ist 661 behavior mgmt policy - ferguson, hall, inzer, roberts

7/31/2019 IST 661 Behavior Mgmt Policy - Ferguson, Hall, Inzer, Roberts

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Joy Ferguson, Susanna Hall, Steve Inzer, Elizabeth Roberts

IST 661, Information Management in Schools

Dr. Franklin-Hill

Assignment 4: Behavior Management Policy

December 8, 2010

PART ONE: Narrative

Introduction

Ronzer Falls High School is a Grade 9-12 secondary school in a suburban town in New

York state. This new school is being built to serve the ever-growing population of the area. It will

have an estimated student population of 500 students. The mission of the school is to Support

the learning needs of all students and inspire lifelong learners who are fully prepared to

participate in 21st century life. In addition to the mission, which drives the work of all staff, the

school has adopted core values (and a mascot) that will help form the schools culture. They are:

Freedom to learn and growAll people have equal intrinsic value

Learn from our mistakes

Choices we make affect ourselves and others

Our efforts matter

Never satisfied with mediocrity

Show mutual trust, decency, and respect

The school administrators have formed a Library Consultant Team comprised of school

library experts Joy Ferguson, Susanna Hall, Steve Inzer, and Elizabeth Roberts. This team will

assist in the design and implementation of a world class Library Media Center.


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Philosophy

Administrators have designed Ronzer Falls High School on the pillars of two educational

philosophies which will have direct bearing on the design and behavioral guidelines of the

Library Media Center. RFHS will be established as a member of the Coalition of Essential

Schools and will also implement the practices of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and

Supports (PBIS) program.

The Coalition of Essential Schools was founded in 1984 by educational visionary Ted

Sizer, long affiliated with Brown and Harvard Universities and the author ofHoraces

Compromise (1984), a pioneering book in the field of educational reform. It is currently made up

of a network of hundreds of K-12 schools and dozens of Affiliate Centers across the United

States. CES practice is exemplified by small, personalized learning communities in which

teachers and students know each other well in a climate of trust, decency and high expectations

for all (CES, 2010). The guiding philosophy of CES is embedded in its ten Common Principles:

learning to use ones mind well, less is more (depth over breadth), goals apply to all students,

personalization, student-as-worker/teacher-as-coach, demonstration of mastery, a tone of decency

and trust, commitment to the entire school, resources dedicated to teaching and learning, and

democracy and equality (CES, 2010).

The behavior management philosophy of RFHS and its Library Media Center will

explicitly follow the seventh Common Principle--a tone of decency and trust--in order to

establish and foster a safe, positive, and inclusive learning community in which students and

faculty create a place of belonging, safety, and nurturance. RFHS aims to instill values of mutual

respect, fairness, generosity, and tolerance in its students and faculty. All members of the school

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community are accountable to each other through their daily behaviors, and the school Library

Media Center behavioral management policy will reflect these expectations.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a school-wide discipline

system, was developed in the early 2000s by George Sugai, a special education professor at the

University of Connecticut. It has been implemented in about 7,500 preK-12 schools across 40

states (Bogen, 2009). According to Sugai, PBIS is a three-tiered framework for implementing

school-wide practices and systems aimed at preventing behavioral problems (Bogen, 2009). In

the first tier, all students are exposed to a formal, positive, preventive, social-skills curriculum

that supports the academic mission of the school. This curriculum is implemented across all

settings in the school and ideally supports about 70 to 80 percent of the students in making

positive behavioral choices. The second and third-tier of the framework involve targeted and

wraparound services for the remaining 20-30 percent of students who do not respond to first-tier

practices. When a school implements PBIS, a leadership team creates a common purpose

statement that spells out the values, social skills, and positive behavioral expectations that will

guide the schools policies (Bogen, 2009). This purpose statement also includes ways in which

students will receive positive feedback for positive behavioral choices; this helps to create a

school environment that focuses on recognition of positive behaviors rather than penalization of

negative behaviors.

