WEBVTT 00:00:05.726 --> 00:00:09.066 I'm Lynette Geake, and I'm the Principal of Hidden Hills Elementary 00:00:09.146 --> 00:00:12.626 in Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, AZ. 00:00:12.626 --> 00:00:18.726 I was trained by the State of Arizona to attend a solutions team training, 00:00:19.176 --> 00:00:23.386 which is a team of evaluators to go into an underperforming school 00:00:23.736 --> 00:00:26.846 and see whether they're actually implementing their plan for change, 00:00:27.756 --> 00:00:33.026 thinking that we would use that as a tool for making positive change in our environment. 00:00:33.316 --> 00:00:37.506 Hidden Hills is a high-performing school, but there's always room for improvement. 00:00:37.696 --> 00:00:41.336 So, I thought by bringing the solutions team information back, 00:00:41.786 --> 00:00:47.126 using the rubric not only with my staff but also all my stakeholders, including district people, 00:00:47.126 --> 00:00:51.406 including parents, getting their input as to what we could do better, 00:00:51.806 --> 00:00:53.336 and that was where we started from. 00:00:53.336 --> 00:00:57.626 It was identified very easily that we had a good discipline plan, 00:00:57.626 --> 00:00:59.536 but the kids had no consistency. 00:00:59.996 --> 00:01:05.976 Each teacher had their own little plan of how to do discipline, and there was no cohesive plan, 00:01:06.276 --> 00:01:09.226 making it very difficult for the children who went to special area, 00:01:09.256 --> 00:01:12.226 when they went to the cafeteria, when they were riding in the buses, 00:01:12.256 --> 00:01:13.746 when they were going to the reading teacher. 00:01:13.746 --> 00:01:17.376 There was always something different, some different expectations for them to meet. 00:01:17.726 --> 00:01:22.836 Coming together makes it one cohesive plan for all the students to be able to follow. 00:01:23.626 --> 00:01:28.036 The first thing we did was narrow down our choices of areas for improvement, 00:01:28.036 --> 00:01:30.396 and we identified the school-wide discipline plan. 00:01:30.826 --> 00:01:34.766 We did a lot of research as a staff as to all the different approaches, 00:01:34.816 --> 00:01:36.716 the different options that we had out there. 00:01:37.296 --> 00:01:43.816 And as a staff, we put those pieces together and came up with actually two final choices. 00:01:44.276 --> 00:01:48.086 Probably the most frustrating thing was the first year was simply data collection, 00:01:48.676 --> 00:01:51.336 and we were ready to instill this new program. 00:01:51.336 --> 00:01:56.566 We wanted to jump on the bandwagon, but the data collection proved to be so invaluable 00:01:56.566 --> 00:01:59.666 because we had to know where our problems were occurring, 00:01:59.976 --> 00:02:01.926 we had to know what time they were occurring, 00:02:02.246 --> 00:02:07.296 and we had to know what behaviors we really wanted to see at those locations. 00:02:07.676 --> 00:02:08.756 The data showed us that. 00:02:08.955 --> 00:02:13.206 So we used the data to determine or to create our behavior matrix. 00:02:13.806 --> 00:02:18.356 And then, we started teaching the staff what this looks like. 00:02:18.906 --> 00:02:20.256 We would get the staff together. 00:02:20.256 --> 00:02:21.656 We would get parents together. 00:02:21.656 --> 00:02:23.226 We got our student council together. 00:02:23.616 --> 00:02:26.206 What does it look like if you're behaving during an assembly? 00:02:26.666 --> 00:02:28.006 What does it look like to be safe? 00:02:28.066 --> 00:02:29.776 What does it look like to be respectful? 00:02:29.806 --> 00:02:31.506 What does it look like to be responsible? 00:02:32.026 --> 00:02:34.596 Give us those things that are positively stated. 00:02:34.996 --> 00:02:39.836 We brought it altogether, and then, with the help of the Arizona State University, 00:02:40.346 --> 00:02:43.776 we were able to narrow it down to three to five expectations 00:02:43.776 --> 00:02:49.846 for each rule for each location, and that result was the behavior matrix. 00:02:49.936 --> 00:02:55.526 Data's probably the top priority with looking at our staff training because we want to be able 00:02:55.526 --> 00:03:01.506 to identify areas that need a little tweaking to be better for the population we are dealing 00:03:01.506 --> 00:03:04.006 with now because we are always in continual change. 00:03:04.536 --> 00:03:10.326 We hold monthly staff meetings where we look at the data and determine if change is necessary. 00:03:10.766 --> 00:03:16.286 We also look at how can we even more positively reward the students. 00:03:16.926 --> 00:03:20.586 I do a lot of training with my classified staff, with the bus drivers, 00:03:20.936 --> 00:03:24.026 teaching them so that there is a common language across the board. 00:03:24.026 --> 00:03:26.996 And what we are noticing is that because we are being positive 00:03:27.086 --> 00:03:30.306 and forthright with the expectations, directly, 00:03:30.306 --> 00:03:36.856 explicitly teaching the expectations to the children, we are actually having much more time 00:03:36.966 --> 00:03:41.386 for academics in the classroom because the children know what our expectations are. 00:03:41.536 --> 00:03:44.926 When we are planning, then, for the next year, we always make sure and look at the data, 00:03:45.286 --> 00:03:47.616 look at where we are and where we need to be. 00:03:48.166 --> 00:03:52.646 One of the problems that we used the data for this year was we had the children coming 00:03:52.646 --> 00:03:56.426 up from recess for five minutes, sitting in a line, getting drinks, 00:03:56.476 --> 00:03:59.056 going to the restroom before their teacher picked them up after lunch, 00:03:59.436 --> 00:04:03.776 and we realized we have quite a high number of referrals coming during that five-minute period. 00:04:04.256 --> 00:04:06.566 We gave the children two extra minutes on the playground. 00:04:06.566 --> 00:04:09.556 That shortened the time to three minutes, and we haven't had a referral since. 00:04:10.076 --> 00:04:13.086 So, using our data to make positive changes for the children. 00:04:13.586 --> 00:04:17.356 The most positive outcome of this entire project has been 00:04:17.356 --> 00:04:21.136 that our students are really learning what it means to be respectful, 00:04:21.305 --> 00:04:22.856 to be responsible, and to be safe. 00:04:23.386 --> 00:04:25.096 You're not going to see it only in the classroom. 00:04:25.096 --> 00:04:26.596 You're going to see it on campus wide. 00:04:26.866 --> 00:04:29.966 You're going to see it on our school buses, and you're going to see it in the home. 00:04:30.546 --> 00:04:32.456 When the kids say they're a Hidden Hills kid, 00:04:32.796 --> 00:04:35.946 they know what it means to be responsible, safe, and respectful.