Kalispell schools aim to integrate support for behavior issues

Kalispell Public Schools is taking a comprehensive approach to behavior interventions and supports throughout grade levels and buildings in an effort to bring them in line with academics.

“What we’re trying to do for behavior we’re trying to do for academics,” said Jen Stein, who is principal at Edgerton Elementary and part of the team of facilitators that includes Kalispell Superintendent Mark Flatau and district Director of Special Education Sara Cole.

One of the issues in a district the size of Kalispell is that it can become cumbersome for educators to track the numerous district-wide and building-level initiatives, strategies and forms, according to Stein, which is why the team is working on a more efficient and user-friendly problem-solving process.

“We zoomed in on — what are Kalispell’s systems of support, how do they transition from kindergarten, to middle school to high school,” Stein said.

The team pared different behavior initiatives down to the essentials — the strategies that have proven effective — unifying it under the umbrella term “Systems of Support,” or SOS.

The team currently is working on simplifying paperwork and honing in on what data would be valuable in making decisions as students transition from elementary school to middle and high school.

The district also is working on centralizing student behavior data so that it’s just as easily accessible as grades or test scores in order to provide a comprehensive look at student progress.

“Right now we have data housed in different systems. We’re trying to integrate it all into one system this year,” Stein said.

Educators who work directly with a student — such as teachers, counselors, social workers and administrators — would access the data.

The goal is to improve educators’ ability to monitor student behavior and not duplicate efforts or “reinvent the wheel,” in responding to students’ needs. In essence, educators would be able to view what previous supports and interventions were put in place — what worked and what didn’t.

“We really want to make the process so it’s less cumbersome for teachers who are able to get kids support, but in a systematic way,” Stein said. “Right now we’re doing a lot of double entering of data.”

At the end of the day, the goal is that individual students can expect continuity in how behavior is handled, making the transition between elementary, middle and high school smoother.

“If a child has been provided support in elementary, say a check-in, check-out system with a mentor, the idea would be that a teacher in the middle school would continue using that support if it proved effective, which he or she would see in the student data,” Stein said.

“If something doesn’t work, we need to try something new. I think everyone is on board with that. I think sometimes the struggle is keeping up with all the different pieces...”

The Systems of Support is an offshoot of overarching work related to developing trauma-informed and restorative-based practices in student behavior and discipline as part of a state grant called Support, Outreach and Access for the Resiliency of Students (SOARS) and Georgetown University’s School-Justice Partnerships Certificate Program.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.