Positive Behavioral Intervention in 2nd grader's IEP
Dear parents, Are there any potential concerns associated with including positive behavior or PBIS goal in the IEP? My daughter is in general education class (2nd grade) with some push in services. The RSP teacher asked us to sign an amended IEP that included the following accommodation, "All consequences must be part of a positive reinforcement system or district positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) system" The RSP teacher mentioned that they are adding this to all IEPs in the school. I did not sign this yet as not much information was provided other than she telling that it will be helpful to have that accommodation in her IEP. Her classroom teacher mentioned during the last IEP that my kid was getting distracted a lot and not focusing in the classroom. But she is not disruptive or causing any harm to others. Now with this request, I am trying to understand the motivations of the teacher and/or school. Anyone with such experiences or experience with PBIS could please provide guidance? Also, is it okay to sign IEP without understanding what their intention is? Any suggestions or help is appreciated. Thanks, Concerned parent.
Parent Replies
Absolutely ask the school to explain it further, but generally, this is common for schools that are adopting positive behavior systems, and something you want them to be doing. What they mean is that your child should not be given negative consequences for undesired behavior, but instead any consequences should be part of a behavior plan that rewards the behavior you do want to see (vs. punishing the behavior you don't want to see). My guess is that your school is just beginning to use this system, and also that students with IEPs are more likely to be punished in negative ways, so they are codifying that the consequences need to be tied to the new positive behavior system. But they should be able to explain what this means at your particular school (and for your particular child), and you should definitely feel comfortable with everything in the IEP before signing it.
NEVER sign an IEP if you don't understand it fully!
That being said, this sounds to me like they are trying to encourage positive reinforcement rather than teachers snapping at the kids only for behavior that's deemed negative or disruptive. I can say from personal experience that this is needed. This is about how the teachers handle disruptions, not whether your specific kid is disruptive.