degree Earned

MEd

Second Presenter's Field of Study

Instructional Technology

Second Presenter's Brief Bio and Description of Credentials for This Presentation

Sarah Miller, M.Ed, is a Regional Behavior Coach with the Behavior Alliance of South Carolina (BASC), bringing over a decade of experience in education as a teacher, instructional coach, and professional learning facilitator. She designs and leads professional learning for school and district teams focused on strengthening Tier 1 practices and systems within MTSS frameworks. Through data-driven coaching, technical assistance, and collaborative problem-solving, Sarah supports school- and district-level teams in building effective behavior systems that promote consistency, clarity, and positive school climates. Her work centers on empowering educators to lead change, foster belonging, and ensure success for every learner.

Location

Scarbrough 1

Document Type

Individual Presentation

Primary Strand

Positive Behavior Interventions and Support

Relevance to Primary Strand

This session aligns with the strand by providing school and district leaders with strategies to implement schoolwide teaching matrices that strengthen PBIS practices across the building and to build a school culture around the matrix. Participants will explore methods for collaboratively developing and teaching schoolwide expectations, engaging staff, and promoting consistency, which fosters shared responsibility for student behavior, safety, and positive school culture. By empowering teams to lead the process and use data to guide decisions, this session supports the sustainable integration of PBIS practices and builds school- and district-level capacity for long-term, systemic impact.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Climate and Culture

Brief Program Description

Bring your schoolwide teaching matrix to life! In this interactive session, participants will learn how to teach, reinforce, and sustain schoolwide behavior norms that reflect shared values and contextually appropriate behaviors. Through examples, guided discussions, and planning activities, educators will explore strategies for embedding the matrix into daily routines, engaging students and families, and celebrating positive behaviors. Leaders and teachers will leave with practical tools, coaching prompts, and actionable steps to transform the matrix from a poster into a living part of school culture.

Summary

A schoolwide teaching matrix is most effective when it is actively taught, reinforced, and embedded into the culture of the school, rather than existing solely as a posted document. In this interactive session, participants will learn strategies for developing, implementing, and sustaining schoolwide matrices that reflect school values, data-informed norms, and contextually appropriate behaviors across all school settings.

The session emphasizes teaching and reteaching norms and behavior skills schoolwide, including participatory learning strategies, student exemplars, and reinforcement practices. Participants will explore ways to engage students and families to promote understanding and consistency of school norms and behavior skills, ensuring that positive behaviors are recognized and celebrated.

Leaders and teachers will also learn strategies to embed the matrix into daily routines and school culture, while building school- and district-level capacity to sustain PBIS practices. Through examples, guided discussions, and planning activities, participants will leave with practical tools, coaching prompts, and actionable strategies to turn a schoolwide teaching matrix into a living part of positive school culture.

Evidence

This session is grounded in research demonstrating that schoolwide implementation of PBIS practices improves student outcomes, consistency of staff responses, and overall school climate (McIntosh & Goodman, 2016; Sugai & Horner, 2002). Evidence shows that collaboratively developing and implementing schoolwide teaching matrices strengthens fidelity, promotes shared understanding among staff, and supports sustainable behavior systems (Simonsen et al., 2015).

The approach has been field-tested across multiple school teams, with feedback indicating that schoolwide matrices helped teams: align all staff around consistent behavior expectations, focus on positive interventions rather than punitive responses, translate school rules into actionable teaching norms, review culture and climate data with a new lens, and strengthen connections between schoolwide norms and classroom practices. Teams reported that creating and teaching schoolwide matrices increased staff clarity, enhanced student engagement, and built shared responsibility for school culture.

This approach reflects implementation science principles, emphasizing stakeholder engagement, collaborative decision-making, ongoing coaching, and sustainability (Fixsen et al., 2019). By empowering staff to lead and implement schoolwide matrices, this session provides practical, replicable strategies to foster positive school culture, improve consistency, and build school- and district-level capacity for sustained PBIS practices.

References

• Fixsen, D. L., Blase, K. A., Metz, A., & Van Dyke, M. (2019). Implementation practice and science. Active Implementation Research Network. https://nirn.fpg.unc.edu
• McIntosh, K., & Goodman, S. (2016). Integrated multi-tiered systems of support: Blending RTI and PBIS. Guilford Press.
• Simonsen, B., MacSuga-Gage, A. S., Freeman, J., Myers, D., Scott, T. M., & Sugai, G. (2015). Multi-tiered systems of support for behavior: Designing and implementing effective schoolwide systems. Guilford Press.
• Sugai, G., & Horner, R. H. (2002). The evolution of discipline practices: School-wide Positive Behavior Supports. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 24(1–2), 23–50. https://doi.org/10.1300/J019v24n01_03

Learning Objective 1

Develop/Revise schoolwide teaching matrices that reflect school values, data-informed norms, and contextually appropriate behaviors by location.

Learning Objective 2

Plan for effective teaching and reinforcement of the matrix across all school settings, including classroom, common areas, and transitions.

Learning Objective 3

Embed the schoolwide matrix into the culture of the school using exemplars, reinforcement strategies, and participatory engagement to ensure sustainability.

Start Date

6-2-2026 2:15 PM

End Date

6-2-2026 3:15 PM

Recommended Citation

Ceresani, Crystal and Miller, Sarah, "From Wall to Practice: Implementing Schoolwide Teaching Matrices to Build Positive School Culture" (2026). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 64.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2026/2026/64

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.