Table of Contents
Program Overview2
Purpose 2
Philosophy2
Eligibility3
Entrance Criteria 3
Conduct and Discipline 4
Transportation 4
Local Psychologist’s Support 4
Family Guidelines 5
General Information 5
Leveling System6
Time Away7
Zeroing Out Behaviors 8
Ownership Room 8
Restraint and Seclusion 9
Honors Room9
School Store 10
Outings/In-ings 10
Class Meeting10
Counseling and Guidance Services11
Transition Procedure 11
Exiting 12
Appendix13
Family Guidelines14
Zeroing Out Behaviors15
Ownership Room Log16
Ownership Room Staff Log18
Student Point Sheets19
Class Meeting25
Physiological Chart26
Purpose of the Positive Actions With Supports Program
The Positive Actions With Supports (PAWS) Program is an intensive behavior program for those students whose behavior is the primary disruption to their learning. It is an option used only when exhaustive interventions have been implemented without success in the child’s general education/resource program. The program’s main goal is to help the students build the skills necessary to be successful to be transitioned back into the general education classroom.
Philosophy of the Positive Actions with Supports Program
The Positive Actions With Supports (PAWS) Program believes that students should be served in the least restrictive environment which allows for academic and behavioral success. The mission of the program is to provide a positive environment with clear expectations and immediate, consistent feedback to assist students in developing the skills necessary to be successful in any environment. The program is based on the TIERS model which was developed by Dr. Clayton Cook and Diana Browning Wright.
Children would do well if they could. Therefore, programming includes a strong emphasis on the development of social and emotional skills which are taught daily and reinforced through spontaneous and planned interactions with staff and peers. These skills are based on research-based behavioral and cognitive theories of intervention. Academic needs are met through instruction planned in conjunction with the home school and designed to fit the student’s individual instructional needs.
Our belief is that it is important for each student to maintain a connection with their home school. If a student is placed at PAWS Program, the home school principal and counselor/social worker will maintain contact with the student. Based on the individual student’s progress through a data collection system, a plan for transition to their home school will be developed with ongoing support from PAWS Program staff.
Parent involvement is an essential component of the program. Communication with parents is encouraged through home/school reports, emails, phone calls and/or personal conferences. With parent permission, communication with private agencies involved with the student will supplement their program at PAWS Program. Parents will be offered training and activities on a regular basis
Eligibility into the Positive Actions with Supports Program
The IEP team at the student’s home school may refer students to the Positive Actions with Supports Program (PAWS Program). Students referred to this placement should have a current verification according to Rule 51, and have a current Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Students will be considered for this placement when all other interventions and placement options have been exhausted. Placement is determined on an individual basis and is flexible to accommodate students as a danger to themselves and/or others, or so seriously disruptive as to infringe on the education of other students.
Prior to referral to PAWS Program, each student must have a documented record of research based strategies, accommodations and modifications that have been attempted by the home school staff. (PAWS Program staff will be available for consultation and observations during this process.) Referral information should include data to document results of interventions and attempted strategies over a reasonable period of time. The continuum of special education services at the building level should be exhausted prior to considering the more restrictive environment of PAWS Program.
Placement at PAWS Program is considered to be the most restrictive environmental setting available in the Scottsbluff School District. It is the intent of the program that all students will be transitioned back to their home schools when they have successfully demonstrated the skills necessary to be successful in the general education classroom. Placement is seen as temporary, with the length of the placement being determined by the individual’s response to the program.
Entrance Criteria
Students must be on an IEP to enter into this program. Students must have documented behavioral needs. Interventions must have been tried, documented, and unsuccessful. Staff has implemented a behavior plan and a functional behavioral assessment has been completed. In order to complete the behavior plan and the functional behavioral assessment, the team has conducted formalized assessment in the area of behavior and social/emotional concerns. During the data collection process for the behavior plan(s), a behavior para worked with the student and the classroom teacher for a minimum of 4-6 weeks.
The IEP team will consider any previous programming, i.e. the student being in a restrictive placement in a previous school.
The IEP team always makes the final determination on placement.
Conduct and Discipline
Students attending PAWS Program will be expected to adhere to all the rules and regulations outlined in the handbook. The parent is encouraged to work with the PAWS Program staff in developing a plan which will provide continuity between home and school.
Suspensions will only be used when lesser interventions are not deemed to be an appropriate response to the level of the problem behavior. Should a suspension be utilized, a case conference will be held prior to re-entry.
Transportation
1. Students who are attending PAWS Program will be offered transportation to and from school as determined by the IEP team.
2. Students must have one designated pick up location and one designated drop off location both of which must be located within the Scottsbluff Public School boundaries.
3. School vehicles will unload, and load students at the end of the school day, at the PAWS Program entrance.
4. Late arrivals must be transported by the parent, without reimbursement, and will be admitted at the front office.
5. Students and their parents will be required to complete the transportation paperwork.
6. Communication between parents and staff should be limited during transportation times in order to maintain the route schedule.
7. Staff will not enter students’ houses. The staff will wait a maximum of 5 minutes for students to board the transportation. If the student doesn’t board within 5 minutes, the parent will need to transport the student to school.
Counseling Support
Students will receive individualized and/or group counseling on a regular basis. The counselor will provide intervention support by suggesting strategies which might be beneficial based on the counseling sessions conducted.
Students will be scheduled for counseling at least one time per week.
Schedules are necessary to allow staff to prepare/preteach for the time the students will be in session.
