PBIS, positive behavioral interventions and support, receives an upgrade with a new rewards app for teachers, students, and parents at Green Local Schools. The system currently implemented throughout the district consists of teachers recognizing students performing an act deemed safe, kind, or responsible. The teacher then allows the student to scan their badge ultimately taking them to a form where they are entered into a drawing for the PBIS prizes. The system currently in place forces teachers to act immediately so they don’t forget to recognize the student.
“The scanning was tedious. A lot of teachers/staff would forget and then students didn’t want to scan. It would be too much work,” Mr. Petrecca, math teacher and creator of the PBIS app said. To solve this problem, the district is switching over to a mobile app where teachers can give students points for good behavior and students have the access to see how many points they have. The PBIS Rewards apps, the Desktop Portal and the Student Portal helps to keep everyone – teachers, staff, students and parents/guardians – involved. This becomes more functional for teachers and staff because they now have the opportunity to acknowledge students without acting right away.
“The new system is more fluid and easier for teachers/staff to use in case they forget to acknowledge a student in class at the moment,” Petrecca said, “They can do it after the fact, and they can do more than one at a time and keep track of the acknowledgements a lot easier.”
In order to keep the system afloat, incentivizing and motivating students is key to the success of the program. Students have the ability to track their progress through two different ways: the Student Portal or the PBIS Rewards Student App (available in Google Play, the iOS Apple Store and the Amazon App Store).
The Student Portal is a simple software program students can access when on a computer where they can login with their school code and student ID number. The PBIS Rewards Student App allows students to use a smartphone to scan their ID badge or their friends’ badges. The app and portal display the same information where students can see their point totals, school store items and privileges they can earn and work towards earning and also a list of school events.
Not only do students now have access to their point status, parents also have the opportunity to check-in on their children. The PBIS Rewards Family App allows parents/guardians to instantly see how their children are doing within the PBIS Rewards program. Through the PBIS Rewards App, parents can see point earnings, referrals and items purchased, privileges purchased and events registered. The Family App allows parents to offer encouragement and support to their children. It’s an extra incentive for improved behavior.
“PBIS does not replace bad behavior, a punishment, but instead, PBIS runs parallel to our current consequence system. If they were together over time, positive behaviors should be more apparent and bad behaviors should decrease,” said Patrecca.
The PBIS rewards system is built to stimulate positive behavior. The flaw in the system is that those who are recognized have been participating in good behavior since the beginning of their schooling.
“While I think it is valid in its attempt to coerce students to the right thing, I think the kids who are going to be winning PBIS don’t need the extra encouragement because they already are trying desperately to win. The prizes aren’t good enough to get the kids who need the help to do it,” Parker Green ‘24 said.
The new system overall allows for teachers and students to participate more and find encouragement in making a healthy environment throughout the school day. The PBIS reward system strives to exemplify and materialize our Bulldog Strong values: be safe, be kind, and be responsible.
