Step 4: Choose a focus

Since staff have limited time, schools need to focus on goals and related strategies that are clearly identified by the data and that all staff support. The results of the school survey and other initial assessment measures will help identify a focus. Concentrating on a few big ideas and translating these into measurable goals provides a clear starting point.

The core team can support the focus by providing:

• ideas about how to address the goals (for example, sharing information about best practices)
• information about how well the school is currently addressing identified areas of need.

The following story describes how one school chose to focus on preventing bullying.

For more information on bullying prevention, see Chapter 9 in The Heart of the Matter: Character and Citizenship Education in Alberta Schools, at https://education.alberta.ca/media/142774/the_heart_of_the_matter_character_education_and_citizenship_ in_alberta_schools.pdf.

Also see the Government of Alberta’s Web site at www.bullyfreealberta.ca. This site provides information to parents, teens and community members to help them prevent or intervene in a bullying situation.

Targeting behaviour at recess

Many elementary schools identify behaviour during recess as an area of concern. These are some actions a school might take to improve behaviour at recess.

• Develop and review recess guidelines with staff.
• Develop and share related learning activities for classroom teachers to use.
• Encourage teachers to review recess behavioural expectations with students at least once a month.
• Establish a school-wide process to reinforce positive behaviour at recess and address problem behaviour.
• Review monthly data on playground behaviour.
• Conduct a staff and student satisfaction survey at the beginning of the intervention and at other times throughout the process.

Following are several sample learning activities related to appropriate behaviour at recess.

• Review and discuss a labelled map of the school playground.
• Walk around the playground with the classroom teacher and discuss where it is (and is not) safe to play.
• Watch a demonstration of the behavioural expectations in action.
• Rotate through the apparatus and game area stations to learn and practise behavioural expectations for each area.
• Discuss playground behavioural expectations and reviewing “What if …” scenarios.
• Watch a video of recess play and identify positive and/or problem behaviours.

Step 5: Develop action plans

Most schools find it useful to conduct a needs assessment and then use the information collected to develop a comprehensive, tailor-made plan that targets the behaviours staff have identified as having a high priority.

Action plans define tasks, time lines and people responsible for strengthening and maintaining critical features. Sample tasks might include:

• defining behavioural expectations
• teaching specified behaviours
• acknowledging positive behaviour
• establishing negative consequences
• monitoring behaviour patterns
• modifying physical arrangements
• supervising in different ways.

Tool 10: Action Plan to Enhance School Culture in Appendix A is a sample template for an action plan.

Setting goals

Schools can use information from the assessment process to set three or four measurable goals that can be achieved within a school year. (Goals are broad statements describing appropriate behaviour and conduct.)

The goals should:

• be immediately useful
• lead to other related and/or more important or complex skills
• help students acquire greater independence and adopt more socially acceptable behaviours.

For example, a school might choose one or several of the following goals.

• The noise level in the hallways will reduce by five decibels.
• The frequency of “on time” arrivals for class will increase by 50 percent.
• There will be more injury-free days on the playground.
• There will be more days when supervisors and students hear only respectful language in the hallway.
• Students will complete 95 percent of their homework assignments.

The core team might develop more detailed descriptions of the expected change and what it will look like in order to help school staff communicate expectations, and teach, recognize and reinforce the desired behaviours.

Objectives are narrower statements of school-wide targeted behaviour. A well-stated objective identifies what students are expected to do and indicates how performance will be measured. Well-stated objectives also include checkpoints along the way—intermediate steps between the current level of performance as identified in the school audit and the final objective. These short-term goals follow a logical and developmental sequence of mastering subskills.

The following are examples of specific, measurable school-wide objectives.

• We will implement active supervision in the hallways between classes; the number of students getting to class on time will increase by 50 percent by March 15.
• We will use active supervision to increase positive behaviour; the number of office referrals during morning and afternoon recess will decrease by 25 percent by March 15.

Developing measurable outcomes at the outset will help staff collect more accurate data. When developing goals and objectives, consider the SMART acronym that outlines criteria for effective goal setting:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-limited.

Some schools support school-wide rules and behavioural expectations with overarching mottos phrased in student-friendly, memorable language. For example:

• Respect Yourself, Respect Others, Respect Property
• Keep Yourself Safe, Keep Yourself Learning
• This Is Our School, Let Peace Dwell Here.