All students and staff should be able to expect a positive experience when visiting the

RFHS Library Media Center. The Library Consultant Team, as members of the PBIS leadership

team, are excited to help create school library policies that reflect a school-wide commitment to

CES principles and PBIS practices. These two philosophies complement each other well, for the

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ongoing work of setting positive expectations for student behavior goes hand in hand with

creating a school tone and culture of decency and trust. The draft policy developed in Part Two

below will be presented at the first meeting of the PBIS leadership team in January, 2011, where

the RFHS common purpose statement will be drafted and policies will be further developed.

Appropriate student behaviors at the RFHS Library Media Center

At the RFHS Library Media Center, we expect to see students engaged in active learning

reading, studying, collaborating, or socializing (outside of class time) while respecting each

others rights for quiet or communication depending on the guidelines for noise levels in each

area of the library. This could look like a group of students working together to prepare for a

math test at a group work table, reading comfortably in the beanbag chair area, or writing papers

on their laptops in the study carrels. We also expect to see students discussing projects and

questions with peers, teachers, and library staff with respectful tones and with appropriate voice

levels. On their way out of the library, students will clean up after themselves, especially if they

are bringing food and/or drinks into the library caf.

We believe that adults are responsible for creating a learning environment where youth

feel valued as active participants, giving them a sense of ownership (Kohn, 1996). We plan to

engage youth in setting and assessing the library behavior guidelines and their implementation so

that they feel the policies are for their benefit. For example, if youth feel that guidelines for voice

levels in each area are set according to their needs, then they will be more likely to respect these

guidelines. We will also encourage youth input in our system of consequences to determine if it

is effective or if there are ways to improve the process.

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By structuring all class time in the library we can make lessons that are meaningful,

engaging and active, and also optimize space and resources without crowding. In addition, we

expect that all library staff members will take an active interest in student work and approach

youth rather than waiting for youth to come to them at the circulation desk. Our model includes a

primary focus on the positive by recognizing youth successes such as demonstrations of

information literacy skills, collaboration, leadership and overcoming obstacles (Kohn, 1996).

Unacceptable behaviors will be addressed quickly and directly in a calm, respectful tone, and as

fairly as possible.

Facility Design

Herman Miller has explained, libraries are not shrinking but rather evolving in step with

the times, becoming centers of collaboration, communication, and research, now abetted by the

latest technology (2010, p. 2). This changing function is supported by existing building

standards for new library construction. According to the Massachusetts School Library Media

Association, in secondary schools, The library program area may be up to 15% of enrollment x

40 square feet - maximum. Computer labs/workstations should have 30 square feet per

workstation. Other areas may be added. . . .as needed (Hallisey, 2003, p. 20). The new Ronzer

Falls High School Library Media Center has been designed with both these considerations in

mind. It will fulfill the square footage standards established for size based on school enrollment,

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and it will also boast a learning commons design that is intimate, welcoming, conducive to

collaboration, and replete with teaching and learning technology.1

For a student body of 500 students, the MSLMA formula dictates the total library

program area be 4,300 to 4,500 square feet. The RFHS Library Media Center will include the

following:

Learning Commons space: 3,000 square feet. Includes a group work table area, a

caf space, a quiet reading nook featuring comfortable sofas and beanbag chairs,

ten quiet individual study carrels, plenty of shelving for library materials, and a

circulation desk. The entire Library Media Center will feature wireless connectivity.

Computer area: 1000 square feet of Digital Learning Lab space complete with 30

flat-screen computers and monitors. This computer lab will also host traditional

(whiteboard) and cutting edge (Smartboard) teaching hardware.

Additional office, supply and storage space: 300 to 500 square feet.

PART TWO: Behavior Policy

Ronzer Falls High School believes that it is the job of every member of the community

to create a positive and safe learning environment for all. The following are the Library Media

Centers guidelines for acceptable behavior in the library. Students and staff members who

choose not to follow these guidelines will face the consequences stated in this policy.

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1The information commons concept emerged in the late 1990s, primarily inthe context of undergraduate libraries.One oft-cited proponent of this philosophy is Donald Beagle, from UNC Charlotte (1999). At the secondary level,the most cited case studies in the learning commons movement are both from Massachusetts: at Concord-CarlisleHigh School (Cicchetti, 2010) and Chelmsford High School (Diggs & Loertscher, 2009).


