What Families Need to Know to Support Check In Check Out At Home

Speaking: Elaine Neugebauer, Kathryn Poggi

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Today's Objectives

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Norms of the Wylandville Community

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Child-Centered

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One 2nd Grade Student's Perspective

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Contact Information

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>> Broadcast is now starting. All attendees are in listen-only mode.

>> Hello, everyone. I'm Elaine Neugebauer here at PaTTAN Pittsburgh. Today is the second session in the Family Engagement LEA to LEA webinar series. Today's session is Partners in Behavior: What

Families Need to Know to Support Check In Check Out at Home. I'm excited about today's topic, and I hope you fill find it informational. The session is being recorded and will be available on the

Family Engagement web page of the PaTTAN website, which can be reached at www.pattan.net. The handout for today's webinar can be accessed through your dashboard for today's webinar.

I'd like to share with you PaTTAN's mission. PaTTAN supports the efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education and local education agencies. PaTTAN's purpose is to build capacity of the

LEAs to serve students who receive special education services.

Also, PDE's commitment to Least Restrictive Environment, or LRE. Our goal is, for each child, is to ensure Individualized Education Program, or IEP teams begin with the general education setting, with

the use of supplementary aids and services before considering a more restrictive environment.

I'd like to share with you at this time the Family Engagement Webinar series flyer. And as you can see, we're in our second webinar of five. And more information can be reached at www.pattan.net under

the Family Engagement section. And also, too, you can check the training calendar for future events.

The objectives for today's session include topics. Topics will include defining the intervention of Check In Check Out and it core features. We'll also discuss school to home linkages on this

intervention and incorporation of family members as Check In Check Out partners. Orientation to successful utilization of this intervention via a district and home partnership from an administrator's

perspective. Suggestions for implementations in other interested school settings.

Connecting PTA standards. And as you can see, today we'll be focusing on three of the PTA standards. Standard one, welcoming all families into the school community, and standard two, communicating

effectively. Standard three, sharing power. And as you can see from our illustration from National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, you'll see all six standards, and they're kind of

portrayed as they should be, as interlocking and connecting.

Let's take a look at Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. Positive behavioral supports is an approach that is based on the premise that effective teaching requires a continuous

strategy, and that positive feedback produces desirable changes in students' behavior. Desirable behavior, in turn, will lead to an increased rate of productivity and learning on the part of each

student. Schools that utilize the PBIS approach have systems in place that track and analyze student behavior for the purpose of developing targeted and individualized interventions and supports

school-wide.

What part of the triangle are we going to start with? And as you can see from our triangle, we have two different sides, academic systems and behavioral systems. And as you can see, both are

incredibly important and supported within the education in each school and each school building. You can see that there are several different levels or tiers, and all students have the opportunity to

interact and be supported by tier I universal intervention. But through data and instruction we do also know that some students will need more targeted interventions. And this can be referred to,

whether it's academic or behavioral, as tier II or targeted interventions. And you can see that 5 to 15% of students will need an additional intervention in the level of tier II, or receiving some

additional supports. And for students that need even more support, we see tier II tertiary interventions. And those are 1 to 5% of the students. And we are going to be focusing on, today, looking at

more of the tier II supports. Tier II interventions are typically group-based, standardized practices and systems designed to supplement primary prevention efforts, and are appropriate for students

who exhibit problem behaviors across multiple settings. A variety of evidence-based tier II interventions meet these criteria, and most incorporate effective practices such as targeted and explicit

skill instruction, acknowledgements of appropriate behavior, increased adult support, and frequent performance feedback for targeted behaviors.

We're now going to focus on an intervention called Check In and Check Out. Because Check In Check Out is a group-based standardized intervention, is it efficient and cost-effective. For example, the

program can accommodate a number of students. An example is up to 50-- 30, up to 30 students, not 50. And students can enter the program within a few days following referral. Check In Check Out also

provides a built-in system for monitoring students' progress in the program, evaluating the fidelity of implementation, and transitioning to a self-managed program.

To give you a quick overview of Check In Check Out, it's a small group intervention, and provides daily organization and behavioral support. It provides systematic performance feedback. It includes

high rates of adult attention, mechanisms for making data-based decisions, and it also includes what we're really going to focus on today, is a communication like between school and home.

Just to give you an overview of some of the research. Research-supported practices, and we'll just go over a few of the research-supported practices that are included in Check In Check Out. Schools

can successfully implement. It increases-- it decreases problem behavior. It's effective for 60 to 75% of tier II at-risk students. It is ineffective for students who do not find adult attention

reinforcing.

There is a great advantage to its flexible use in all school locations, and we know that some behaviors are contextually based. Check In Check Out's structure creates a consistent feedback loop for

both student and adult supports. It also supports the ultimate goal of self-managed, the self-management of positive behavior for students who are involved in it. As you can see, the Check In Check

Out has a decision-making flowchart. You will see the teacher and family member as an integral part of the intervention process.

