REVISED SECTION



During the 2015 – 2016 school year, students at Daniell generated 700 discipline referrals. This quantity led the administrative team and counselors to disaggregate the data to search for trends. Upon examining the data, we noticed that students who enrolled during the school year were regularly appearing on the list. We computed that students who enrolled after the beginning of the school year were responsible for almost 23% of all discipline referrals. The administration and counselors had conversations about how to close the gap and reduce the overall number of discipline referrals for the 2016-2017 school year. To reduce the overall office referrals, we initiated a school wide PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) program to help reduce the number of discipline infractions and increase the amount of positive behaviors; but, we, the counselors, also sought to intervene with this particular subgroup (students enrolling after the first of the school year).



Once we identified our closing the gap initiative – reducing the number of discipline referrals generated by new students, we sought the most effective way to intervene. We opted to base our program on the RTI tiered model; this research based intervention is recognized as a best practice in the Cobb County School District and our department. Our tiered intervention structure was based on previous years’ discipline data and trends. We decided to conduct New Student Orientation (NSO) meetings each month to educate all new enrollees on expectations and procedures at Daniell; this was our Tier 1 intervention. For our Tier 2 intervention, we met with new students who earned a discipline referral, clarified expectations, and answered any questions that the students may have. Those students who continued to earn discipline referrals would have a parent conference focusing on working with the parent to help reinforce expectations and consequences, as well as, gain insight on student motivation; this was our Tier 3 intervention.



In order to identify our new students, we ran enrollment reports at the end of each month to find which students enrolled during that month. We then sent invitations to those students to join us for the NSO meeting and notified their homeroom teachers that the identified students would be participating in an NSO on that particular date. However, to identify students who earned discipline referrals we relied on discipline reports and our administrators. Pre- and Post-Test data (see attached supporting documentation) was collected to measure their knowledge about Daniell expectations and procedures, and questions were included about dress code, discipline procedures, SWAG (our positive behavior reward program), key people in the building, and extracurricular opportunities available. We only collected perception data for the NSO meetings and not for the follow up interventions. We collected discipline referrals for the 2016-2017 school year to measure outcome behavioral data.



We had 100 students participate in the NSO program throughout the 2016-2017 school year. We monitored discipline referrals to for out outcome data. Overall, there was a decrease of 75.7% in the number of referrals received by new enrollees and a decrease of 60.5% in the number of new enrollees with referrals. In 2016 – 2017, we had 15 new enrollees earn a discipline referral, which accounted for a total of 45 referrals. In comparison, in 2015-2016, we had 38 new enrollees earn a discipline referral, accounting for a total of 185 referrals. We met with the 15 students who earned a discipline referral individually, as per our intervention plan. Of the 15, only 8 continued to earn additional referrals; thus, resulting in parent conferences. Perception data (pre- & post-test results) further showed an increased understanding of behavior expectations at Daniell.



The results from our intervention will help guide us in the 2017- 2018 school year as we continue to roll out PBIS initiatives. We have discussed using this format, NSO meetings, to introduce behaviors, expectations, and rules that align to our PBIS program. We will also include students who have re-enrolled at Daniell to re-teach expectations and policies. Because of the increased focus on PBIS at Daniell, we will re-write our lessons to reflect the new verbiage. We have also decided to implement Student Ambassadors who will provide students with a brief tour of the building and show them where their classes are, and these Student Ambassadors will be able to further explain policies and expectations as it relates to being a student.

Goal: For the 2016-2017 School Year, the number of discipline referrals for new students who enroll after the first day of school will decrease from 20% of the total referrals as in 2015-2016 to 10% or less of the total referrals.

Target Group: Students who enrolled at Daniell Middle School after the first week of school

Data Used to Identify Students: Enrollment data from OnTrack

School Counselor(s): Cayce Pope

ASCA Domain, Mindsets & Behaviors Standard(s): M 3 (A/SE), BLS 7 (A/SE),

Type of Activities to be Delivered in What Manner?: 1. New Student Orientation (NSO) groups delivered in a small group format 2. NSO Individual Follow Up delivered in individual sessions with students 3. NSO Parent Contact delivered in Collaborative Meeting / Phone Call with Parent/ Guardian

Process Data (Number of students affected): 100 attended NSO meetings -8 meetings (45 minutes/meeting) 15 Individual Follow Up sessions were held 8 Parent Contacts were made

Perception Data (Surveys or assessments used): Pre- & Post- Test surveys were administered to the NSO groups. There were 5 questions aimed at assessing the understanding of Daniell Policy and Procedures. The percentage of correct scores increased for all students. 1. I know who my administrator is a. Pre – 17% b. Post – 97% 2. I know what the DMS dress code is a. Pre – 30% b. Post – 100% 3. I know how to earn SWAG a. Pre – 23% b. Post – 100% 4. I know how to get involved in extracurricular activities a. Pre – 34% b. Post – 90% 5. I know what behaviors can result in an office referral a. Pre – 12% b. Post – 95%

Outcome Data (Achievement, attendance, and/or behavior data): Overall, there was a decrease of 75.7% in number of referrals received by new enrollees and a decrease of 60.5% in number of new enrollees with referrals from the 15-16 school year to the 16-17 school year. In 16-17, there were 710 student referrals; New Enrollees were responsible for 45 or approximately 6% of total referrals. Of the 100 students who attended NSO meetings, 15 earned discipline referrals, and of those, only 8 continued to accumulate additional referrals following an Individual Follow Up session.

Implications: Daniell is fully implementing PBIS in the 2017-2018 school year. The success of this program has become a driving force in the method and manner in which the PBIS behavior expectations lessons will be delivered. Moving forward, we will also invite students who re-enroll at Daniell and re-teach expectations using the new PBIS wording. We will also introduce Student Ambassadors as peers that New Students can connect with during the meetings, further encouraging the building of positive relationships. We will continue NSO meetings and data collection processes, as is, for the 2017-2018 school year because of the significant impact the groups had on reducing behavioral referrals. However, in regards to the Individual Follow Up and Parent Conferences, we will add perception data collection assessments. We feel that a reflective piece addressing the discipline referral will allow us to clarify the situation and to explore possible alternatives with the student that the student can choose without a negative consequence.

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