2018 Awards
Ohio Department of Education (OH) – $482,196 – The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) proposes a project to support and expand its current efforts. Ohio’s approach will do the following: enhance state, regional and local capacity, develop additional tools and approaches including strategies to integrate and align PBIS with other climate related initiatives, improve coordination with state and local partners, improve data collection especially regarding fidelity of implementation, focus on the needs of high-need schools and districts, and pursue culturally responsive practices. It will also explicitly focus on improving integration of PBIS with the state’s plan to address the opioid epidemic and raise student awareness about the dangers of drug abuse. In doing so, Ohio hopes to increase the overall number of schools implementing PBIS with fidelity and integrating efforts to address the needs of the whole child, reduce the number of school disciplinary actions, reduce chronic absenteeism, improve student awareness regarding drug abuse prevention, and increase the broad understanding of school challenges related to school climate and how best to address them.
Oklahoma State Department of Education (OK) – $742,552 – The Oklahoma State Department of Education is seeking funding to implement a School Climate Transformation project in the state to be provided through five regional technical assistance centers located in Hominy, Durant, Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Woodward, Oklahoma. The project will provide PBIS implementation training and technical assistance to 50 schools in the state over the course of the five-year project. Student behavior problems continue to be a nationwide concern, despite decades of practice with a myriad of disciplinary systems. Students who frequently engage in problematic behaviors are at-risk for a variety of negative life outcomes. School-wide positive behavior interventions and support (PBIS) is an evidence-based system of school-wide reinforcement and disciplinary procedures that relies on a problem-solving model from a systems perspective. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) proposes to implement a statewide Oklahoma School Climate Transformation (OKSCT) project that will provide training and technical assistance in the implementation of a multi-tiered behavioral framework to improve school climate. Training and technical assistance will be provided in general to all 513 school districts in the state, and specifically to 50 schools in the state through regional behavioral technical assistance centers.
New Hampshire Department of Education (NH) – $ 698,703 – The New Hampshire Department of Education (NH DOE) will lead this effort through the Office of Social & Emotional Wellness, which is part of the Bureau of Student Wellness, Division of Learner Support. In partnership with the Bureaus of Student Support and Instructional Support, this project will provide technical assistance to Local Education Agencies in three regions of the state as they (1) Build, improve, or enhance the use of a multi-tiered behavioral framework; (2) Establish local student wellness teams; and (3) Collect and report data in an effort to inform additional school climate efforts. This initiative will serve students in the South West, South Central, and South East regions of New Hampshire. Technical assistance will be delivered to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in each of these regions by a MTSS-B Educational Consultant. Through participation in this effort, each LEA will develop needed infrastructure, identify opportunities to strengthen professional development and training, and receive technical assistance to advance and sustain school climate transformation efforts through the adoption of policies, practices, and programs that address both in-school and out-of-school time.
Virginia Department of Education (VA) – $ 749,701 – The Virginia Department of seeks to improve instruction and student outcomes in identified rural and low income LEAs and those most profoundly affected by the opioid crisis in Virginia and support rigorous standards for ALL students. Specifically, this proposal seeks to expand the number of LEAs implementing Virginia Tiered Systems of Supports (VTSS) and improve fidelity of implementation in both existing and newly implementing LEAs. The goal is to target 12 new LEAs for expansion into designated regions, specifically those identified rural, low income and those affected by prolific substance use and abuse. In addition, it is within the scope of this proposal to expand the implementation and fidelity of advanced tiers (inclusive of those evidence based practices for substance abuse) to 15 existing LEAs. The proposed project seeks to respond to implementation needs in three targeted areas: building the capacity of the state to offer high quality, evidence-based professional learning and coaching services; increasing opportunities for LEAs to improve the fidelity of implementation of a tiered framework (VTSS) inclusive of practices and innovations at advanced tiers and those that specifically address mental health and substance use behaviors, increasing the ease and accessibility of rural and low income LEAs to access VTSS supports and innovation; and fortifying the infrastructure of an aligned system by coordinating with Federal, State, and local resources to install and implement visionary solutions to current realities.