Continue with research on Check In Check Out. It's been found more effective with students with attention-maintained problem behaviors. It's effective across behavioral functions, meaning that it will

support a student that does exhibit behaviors that have, you know, multiple functions. Students who do not respond to Check In Check Out may benefit from function-based, individualized interventions.

Research has demonstrated that this intervention is most effective if tier I school-wide positive behavior support systems and practices are well-established within the school.

Connecting families to Check In Check Out. Guidelines for Check In Check Out mentors are used to strengthen the family-school relationship, such as understanding each other's perspectives,

co-constructing the main concern, problem solving is the means to changing student behavior, and improving learning outcomes.

As per Check In Check Out guidelines and examples supporting family connection interactions, they develop a two-way communications system. Focus on all communication on the student's engagement at

school and progress in learning. Ensure that parents have the information to support their child's learning. And recognize that trusting relationships develop over time.

In Check In Check Out, mentors also consider how they are interacting with families, guided by family-centered practices. And several of these practices are listed below, such as adopting a family

orientation, and also thinking the best of the families, and kind of continuing to have a positive relationship with families. Responding to the parents' concerns, and those would be, you know,

shared within the communications system that's incorporated in Check In Check Out between the school and families. Also, supporting treating families as equals as they are involved in the Check In

Check Out, and supporting individual students throughout their support systems. Being a resource.

Family linkages and benefits of Check In Check Out at home include consistent reinforcement strategies, continuity of expectations, and common behavioral terms and cues. And so we'll have an

opportunity to see these family linkages of Check In Check Out in action as we go into our second portion of our webinar. And I'd like to introduce Catherine Kathryn Poggi, also from PaTTAN

Pittsburgh.

>> Thank you so much, Elaine, and thank you for providing the context on Check In Check Out. It is our pleasure today to have Nina Unitas today from Cannon-McMillan, and her journey that she's done,

not only from an administrator perspective, but also knowing how to connect with parents to talk both behaviorally and academically, and to best support those students involved. So, first off, Nina,

thank you for being with us.

>> Absolutely. Glad to be here.

>> And I know that I just mispronounced your name. Unitas.

>> That's okay. Unitas, yes. No, that's fine.

>> And it's also a great time to indicate that you do have a dashboard section within your view that you can put questions, as Nina's walking us through the discussion and some of the topics that

we're going to work through of Check In Check Out. We'll be monitoring it on this side, and we'll do every effort we can to answer questions that may trickle in. So, Nina, we're excited to hear about

your journey, and talking about Check In Check Out at your site. Tell us about it, give us an orientation.

>> Thanks. So, I am currently serving as the principal at Wylandville Elementary in the Cannon-McMillan School District, and this is my sixth year of service. Prior to serving there, I spent seven

years teaching art before entering administration, and before becoming a principal, I was an assistant principal for five years. So, I have a few years of service under my belt. The first thing I'd

like to share is a little bit about the demographics of Wylandville Elementary. It is a small school. We have about 240 kids. As you can see from some of the information, we have approximately 13.5

students with IEPs, and 12.5% of our students qualify for free, reduced lunch. We have about 25 full and part-time staff, so our support system is great with the amount of students we service. When I

began my tenure in the building five years ago, we had 25 students rostered and identified in need of learning support services. And since implementing our well check process, which I'll explain a

little bit deeper, and school-wise positive behavior interventions and supports, the number of identified students has decreased and remained stable. So we are fluctuating between six to ten

identified students over the last few years. Myself and my team attribute this to the strategic planning involved in our well check process, and ensuring that we are expanding our level two

interventions available to our children. And Check In Check Out was a first step in offering those level two interventions to our students. And we actually just started using it last school year.

>> That's fantastic. And I think you hit on a great point that Elaine mentioned a moment ago, situating tier II supports, Check In Check Out, today's focus works best when we have a framework of PBIS

in place, and we have all those tier I interventions, really [INAUDIBLE] solid. Now, we know that not everyone today on the webinar may be connected with a school that's doing PBIS, but I think this

may start the conversation, and it'll be great to hear you talk through how you knew that you wanted to put interventions in place, and you're seeing now by the data that you're having less students

involved. So the proportion of support sounds like it was a good fit.

>> Definitely. And it allows us to be more strategic with interventions. So we have those organic conversations about our students that allow us to look at them as individuals and figure out what they

need to best meet their needs. So, the process we have in place are what we call well checks, and they take place monthly. Our day begins with a 30 to 45 minute PBIS core team meeting, and we utilize

the TIPS form, which ensures that our meeting stays focused. That's the Team Initiated Problem Solving form. We have designated roles, which help us function more effectively and efficiently. And the

TIPS is a conceptual model for problem-solving that has been operationalized into a setting of practical procedures to be used during meetings of school-based problem-solving teams such as PBIS. We

have used the TIPS form to help identify, address, and resolve student social and academic and behavior problems, because as we know, if we do not pay attention to individual students as far as if

they are internalizing or externalizing behaviors, we can see those learning outcomes and that academic performance decrease, because we're not meeting their needs behaviorally. We've also noticed a

carryover of these practices into our well check meetings when discussing individual students.

