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[Music]
Narrator: When Illinois deaf or hard of hearing students, their families or their educators
are in need of behavioral support, the Illinois Service Resource Center is there to help.
ISRC is a component of the Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Center supporting deaf
and hard of hearing student behavioral needs.
ISRC provides support to students, educators, and families.
Behavior support is available at three levels: universal, which benefits all students, targeted,
for students in need of extra support, and intensive for students with high levels of
need for behavior support.
At the Universal Level, ISRC provides assistance with development and implementation of Positive
Behavior Intervention and Support systems in deaf and hard of hearing programs.
In addition, ISRC also provides quarterly training of 25 behavior support teams from
Deaf and hard of hearing programs throughout Illinois with follow-up coaching, annual Behavior
Support Recognitions, and Classroom Management Mentoring.
At the Targeted Level, ISRC services include data collection coaching, assistance with
development of Check-In-Check-Out systems and simple function-based interventions.
Support with deaf student learning issues in behavior related educational placements
is also included.
At the Intensive Level, ISRC provides support to educational teams with the development
of Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans for deaf and hard of hearing
students, and also helps facilitate Home-School wraparound type teams.
The John Powers Center in Vernon Hills, Illinois is the ISRC demonstration site for Positive
Behavior Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, in a Deaf and hard of hearing program.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: ISRC came to me and said, "Would you like to do this behavior
program?" and I had heard a lot about PBIS already, so I was familiar. And I thought
it would be a really great thing to bring our school together, and it really has, it
really has.
We have quite a few different special education programs in the building and there was this
feeling of separateness because we're from different disciplines but PBIS really is the
thing, it's the glue that sticks us all together.
Narrator: The school selected as an overall theme, "Hands Working Together" for teaching
students the behavioral expectations to Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: Here the theme for PBIS is, "Hands Working Together". That's kind
of because we use sign language to communicate, and we all work as a team. I think that's
why we chose that. I think that's a really GOOD theme for the program.
The thing that really excites me about the three expectations in the building is you
go and ask any of our kids, "What are the three expectations of the PBIS program?" and
they know. The thing that often impresses me is that you can say, "What does responsibility
look like in the hallway?" and they can tell you. "What does responsibility look like in
the classroom?" and they can tell you. They can tell you because THEY DO IT! That tells
me that they're really learning about what those behaviors look like.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: They're learning the Cool Tools, teachers are actually teaching
them in the class, and the kids can very easily talk about the three things, the three expectations:
safety, responsibility, and respectfulness.
Narrator; Students are taught lessons on what these behaviors look like in different areas
of the school and are then recognized for demonstrating the expected behaviors.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: Everybody had their own behavior program going on in their classroom
and so it's nice to have the same one and we all speak the same language. It's about
respectfulness, responsibility, and safety.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: And everybody speaks the same language. You can frame behavior
in those three things very nicely.
Narrator: Students who are being good receive tickets which can be exchanged for various
items at the school store.
Terri Nilson-Bugella: ISRC is involved with our program. They really provide a lot of
support with our students that have behavioral needs. And it's because of that relationship
that PBIS started.
One of the other things that helped with the success of PBIS is that it's really a very
nicely set-up program. The simplicity of it. The fact that there are checklists that the
team can use. It really makes the process simple. So, it was great, it was easy to do,
it wasn't like we had to do all this research. It's all there for you!
Narrator: Twenty-five Behavior Support Teams from deaf and hard of hearing programs around
the state come together quarterly for training provided by ISRC. Nationally known speakers
provide training on behavior support and ISRC provides ongoing follow up coaching for the
teams.
Peg Singleton: I think in the years past when ISRC would come out, I think the teachers
just really didn't take that responsibility. They didn't say, they kind of said, "Oh, I've
tried that." Or they might say, "Oh, they might think that would work, but that would
never work."
And I think instead when they have gone out now and they have gotten some of this training,
they're taking this back and it's not just somebody from ISRC coming out and making these
suggestions. It's when ISRC comes out now, they're working WITH the team to come up with
those ideas and those suggestions. And I think it takes more responsibility then, to keep
the responsibility on the staff person, instead of just on somebody else.
Narrator: Classroom Management Mentoring is provided for first year educators of deaf
and hard of hearing students, and teachers with more experience upon request. The new
educators follow a curriculum aimed at developing skills in implementing positive behavior support
systems within the classroom.
Jennifer Rees: I heard about ISRC through my deaf and hard of hearing supervisor. We
had two students with behavioral problems in my classroom this year and she suggested
I contact ISRC in order to help me better in the classroom.
The mentoring process was wonderful. I had A LOT of questions coming into this. I had
never had a student with a behavior problem before. And first of all, she answered all
my questions and she made me feel very at ease and very comfortable. And very confident,
even though I felt that I didn't know what I was doing at first. But, she helped me lay
out teaching strategies that would be helpful. She also helped me with behavior modifications
in the classroom. She gave me lots of tips and lots of suggestions that I'd never heard
before. She really held my hand through the whole situation.
Jennifer Rees: I noticed a huge change in the behaviors of all my students after I started
implementing the strategies given to me by ISRC. I was actually starting to use it for
one student, and then I would carry it over to all the other students. Their behavior
changed, they became more active in school, they wanted to learn more, and they were more
attentive in school. It was really great!