Michigan Department of Education (MI) – $ 661,222 – The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) proposes to develop a coordinated and aligned technical assistance delivery structure to develop local capacity for the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) that focuses on (1) developing local implementation capacity, (2) enhancing the implementation fidelity of effective practices, (3) producing meaningful student outcomes and (4) evaluating the effectiveness of the PBIS implementation model and identify additional infrastructure needs. This proposal focuses on three targeted groups of educators (a) district implementation team, (b) school leadership teams, and (c) educators who work with students. Participating districts will be identified and selected through an application process to identify strengths and needs, and to determine implementation readiness.
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (WA) – $ 749,730 – The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) proposes to build and sustain SEA capacity for supporting the broad-scale implementation of a multitiered behavioral framework by creating a state leadership team (SLT) to plan, implement, evaluate, and sustain a statewide professional development system. OSPI will develop a cadre of trained and experienced SEA staff to provide ongoing training and coaching to LEA leadership teams using a Training of Trainers (TOT) model. The SLT will: 1) facilitate an inventory and assessment of the quality, accessibility, and usefulness of the statewide data collection to identify gaps and develop an action plan for addressing areas of improvement; and 2) will create a learning system that is consistent with the phases of implementation in alignment with the PBIS PD Blueprint (v3). The proposal will impact 30 target high-need school districts and 9 Educational Service Districts statewide, which collectively serve 98,336 students, ranging from 168 students at Lake Quinault School District to 16,363 students in the Yakima School District.
Kentucky Department of Education (KY) – $ 688,979 – The Kentucky Department of Education proposes to collaborate with existing state agencies to enhance statewide supports for PBIS and become the go-to for MTBF/Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) implementation through the state School Climate Transformation (SCT) Team. This includes hiring 4 staff members to promote, recruit, and provide training and ongoing support to districts interested in implementing evidence-based practices, as well as coordinate with other state and regional partners currently providing MTSS/ISF training and fidelity of implementation support across the state. The SCT Team will collaborate with KDE’s Education Recovery staff and Novice Reduction Coaches to incorporate positive school climate efforts into their work with the state’s Priority/CSI and Focus/TSI schools, respectively. The SCT Team will also coordinate with the state Department of Behavioral Health to enhance their existing supports for substance use and suicide prevention to support synergy for these existing initiatives to combat the widespread opioid epidemic in Kentucky. Culturally responsive and trauma informed practices will be integrated into every aspect of this project through partnership with Kentucky State University’s Center for Research on the Eradication of Educational Disparities and University of Kentucky’s Center on Trauma and Children. The SCT Team will work to incorporate any school-based recommendations to emerge from the State Interagency Council for Services to Children, Youth, and Young Adults (SIAC) Social Emotional Health Task Force, anticipated in 2019.
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WI) – $ 286,264 – The Wisconsin School Climate Transformation Project will continue efforts to effectively build local capacity to provide, improve, and expand multi-level systems of positive behavioral interventions and support, as well as high quality approaches to address opioid abuse and prevention. It will do this by strengthening Wisconsin statewide capacity to deliver expanded effective training and technical assistance through an existing statewide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) training center and through an existing statewide safe and healthy schools training center. Proposed project outcomes include the following: a.) 50 high schools will implement high quality PBIS and will see a reduction in suspensions and increase in school climate survey scores (engagement and environment domains); b.) 50 high schools will utilize existing data or research-based screening tools to identify students at-risk for opioid abuse or who are actively abusing opioid drugs and implement a high-quality treatment protocol (SBIRT), and will see a reduction in suspensions for AODA violations, decreases in student-reported AODA use, and an increase in school climate survey scores (safety domain); and, c.) 50 high schools will achieve both a.) and b.) above in concert and see an increase in all domains of school climate survey scores.
Georgia Department of Education (GA) – $ 749,980 – The Georgia Department of Education proposes a program to expand State Education Agency (SEA) systems of support for, and technical assistance to, local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools implementing an evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students. The project goal in Georgia is to develop and enhance the SEA’s infrastructures and systems to increase the fidelity of PBIS Implementation in Tiers 1-3 by 50%. Georgia will target ten high need LEA’s in urban, suburban, and rural communities with populations above 10,000 and greater than 20% of families living below the poverty line. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that these targeted districts have high incidents of familial opioid misuse. The number of participants to be served will correlate with the numbers of participants currently served thought Georgia’s Project Aware Grant (60,000+ students). Trainings will be held throughout the state and within the 16 Regional Education Service Agencies (RESA) which houses Georgia’s legislative funded School Climate Specialists (SCS).