>> Excellent. These well check meetings sound like a fantastic way to partner with parents. And it's wonderful that you're doing the evidence-based TIPS model to track your action plans and your

prioritized next steps. Can you tell us about times and ways that you've included parents in the well checks, or when you develop the TIPS action plans, are there ways that parents can be connected

through that with prioritized next steps?

>> Absolutely. So, the first thing we need to make sure we do is that parents are constantly in the loop on what is happening at school. So, you know, the faculty knows that they have a concern, they

come speak to me. They have me to bounce ideas off of. They have the school counselor, or our school psychologist to bounce those, excuse me, ideas off. And what has been powerful is being able to

make that parental contact, and have a number of people on our team talking the same talk, using the same verbiage. Honoring the child as an individual, and illustrating our concerns for he or she,

and then if we think that this child might be a candidate for well check, that is a conversation we toss out early. So, I encourage the teachers to explain what the well check process is. You know,

these are the things I'm doing in my classroom with my classroom behavior management program to help meet your child's need and find success. But please know, you know, Mrs. ABC, that if I don't see

that improving, and we speak to the team, that well check process might be something we'll be interested in doing, you know, in the next month or so. And they have a great ability to be able to

articulate that to the parents, whereas it's not this closed-door meeting we have at school. We're very, very transparent on what that looks like. They explain to parents that we would meet as a

team, talk about what we see manifesting at school, how we would articulate those goals that we would like to see improvement in over the next few months. And then this is a time, sometimes, that

parents are willing to say, oh, well, I hear what you're saying, that you know, we're seeing these things at home. And, you know, I wasn't really sure that you were actually seeing those at school.

So, it opens the door that they know that there's a level of concern of what they're seeing at home, and it connects with school.

>> And, you know, it's exciting to hear you describe that, because it so aligns with what we are prioritizing in family engagement and our work with it, and NPS, national network of school

partnerships. And how Dr. Joyce Epstein talks about the power of communicating with parents, and creating these learning spaces at home and that collaborative partnership. And, you know, we look at

six types, and just in that brief description, you rattled off at least three of those that you're doing through your wellness checks. So, that's fantastic, and I'm sure attendees can connect to that

and think, hey, this might be something we can layer in. Thank you for giving us this birds-eye view of Wylandville. Talk us through a little bit more of the norms and some of the things that you use

to structure your activities.

>> Well, we want to make sure that our team functions with clear expectations, and definitely a level of respect, where I might have a perspective as an administrator not being in the classroom all

day. My teachers know that. I am not in your classroom all day. I'm not going to pretend that I know what it's like to be in your classroom all day. So, you know, how can we leverage each other to

kind of create a more powerful experience for our kids, to ensure their success behaviorally and academically? So, we have a lot of organic conversations about people tossing out ideas, and being

able to agree that these are the things we find important, has great carryover into the classroom, parallels everything we're doing with school-wide positive behavior support tier I interventions,

and definitely fosters that way of speaking with parents, and not at them. So, you know, I knew what kind of school I wanted to work in, and I know how I liked to be treated when I was a teacher. And

I often put that lens on, and wanted to go to the faculty and say, well, how do you want to participate in working here? What's important to you? So, we brainstormed these norms. There are things

that I think really help our meetings remain focused on why we're there. And ultimately, that carries over, again, into the conversations we have with our parents. There's nothing we're talking about

in any of our meetings that are secret, and we offer those transparencies. So, with my ideas, I wanted to know what other people felt were valuable. And we came up with these norms. And when I

finally had my a-ha moment with the concept that how my actions and words set the tone in a building, I forced myself to discuss them with the faculty. And I suppose, I really didn't want to think

that my presence or my words were, like, that powerful in a building. But it was a pretty a-ha moment when I had a teacher tell me that. And I was like, really? Like, that makes sense. I mean, it's

no different than a teacher in a classroom, or a parent with a child. So, these norms helped us create a culture that we value, and one we want to work within and serve our families. So, I think it

helped me realize that others want to function in an environment similar to the one I envisioned for us and our children and our families. So, created under my guidance, we were modeling and having

uncomfortable conversations that really help us maintain focus on why we're there. These norms, and our interactions with each other on the team, like I said, set the tone for interactions with our

parents. And I will never hesitate to refocus the narrative back to the child, and what he or she needs. So, I've actually said to parents and to some faculty, you know, I'm sorry if you may be

offended by this, but we're having a conversation. I'm hearing the word I, and my, and me. It's uncomfortable for me to say, okay, well, let's talk about the kid. Like, I get this is how you're

feeling. I want to validate your concerns as a teacher, or your concerns as a parent, but we need to change the narrative back to the child. And without creating that respectful environment, that's

very difficult to do when talking to people you supervise. So, kind of transcending that relationship, because ultimately, then that happens with parents. That you connect with them on an authentic

level, where they know your heart is in the right place, and you want to do what's best for their child. And there isn't this confrontation, or this judgment we're making about what your child is or

is not doing while they're at our school.