Family Guidelines
1. It is important that your child is encouraged to succeed in this program. Support and encouragement in their emotional well-being and academic growth is the most important factor for success.
2. Please support students arriving on time. If arriving late, the students need to report to the front office.
3. Students will have a brief quarterly meeting. This meeting will discuss the progress the student is making in the PAWS program. Parental involvement in these meetings is essential for student success. In order to help parents plan for these meetings, the staff will preplan meetings at least 1 month in advance, unless the student is in crisis. The daily progress sheets will help parents prepare for the meeting. Parent involvement is crucial, so if the parents cannot attend, please let the staff know, so the meeting can be rescheduled.
- Meetings will be prescheduled each quarter at the beginning of the year.
- These will eliminate parent teacher conferences.
- These meetings will be used as our progress report method.
- Home school will have staff (principal and/or social worker) attend at least two of these meetings per year, unless the student is on the Natural Level. If the student is on the Natural Level, the home school will attend all of the meetings.
4. Please utilize the following methods to contact the office for any reason:
- Phone: 635-6252
- Email: Mr. Gullion –
Mrs. Pittman –
Ms. Williams –
Messages will be returned as soon as possible.
General Information
If a student is placed at the PAWS Program, the following leveling system will be utilized to provide structure and to assist students in recognizing their progress.
Students will receive a daily report card indicating the desired behaviors. The percentage of demonstrated behaviors will be documented on a daily basis. Students, with the support of the staff, will graph their progress each day. The student’s IEP will determine the targeted behaviors. When the student has met the targeted behaviors according to the leveling system, the IEP team will meet to discuss the transition process. Each student’s transition process will be unique to meet his/her needs.
Students will also have the opportunity to earn bonus points. These points will be used in the school store and will be individually tracked. These points are not used in the leveling system, and they are not used to move up or down levels.
Leveling System
ALL students enter on the Daily level
Advancement or demotion can occur between levels, based on the student’s behavior.
Daily: Entry Level. All classes are in the PAWS Program. Students will be in a separate recess and will have all specials within the PAWS Program. Students can purchase various items in the school store with their bonus points, unless they have had a zeroing out behavior. Students’ behavior is tracked in 15 minute increments.
Weekly: Students will start transitioning into classes in the general education classrooms with support from the PAWS program. Students will attend the morning meeting, all specials, recess with their peers, lunch with their peers, and at least one academic class. These classes will be decided on an individualized basis. Students’ behavior is tracked in 30 minute increments.
Natural: Students will have all of the privileges from the Weekly level and will add assemblies, field trips with their class and at least 2-4 academic classes. This will continue to be with support from the PAWS Program, however, as the support team (case manager, administrator, parent, and classroom teacher) reviews the progress, the support will be tapered. Students’ behavior is tracked in 1 class period increments.
Levels will be public to all students, but daily points will be kept private.
Movement between levels will be determined in the following manner:
Upward Level Movement:
Daily Level to Weekly Level: Student earns 17 of 20 days with the last 7 days consecutive with at least 80% of possible daily points.
Weekly Level to Natural Level: Student earns 17 of 20 days with the last 7 days consecutive with at least 80% of possible daily points.
Natural Level to Transitioning Full Time: Student earns 20 of 20 days at 80% of possible daily points.
Downward Level Movement:
Natural to Weekly: If a student has a zeroing out behavior, the student will drop back to weekly. The student must have 7 consecutive days of 80% of possible daily points per day to move back to Natural Level. If a student has a second zeroing out behavior during these 7 days, the student will start at the beginning of the Weekly stage.
Weekly to Daily: If a student has a zeroing out behavior, the student will drop back to Daily. The student must have 7 consecutive days of 80% of possible daily points per day to move back to Weekly Level. If a student has a second zeroing out behavior during these 7 days, the student will start at the beginning of the Daily stage.
Time Away
Students will be encouraged to use a time-away if necessary. This is an option the student exercises to leave a learning task which has become aversive to him/her. The student moves to a location in the room designated for this purpose and remains there until he/she is ready to cope with the demands of the learning environment. The student then returns to the assigned learning location by his/her initiation, not by a teacher signaling the return (although this might be prompted).
Time Away is different from a Time Out. In a Time Out procedure, students access to reinforcement is removed or reduced for a specified time period contingent on a response. Time Out is often used as a punishment for misbehavior. The teacher tells the student when to leave and when to return, often with lengthy removals being the norm.
An effective use of Time Away is one in which the student can be privately encouraged to leave the activity as a “cooling off” period, until he/she is ready to cope with the assignment or activity, but it must be clearly conveyed that this is the student’s choice and that this removal is not a punishment for misbehavior.
If a teacher feels the students are using this option too frequently, a collaborative problem solving session should be conducted to determine the reason for the frequency. A plan may need to be considered as well.
Zeroing Out Behaviors
Zeroing out behaviors are behaviors that are not tolerated for any reason. These behaviors result in earning time in the Ownership Room. These behaviors include:
- Physically Unprovoked Aggression: A student is physically aggressive for no apparent reason.
- Physically Provoked Aggression: A student is physically aggressive toward another student first and the student being touched is physically aggressive toward them in response (the student reacting may get a lower number of tasks in the ownership room compared to the student who initiated the physical aggression).
- Significant Verbal Aggression: When a student is not responsive after two corrective teaching interactions.
- Elopement: A student who leaves the assigned area without permission (no matter where the student runs) earns automatic time in the ownership room.
a) Law enforcement will be called if a student has eloped off school grounds.
b) A designated staff member will call the parent/guardian should a student elope.