Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted the phrase “Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.” This quote still holds true today, where educating our youth is more than teaching them reading, writing and arithmetic. In today’s schools, teaching character is as much of a school’s mission as teaching students how to multiply fractions. The Fairfield Freshman School has implemented Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) to teach and reinforce positive character traits such as respect, responsibility and problem-solving. 

The process started by creating a common language among all staff members. The staff chose respect, responsibility and problem-solving as the three schoolwide expectations. Posters were created with these three expectations and placed throughout the building. On the first two days of the school year, each teacher went through lesson plans that taught the expectations for the various settings in the school. Students also attended an assembly during the first day of school, which welcomed them and introduced them to the expectations of the school. As a result, students sense the consistency of student expectations that are shared between their teachers and the administration. When the second semester begins, and as students change teachers, students will be given a “booster” on school-wide expectations. Teachers will take students through another set of lesson plans that review student expectations throughout the various settings.   

The most exciting piece of PBS is the positive reinforcement that is built into the model. Students who exhibit an expectation in one of the settings can be given a “Brave Ticket” by a staff member. Students turn these tickets into a box in the office for weekly prize drawings. Prizes have included Fairfield apparel and various gift certificates. In addition, at the end of every nine-week grading period, four names are drawn to win MP-3 players. Needless to say, the process has been a success, as students are asking when the drawing for the next round of MP-3 players is going to be. Even if a student’s name isn’t drawn, they receive recognition. Any student who received a Brave Ticket during the first nine weeks was invited to a doughnut breakfast. The 320 students that were invited to the doughnut breakfast represented the 550 tickets that were turned in during the first nine weeks of school.

The implementation of PBS has been a tremendous success, and wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of the Freshman School staff -- in particular, the nine members of the Building Leadership Team who have been the driving force behind the successful implementation. As for the results of PBS, the Freshman School has seen a 50 percent reduction in discipline. Perfect attendance was up 20 percent and failures were down 40 percent for the first nine-week grading period. The data indicate that PBS has not only had a positive impact on student behavior, but also student academic achievement. The Freshman School staff is going to continue to implement and improve PBS on a yearly basis to enhance the quality of education for our students. Research shows that the freshman year is a crucial one, and the Fairfield Freshman School feels that PBS is the means to ensure all students are given the opportunity to be successful.

Dan Beckenhaupt
Principal
Fairfield Freshman School

Published in the Fairfield Echo, Jan. 31, 2008