>> Nina, have you had instances-- I think it's amazing, and it's really great that you're working through these power struggles that the parents have been receptive and have been able to respond to

these norms. And even when you work through the I statements, keeping the focus back, have you bolstered some of those parent relationships that could help with further partnering with the same

things that may be coming down the pipe with their students, future struggles?

>> Definitely. I really think there's a level of, it almost kind of transcends, maybe, some relationship struggles that one might have with a parent who, you know, wants, wants, wants, through their

lens for their child. And they don't take the time to pause and think, okay, what is best for my kid? How can I partner with the school? So, kind of defusing those type of situations. I have

experienced long pauses after addressing parents about that. And I do notice the next time we interact, they know that the main focus is their child. Yes, I can validate how you're feeling and your

concerns. That's important. I need to know your perspective. But in the end, you and I are both connected by one little human being, and that little human being is your little human being that you

know best. But at the same time, those uncomfortable situations, I think, do bring you closer.

>> And I think those comments echo what Elaine was saying about, you know, ensuring that parents are equal partners in the process, and I think always validating their expertise in their child, and we

are rooted with that common goal. So it's great. I think that emotional bank account you're making to connect with parents and the work around this process can pay off dividends. Keep going.

>> Sure, so, like, piggybacking on that, like, parents worry. They do, okay? I don't know a single parent that doesn't worry about their kid. And if they're not worrying, and they're not willing to,

you know, confront us, or be willing to have an uncomfortable conversation with us, then that's when we should be worried. We should be worried when they're not concerned. That is an open door, that

when we know they're concerned, we need to leverage that to strengthen our partnership and be savvy enough to do that. And take the time in my day to do that, you know? I read somewhere recently, or

was somewhere and someone said, less about us and more about them. And I just want to toss that out there, because I say it so often, because it's very easy in a school to think about how we're

functioning, and sometimes that conversation, too often, we talk about what we have to do other than what we take time for. We have this big concept of time, and what we're supposed to be teaching.

If you're in PSSA, or what you're supposed to be teaching before the PSSAs are administered, and we kind of have to re-humanize education and think less about these are the things we have to do, and

these are the things we need to do to best meet the needs of our kids. But thinking about this, and if, you know, anyone listening has implemented tier I universal, you know, interventions through

school-wide positive behavior support, I think about how many times when we started doing this I had teachers, they may have not been physically rolling their eyes, but thinking about the things we

expected them to do, offering positive reinforcement to kids for what they saw as, kids should just comply. And, you know, at Wylandville, we acknowledge our individuals, our kids that are making

their mark by awarding dots. And I know that some people were thinking, oh, great. Just what I need, something else to do. I have to keep track of their dots. I have to, you know, let them go to the

dot bin to enter in the drawing for their individual motivators. And I have to give out dots. I have to each lessons. And the list goes on and on. But you kind of get the picture. We all have that,

our own lens. And that's fine. But in the end, we see the benefit on our actions, on our kids. But what we have now through all those growing pains are teachers, parents and kids noticing how

different and positive an environment can be with something so simple. And this completely parallels with the experience we have had with using Check In Check Out in our building.

>> Fantastic. It sounds like you have done a ton of backstory training and instruction for your staff to understand PBIS, and to understand that universal design, and how we can do preventative steps

to reinforce. Have you had opportunities that you've been able to educate the parents and the families on PBIS, and for them to be aware of the dots, and the recognition that you're delivering, and

have you been able to bridge that from Wylandville over to the home, and the students having those benefits across both contexts?

>> It's kind of been amazing, those little-- it seems to me, like, little things we do, you know? That tier I, that are so incredibly powerful. And yes, parents, they hear from their kids when they

come home, you know, how many dots they got. Why they got their dots. Their positive reinforcers, just re-frames their day. Instead of, you know, maybe something not so pleasant happened, but they're

quick to use those positives first, which you can't fake. Like, that is a child authentically coming home and sharing a good experience. And again, that completely parallels when we look at tier II

interventions. We don't want a child who we refer for tier II intervention, and let's say we think Check In Check Out's going to work for that child. We want that to be a positive thing. We don't

want that to be framed as, you know, I'm a kid who can't do this, or, you know, I might have challenges doing this, and this Check In Check Out process and my mentor are here for me, to help empower

me to figure out what I can do differently.

>> It sounds like those ongoing conversations have been a backbone. Have you had an instance where a student was recommended for Check In Check Out, and he was anxious, or did feel that there were

concerns? And you could navigate that conversation first with the parents, and then you two collectively could work to build the student's buy-in, and the student's motivation to participate? And I

agree, it goes back to that emotional bank account. We're all pulling for you. We're united with this one person here, so has that been an experience?