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Guidelines for Acceptable Behavior

All students and staff members will

1. Speak and behave respectfully towards others, including respect for others ideas, physical

space, and possessions. When disagreements occur, agree to disagree respectfully.

2. Respect the right of others to use the school library for intellectual pursuits, including quiet

study, research, and reading.

3. Observe noise level guidelines: Agree to keep noise levels to an appropriate level. Use quiet

study space for individual study and reading. Use the caf and group meeting areas for

conversation and group work.

Noise level guideline chart(Ilion, 2010):

Voice Level 0 = Silent

Voice Level 1 = Whispering

Voice Level 2 = Talking

Voice Level 3 = Presenting

Voice Level 4 = Emergency

Reading Nook / Quiet Study Carrels: Level 0, Level 1Computer Area: Level 0 or Level 2-3 (during class)

Group Work Area / Caf: Level 2

4. Follow the school pass system and sign in and out of the library.

5. Keep all food and drinks inside the caf area to protect the library resources. Clean up after

yourself in the caf and in all areas of the library.

6. Follow the Acceptable Use Policy when using the computers in the library.

Note: Students and staff members who consistently follow these guidelines, and help others to

follow them, will be recognized for their efforts.

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Consequences for Unacceptable Behavior

Staff members who choose not to follow the above policies will be approached directly

by the head librarian for a private conversation. For students who choose not to follow the above

policies, the following consequences will be applied in a manner appropriate to the offense:

After first offense: library staff will have a private conversation with the student(s).

After second offense: library staff will actively redirect the student(s) [i.e. assigning a

new seat(s), removing student(s) from the group or area].

After third or repeated offenses: student(s) will create a Library Behavior Agreement

in conjunction with the head librarian.

If a student is asked to leave the library, s/he will not be allowed to use the library

again until having a respectful follow-up conversation with the head librarian.

Note: Students and staff members are encouraged to provide feedback on this system of

consequences in order to determine its effectiveness and/or to improve the process.

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References

Beagle, D. (1999). Conceptualizing an information commons. TheJournalofAcademic

Librarianship, 25(2), 82-9. doi: 10.1016/S0099-1333(99)80003-2.

Bogen, M. (2009). Beyond the discipline handbook: How schools can implement a positive

approach to managing student behavior [Electronic version]. Harvard Education Letter,

25(3), 6-8.

Cicchetti, R. (2010). Concord-Carlisle Transitions to a Learning Commons. Teacher Librarian,

37(3), 52-8. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

Coalition of Essential Schools (2010). Common principles. Retrieved from http://

www.essentialschools.org/items/4.

Coalition of Essential Schools (2010). Who we are. Retrieved from http://

www.essentialschools.org/items/7.

Diggs, V., & Loertscher, D. (2009). From Library to Learning Commons: A Metamorphosis.

Teacher Librarian, 36(4), 32-8. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

Falcon Flying photo by Alexollon, creative commons license. Retrieved from http://

www.flickr.com/photos/diekuchars/244104021/.

Hallisey, P. (2003). Massachusetts School Library Media Program Standards for 21ST CenturyLearning. Retrieved from http://www.maschoolibraries.org/dmdocuments/

standardsrev.pdf

Ilion High School Library (2010). Voice Levels. Ilion, NY. Retrieved from

http://ilioncsd.11gb881.remote.schoolcenter.com/education/staff/staff.php?

sectiondetailid=1026&.

Kohn, Alfie. (1996).Beyond discipline: From compliance to community. Alexandria, Virginia:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Miller, H. (2010). The once and future library. The Once and Future Library Research Summary.

Retrieved from http://www.hermanmiller.com/MarketFacingTech/hmc/research/

research_summaries/assets/wp_Once_and_Future_Library.pdf

Sizer, T. R. (1984).Horaces compromise: The dilemma of the American high school. New York,

New York: Houghton Mifflin.

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