Minnesota Department of Education (MN) – $ 586,432 – The goal of the Minnesota Department of Education School Climate Transformation( MDE SCT) project is to enhance the capacity of MDE and 30 school districts to implement a high functioning multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving school climate and behavioral outcomes for students. The six ambitious yet attainable objectives of the MDE SCT project include: 1. Increase capacity to lead school climate improvement efforts and improve systems and infrastructure for sustaining a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) infrastructure; 2. Increase engagement of students, families, school staff, and community members in all climate improvement efforts; 3. Increase capacity of school leaders to assess and evaluate progress; 4. Improve policies, rules, and supports for school climate improvement; 5. Improve tier one instructional and relational management practices; 6. Improve tier two and three interventions. Under Minnesota’s North Star Accountability system, 194 schools have been identified for comprehensive, on-site support and improvement and 291 schools identified for targeted support and improvement. These schools represent 238,115 students across Minnesota.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (MA) – $ 644,950 – The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education proposes to build on the foundation of the existing PBIS Academy in order to significantly expand our statewide capacity to help schools implement a robust, fully-articulated multi-tiered behavioral health framework, particularly in high-need and underperforming schools. The project goals are as follows: • Goal 1: Build out our PBIS Academy so that we can expand the breadth and depth of support we provide to schools around the deeper, “next stage” implementation issues Massachusetts educators are encountering – specifically in areas involving classroom practice, mental health support, opioid/substance use prevention , and the integration of initiatives into a coherent multi-tiered behavioral health support system. • Goal 2: Build the capacity of our Statewide System of Support team (assistance for underperforming schools) to provide high quality technical assistance for multi-tiered behavioral framework implementation and serve as a strong feedback loop to inform agency strategy. • Goal 3: Evaluate the impact of multi-tiered system support on participating schools and DESE staff.
Colorado Department of Education (CO) – $ 727,844 – The purpose of this project is to develop a statewide infrastructure for implementing the Colorado Multi-Tiered Behavioral Framework (CO-MTBF) through successful models of implementation that can be scaled up across the state. CO-MTBF will positively impact the outcomes of all students by creating capacity for an integrated culture and climate improvement system that can be implemented with fidelity and sustained over time, utilizing data-based decision making at all levels of implementation. Through a partnership with high need LEAs, the CO-MTBF project will embed within its multi-tiered behavioral framework evidence-based strategies that meaningfully prevent and mitigate opioid abuse. This will include specific outreach to LEAs with high levels of opioid abuse along with the progress monitoring of implementation and outcomes of implemented strategies.
The Rhode Island Department of Education (RI) – $ 486,655 – The Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) is seeking to engage 9 districts, with an emphasis on high need as defined by ESSA, over the five year funding period. The estimated number of students to be impacted by this project is 43,791. The proposed project will create a platform that facilitates a closer relationship between state and local implementation of policies and programs supporting the development of a multi-tiered and integrated behavioral health framework that create safe and respectful environments for learning and promotes the mental health (MH) of school-aged youth. State and local partners will collectively impact the challenges and factors that contribute to MH problems and identify assets and opportunities to support positive MH, and social and emotional development across the lifespan to ensure that school prevention and intervention programs and services are linked to existing resources and new capacity to supports students is created.
Nevada Department of Education (NV) – $ 749,998 – The Nevada Department of Education (NDE) and the Nevada Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Technical Assistance Center (Nevada PBIS) plan to build capacity to establish, scale-up, and sustain a Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in 10 of the 17 Nevada Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), including the state’s largest urban districts and small rural districts across the entire state. The NDE and Nevada PBIS have spent the past 5 years building a multi-tiered behavior framework across 7 LEAs through Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Due to the exciting success of implementing a PBIS framework in several of our LEAs, including significant reductions in discipline and improvement in overall school climate around Nevada, the intention of the proposed project is to now leverage the existing PBIS framework and move towards creating and scaling an integrated MTSS.