>> Yes. I can I think of one specific experience where, you know, we had a child who had three majors within nine weeks, which was a red flag, one of her qualifiers, to say hey, you know, in what

environment are these happening? What kind of behaviors are we seeing? What time of day are they? Is this a child that might respond well to Check In Check Out, rather than just keep slamming them

with major forms? And when I called the parent about the third major, I tossed out the idea of Check In Check Out, and I kind of tossed the idea of what a well check was. I'd like to sit around and

brainstorm some things for staying here at school. Mom illustrated some great concern. I asked her, because I didn't have a very close rapport with this child. He was a child that I think he might

have associated me with being in trouble. Although, you know, when a child comes, I, you know, I speak to a child about poor choices. We're very reflective. I was just concerned that I wasn't going

to be the correct person to speak to him about why we were interested in him participating in Check In Check Out, and she said absolutely, and I'll call you back tomorrow, and she talked to him, and

she called me back the next morning. And she said, "Oh my goodness, Nina, he is freaked out by that. Like, there is no way he wants anything to do with that." And it made sense, because the behaviors

we saw him exhibiting had nothing to do with adult attention. He was doing things for peer attention. And providing him a Check In Check Out opportunity to get kind of the positive relationship with

an adult was not something he was going to be receptive to. So, you know, we ended up well checking him and going back to the drawing board, because we knew he was not going to respond well to it,

and we're not about to get in a power struggle with a child and tell them they have to do something that they are not going to respond to. Being able to recognize that, and putting the parent in a

position to have that discussion with their child was way more informative and meaningful to the child, not to mention, like, we would've spent time creating a Check In Check Out procedure for him.

We would've seen his data completely flatline. He would've shown little interest, and then we would've wasted, you know, 30 days and not ultimately done what was right for that child.

>> What an incredible example of collaboration. And this definitely echoes back when Elaine was giving us our orientation on Check In Check Out, the discussion around functions of behavior and

knowing. Just so the audience knows, for clarity, Nina had referenced the three majors. Those would be specific to three office discipline referral majors. So, major and minor behaviors were being

tracked. I think it's commendable that you were able to team around that, and as a team, you didn't just go forth knowing, this is the intervention, this is where we're going. But you made it

specific to the child. And I'm sure the rapport with the parent was greatly boosted, and I think, too, probably the student was able to see that you were there as a partner also, not just a

disciplinarian, you know? It's those relationships. Excellent.

>> Yes. So, building upon that, I kind of, like, look at myself and my teachers as coaches, to help coach the parents rather than tell them what they need to do. So, you know, part of my job is to

coach the staff, and then utilize that lens through the partnership with families. Because sometimes, the grind of the day gets away from us, and we're more concerned about checking the boxes,

getting done what we need to get done. The entire well check team is charged to act as a coach for the teacher, the single teacher responsible for educating that child, but also as a coach to the

parent. Like, we're simultaneously coaching the parents as well. And I know that our school psychologist, our classroom teachers or our school counselor may be able to answer something that a parent

requests of me that I just might not have the answer to. And, you know, I could go get the answer and say I'll call you back, or why don't I empower you to have this conversation with our school

psychologist? He's a great resource, you know? He might be able to provide to you something that could be more effective than an idea I have. And it's kind of like that whole think tank perspective.

The more brains involved, the better results and problem-solving we're going to be able to have for a child.

>> And you're definitely creating, it's not an us-versus-them. We're all working together. And I think your efforts are showing that you're empowering parents and staff to have sometimes not the

easiest conversations if we're up against a behavioral challenge, or we're in a power struggle. We can team around that and collaboratively come up with the best solutions. And you're leaning on data

to determine if it works. So, that is so ideal. And I know you do a lot of work about things being child-centered, and you work around the home and the school being [INAUDIBLE]. Could you tell us a

little bit more about that?

>> Yes, absolutely. So I think most of us could attest to the fact that we probably have never met a parent that doesn't love their child and want the very best for them. So, focusing on what we have

in common, that child helps keep us working collectively as a team. And the mindset of our staff is that decisions are made with the child at the center, and I feel like it's, like, you know, we get

these words in education that are, like, savvy to say. They sound fabulous. We should put them in our mission statements. But, you know, many schools say they're child-centered, and you can talk the

talk, but when it's time, can you actually walk the walk? And I can't say that we are child-centered without re-focusing everything we do back on that child. So, caring about each child is the most

powerful way to connect with the parents. And sharing that you care will make the difference. But how you interact with the children daily and how they feel will be what they take home with them each

night. So, connecting with your kids as individuals ultimately helps you connect to the home and to those families.

>> It's the whole power of rapport. Have you had, Nina, instances where you know, obviously the student is feeling that connection, and they're going home and they're sharing that, you know? Like,

Mrs. Unitas was very interested in my new backpack, or I had a new haircut, or either things that are so not just academically-centered? And with that, that has prompted a parent connection, that

perhaps parents reached out and that facilitated more teaming and ways that you could link in to work together as a team. Has that manifested?

>> Yeah, they remember things. I'll never forget. I had a parent write me a note that said, you know, I was so worried because my kid was so anxious on the first day of school. The whole week they

were anxious, and she came home and told me that you said you were her school mom. Because she just wanted her mom, and she wanted her mom. And I explained my role, you know, on a

developmentally-appropriate level for that young child. And, you know, I never really thought about oh, the fact they go home and say what I say. And I'm like, well, I hope you believe half of what

they say I say. But it connects you to the kid, which definitely carries over to the home. And we say things sometimes and we don't really think about them. Because I didn't-- I'm like, oh my

goodness, I do say that. But I didn't realize I said it that day, and it had made that child feel so much more content with, you know, the anxiety they were feeling about leaving mom all day.

>> Right. Well, you started off today with your words have power, just those a-has. And that's certainly a compliment. Fantastic. So, a little bit more about just how you, as a group, are supporting

those students.

>> Sure. So the process we use to help support a child who is externalizing or internalizing behaviors that are concerning is clear. So, I want to elaborate on our well check process. And we would

definitely refer that child to the well check team. The team discusses the referral reasons, the evidence that illustrates the need for the child to have access to a tier II intervention. We have

those respectful and thoughtful conversations about what exactly is manifesting here at school. We discuss perceived motivators. We often discover more about a child based on the fact that we each

know the child and his or her family in various capacities. We have sat at a table, and someone knows a parent or a sibling, because they taught that child at a different level. There is more

information about how the family dynamic works. If we know, when we contact mom or dad, we might be working at more of a yes, I need your help tone, ultimately. Or, oh, when I had issues in the past,

this was the way this parent reacted. So we may want, knowing that information, we may want to approach that parent differently. So, that's very informative. It ultimately helps us understand the

child better. And it helps us try to focus on why we're seeing the behaviors at school, and how we can work collaboratively to actually support the child. If we believe the child is a candidate for

Check In Check Out, we discuss who may fit as an appropriate mentor for that specific child. We definitely target specific behavioral goals. It can only be a few. And we set a long-term goal. And

then we decide who will be responsible for following up with parents and meeting with the child to set up that mentor.

>> So, Nina, the conversation sounds very powerful, and it is fortunate when you have some context. Have you had instances that you can invite the parents into those conversations when you're

considering interventions? And you may have a pretty strong assumption on the functional behavior, but you want to have that voice at the table. Can you guide us through if that one has happened, and

then two, some tips that the field could use to encourage more of that parent collaboration?

>> Sure. I think, you know, it's very rare that a week before we have well checks, someone's like, ooh, I have this kid who's a red flag in our database system, or I haven't seen improvements, I want

to well check him. That timing is rare that that happens. So, as I alluded to earlier, the fact that there is constant conversation among the team, we do not wait until we sit at that table at well

checks to talk. And there is definitely a push to make a parent connection. So, you know, a teacher might say, oh, he's always doing this. He's always doing that. And I'm like, okay, well, let's sit

down. Let's look at the data. Because you might perceive this child as doing this, but if you have not documented it in a way that communicates with parents, or if you have not called them, they

don't know it's happening. And it all of a sudden can't be a problem. It needs, there needs to be that honest, open, continuous sharing of information. Because they send their child to us for seven

hours a day, and there is little to no transparency on what is happening. They can't see, I mean, some of them try to be there more than others, which is great. We love parent volunteers. But they

can't see into their child's day. So they can't help but wonder, what exactly is happening? You know, what does this look like? They want, most parents want as much information and context of what is

happening, and I find when they're given that context, then they have the ability to understand what's happening at school with their child. Because it's a different environment. Their child, you

know, we all behave differently in different environments. And these little people do just that.

>> And I think that's the power. If they can understand to be educated on the Check In Check Out process, which was the premise of today's discussion, having those tenets then be established at home,

and jointly having those expectations across settings is going to be not only a continuity for reinforcement, but also just their behavior and the momentum of maintaining those good responses. So,

I'm so glad to hear that, at each point, you're purposefully reaching out. Thank you.

>> Yeah. Absolutely. It's a must. So, the person who meets with the child once we decide a child should be looked as a candidate for Check In Check Out helps the child decide what they want their menu

of long-term rewards to be.

>> That's powerful right there. I hope everybody caught that, just that youth voice, and the child component of being a part of that. Good.

>> Yeah, because I don't want to pick a kid's rewards. You know, I have children who, you know, they just want to walk into the supply closet and see what we see every day, and pull three things down,

and spend 15 minutes making something. It's what motivates, you know, that specific child. And the other bizarre thing is at [INAUDIBLE] building the treasure box? You don't believe how many kids

love the knick knack treasure box. They know it's there. If they want to put it on their menu, you know, they can do that. But they get to choose. So, we also look to the child to help identify a

mentor. Because that mentor has to be someone they're perfectly comfortable with. You know, I was like, I'll be a mentor. But, you know, as much as I try to break down the, I'm the principal, you

know, one child might not be as receptive. But then, you know, another child's like, well, I want Mrs. Unitas. Okay, that's fine. I would be more than happy to be your mentor. So, we often give them

a list. They'll go back to teachers they've had in the past, tap into those relationships they've had. So, that student voice is huge, because we can't force them to buy into something. They have to

want to be a part of that and change their behavior based on, you know, what they want as individuals. We actually had one child ask if the custodian could be his mentor. And that was amazing,

because working really hard in a building to make sure all children are connected to all adults in the building was a huge bit. I think it may have had something to do with I didn't have any

full-time male teachers, and this child definitely wanted to connect with a male. And our custodian happened to be a man. So it was pretty cool to see that happen, and it was the child's idea. But,

ultimately, when you take the time, it takes time. There's no doubt about it. But when you take the time to honor the child voice, you validate their feelings, you offer ways to support and reward

them. Then they feel valued. You know, as adults, I want to be somewhere I'm valued, I feel valued. It motivates me. It's no different for a child. So, some people say, you know, we need to treat

others the way we want to be treated. But here's a question. What if we treated individual students the way they need us to treat them? And I stole that from somebody. I don't know who it was, but it

stuck with me. Because they need to look at each child as an individual and not think about, not necessarily what I would want for my kid, but what does this kid need for themselves at that moment in

time?

>> So that sounds like a powerful conversation point. Nina, have you had those conversations, and again, invited the parent in? You know, we know, from an educator perspective, we think that this may

be what the student needs. The student may or may not be able to articulate that. Have you invited that parent voice, or to them, enlightened the school team on those needs? And how has that

conversation gone?

>> Oh, it's gone very well. To tell a parent, you know, I was talking to Suzy today after well checks, you know, and touched base with mom last night, and this is what she listed as what she wants. It

opens that door to, well, this is what we do at home, without me saying, well, what do you do at home, right? That's really not my business. I mean, that's not my place to ask that. But if they want

to say, this is what we do at home, I get a lot of, well, what do you think about that? Because you're seeing this work at school, it opens that door for the parent asking, you know, well, can you be

a resource for me? What can you offer to me to help my child illustrate those positive behaviors seen at school, because we're still struggling at home?

>> Excellent dialogue.

>> So, I guess I just wanted to share a little anecdotal story, because I often think about people who have more experience than me, and sometimes I wish I could take all of their experiences and

just, like, you know, suck them into my own brain, and learn more about what they've done for kids. So I wanted to share this little anecdotal piece. I had a child who had suffered catastrophic loss

of life in his family, and you know, this was a child who was at risk for depression, for being angry. And sort of illustrating those types of behaviors. But we were quick to offer Check In Check Out

as an intervention for this child, because he needed that role model at school. He was definitely looking for negative adult attention. And he needed that role model. And I had very, very difficult

conversation with the extended family member that was his caregiver during this horrific time, and she valued having the uncomfortable conversations, you know? She valued the fact that, you know, he

may have made a poor choice in calling home to explain it to you. Here's the context of the situation. But let's reflect on why we think he reacted with such anger to other children. It was what else

he was struggling with in his life that impacted the other kids. And just hearing that from the caregiver that the way we were treating him at school carried home, and she wanted to kind of emulate

the conversations we were having at school to kind of pull up those positive behaviors, and help temper that anger, and deal with it in a healthy manner, but not allow it to impact everybody that he

came in contact with.

>> What a great way to, I mean, like that collaboration. You made a comment about, we have students for seven hours a day, but, you know, sometimes there are extraneous circumstances or challenges at

home. And I think being valued, and being able to team around that, it certainly sounds like it was a good outcome. Go ahead and tell us a little bit more. Just, I know we're right now within the

child-centered--

>> Yeah, maybe we can jump on, because--

>> We'll talk a little bit about your second grader.

>> Absolutely. So, sometimes the most powerful conversations I have are with children. So, I love to engage with our students, and to hear what they think, and sometimes I record our conversations so

that I don't remember them differently. I want that authentic documentation. So, I sat with a young boy at the end of last year, and it was the first year we were beginning to utilize Check In Check

Out, and I recorded a few of his statements. And I, you know, put them in here in this slide, and I think they're powerful, you know? I asked him to just, I said, "I'm going to start recording, if

you're comfortable. And I just want you to tell me about Check In Check Out." And, you know, his statements that say, "I sometimes have trouble making good choices. The way I do this," and he's

referring to Check In Check Out, "is that I check in and check out with a teacher," and he of course named her, because he has a connection. "And I think it helps me, because I have seen my behavior

improve every day." And I asked him, you know, "Why do you think your behavior improves because you use Check In Check Out?" And he elaborates that, well, "It helps me remember and reminds me that

this is the reason I have this, because I struggle sometimes. So this reminds me not to make bad choices, and to make good choices instead." And ultimately tapping into, "Well, how does that make you

feel?" And that's what makes him feel good. You know, he can articulate, "Well, it makes me feel better about myself, instead of someone always correcting me, I'm getting to earn my points and do

what I want to when I cash those out." So, referring, you know, back to talking about negative consequences, I often have conversations with parents, and they want to take away, take away, take away

at home. And I'm not going to comment on that until they say, well, this is what you're doing at school. Yes. You can do it at home too. You can offer a venue by which your child can earn something.

So you're not taking away privileges, because what ends up happening is that child has potentially completely disengaged. And they don't, you know-- you keep taking away from me, it doesn't motivate

me to want to be better. It doesn't want to make me change my behavior all the time. So that kind of opens that door to have that conversation with parents, because how a child perceives themselves

and their success or failures is ultimately what is going to motivate he or she to want to take control of their choices.

>> That's so true. And I think with that, you spoke to the power of training parents, and making them aware of it. A question had trickled in about just the Check In Check Out process, and an example

of how it could be used. And you just alluded to the young person in his statement about not always making good choices. So, for the audience members to understand, that was a goal that was

identified, and I'm sure he had a travel card, or a card when he was checking in with different folks that they were able to make the decisions around. Could you provide just a little bit more

context for someone that may have not seen the daily implementation of it?

>> Sure. So, specifically, this child struggled with some social interactions. For lack of a better word, butting into conversations, making things his business that certainly were, which ultimately

were negatively impacting his peer relationships. He was at risk for being a child that others wouldn't want to pick to do something, because sometimes he came off as arrogant, or, you know, teaching

him those level of skills, what he needs to do to think before he blurts out something that might make him not part of a team, or feel part of a team would be one of the goals. You know, we've had

kids who struggle with anxiety. We've used Check In Check Out with them. One way we've seen it work is we had a child, it was definitely separation anxiety, and sometimes it manifested with defiance.

You know, laying in the doorway. You can lay on the floor, that's fine. But you have to lay somewhere that it's safe. So, as far as what Check In Check Out would look like for that child, you know, I

walked into the building independently, because that's what he was struggling with. So we wanted him to be able to earn points for being able to walk in independently. Yes, he's going to cry. He's

sad. It wasn't about crying. It was about the success of being able to walk into the door independently. So, that is a goal that was definitely there on his page. I could walk into the classroom, put

my things away, and begin my work. We didn't care where he did his work. If, you know, he wanted to sit in his cubby and do his work, that's where he was. There was not a power struggle of, I'm going

to tell you where to sit. You're not ready to be part of the class yet. You need your time. You can go over there. But, you know, I can do, completely my class work. That was the second piece that

was one of his goals on his Check In Check Out sheet.

>> That's helpful, and that shows just not only the social context of helping them make the choices, but socially also to be better accepted with their peers. Our time is drawing close to being done,

but we did have another question that popped in, and it was more about your rationale in how you decided to pursue Check In Check Out as a tier II intervention, and when you adopted that. That would

be more from your core team framework lens. Was that a discussion, then, that you started to initially have with parents when you did those early teaming conversations? And how did you broach that?

>> Okay, so we started using Check In Check Out after we were two years in to implementing tier I universal intervention. So, we were recognized for actually implementing with Fidelity for one year.

our goals was, as a team, there was three of us there. We want to attend workshops that are going to teach us more about different tier II interventions. Check In Check Out is so, so simple. It is so

incredibly cheap. And ultimately, it offers a support system not only for the kid and the family, but for the teacher. So, I have a teacher who is definitely struggling with a child. Being able to

share the responsibility with that child, with another mentor, in a classroom where you are responsible for 20 to 27 kids, definitely helped the faculty feel supported by the team. So, that's how we

selected Check In Check Out. It is a very simple process to use. There are definitely various free ways to get, you know, good forms or cards. We use whole sheets. Part of that is making sure a

parent signs it every night to acknowledge they see it and review it with their child.

>> Fantastic. So just those parent connects, and it does sound like that you knew from the data that it was a great next step. So, our time is getting very close to being done. I do want to circle

recorded. And we're so thankful for Nina's time and for Elaine to walk us through the context of Check In Check Out. In the near future, we will be posting this content on to the PaTTAN website, and

we will have the accompanying PowerPoint with the closed caption that folks can go back and perhaps even use this as a conversation at the building level, and as they continue to partner. We do have

your contact information. And one last peek, are there any additional questions?

>> No, we are good.

>> Okay. So, on behalf of PaTTAN Pittsburgh, we thank you all so much for being with us today. And Nina, thank you for walking us through your experience.

>> Absolutely. You're quite welcome.

>> Thanks.

>> It was very, very, very informative. Thank you, everyone.