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Classroom Management Training Reaps Big Benefits for Arizona School District
The Pendergast School District in Phoenix, Arizona, needed help with its student behavior problems. Teachers and administrators were dealing with disruptive behaviors that were greatly reducing quality teaching and learning time in the classroom, and resulting in a high rate of office referrals and suspensions. This was having a dooming impact on Pendergast and was contributing to its failure to meet criteria on student test scores.
Classroom management ranked high on Pendergast’s list of areas for improvement. “After looking at our district’s discipline data, I began researching student management programs that would help our schools decrease suspensions and increase time on task in the classroom,” said Amy Perhamus, the district’s Director of Safe Schools and Alternative Education.
Perhamus reviewed the options and then advocated for Girls and Boys Town’s help. She contacted the Education Services division of Girls and Boys Town to make arrangements for expert training.
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“While I found a few programs that would help our schools, it was apparent that the Girls and Boys Town programs were most supported by data that showed an increase in student time on task and an increase in student achievement,” said Perhamus. “Girls and Boys Town offered an established training and capacity building that would help insure sustainability and success with implementation throughout our schools.”
Girls and Boys Town’s education management experts shared the ideas, approaches and techniques of the Girls and Boys Town Education Model with Pendergast staff. Girls and Boys Town workshops provide theory, as well as the "how to" strategies, to address specific behaviors. Strategies learned in the workshops can easily be integrated into any curriculum to create a positive learning environment.
“Our group of highly trained professionals went to Phoenix and held the preliminary meeting with the school board and schools,” said Susan Lamke, Girls and Boys Town Site Coordinator for Education Services. “We discussed the benefits and the hopeful outcomes that their students would receive from implementing the program. Then we started right in on the initial training with four schools. We also collected data so we could see how they started the year and how they progressed.”
The Education Model, which has been practiced and applied for more than 20 years, uses a systems-based social skills curriculum with sound teaching interactions and administrative practices. “The Girls and Boys Town Education Model provides something for all students,” said Lamke. “The things that make our program different make it the best!”
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“We have seen a significant decrease in out-of-school suspensions and office referrals. Additionally, there has been a decrease in violence on school campuses since we began implementing the Girls and Boys Town Model.”
- Amy Perhamus
Pendergast School District
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“The training is both systemic and systematic,” said Perhamus. “Training is provided for all staff, administration and parents. They present information through a variety of formats that keep all trainees interested for the duration.”
Initial trainings are followed up with consultation visits. The consultations allow for site-specific feedback and continual program improvement.
“Every minute of every training and consultation visit is directly applicable to interactions with students and program implementation,” said Perhamus. “The consultants use data consistently to drive decisions and professional development. The consultants are great! They are knowledgeable, professional and can relate to the current school environment. They actively listen and provide honest and impactful feedback.”
In its efforts to create a better learning environment, Pendergast utilized the following Girls and Boys Town workshops:
The Well-Managed Classroom (WMC) – Designed to meet the needs of students in regular educational environments.
Specialized Classroom Management (SCM) – Developed to meet the needs of students who spend the majority of time in self-contained special education settings and/or alternative schools.
Administrative Intervention ® (AI) – Supports both the WMC and SCM by providing staff with a process for working one-on-one with students who are experiencing difficulties in their learning environment.
“The Pendergast School District has all of these programs in place to meet the needs of their students,” said Lamke. “This also provides consistency for those students that go between special education and regular education.”
Ray Burke, Girls and Boys Town’s Director of Program Evaluation, thought the Girls and Boys Town Education Model was a perfect match for Pendergast.
“While in Phoenix, we trained individuals to prevent problems from occurring,” he said. “Some of the results we expected to see were reductions in office referrals and suspensions, improvements in attendance and improvements in grades because teachers and students are getting more quality time in the classroom, without interruptions. Our objective is to prevent problems in the school setting.”
Implementing the Model has proven to have positive effects in the classroom. “A higher percentage of students are engaged in the academic lesson and there have been fewer acts of verbal and physical aggression,” said Perhamus. “Ultimately, Pendergast students have improved their GPAs.”
During the first six months of the school year after Pendergast received Girls and Boys Town’s Well-Managed Classroom training, the four project schools had a 56% reduction in out-of-school suspensions when compared with the year prior to the training, said Burke.
Perhamus said there also has been a decrease in office referrals and violence on school campuses since Pendergast implemented the Girls and Boys Town Model.
Due to the hard work of teachers and administrators in implementing the Girls and Boys Town training, the Pendergast School District has gotten more than it bargained for. Schools not only have successfully reduced office referrals and suspensions, but also increased their quality teaching time, given more positive reinforcements, decreased verbal/physical aggression and helped improve their students’ GPAs. Pendergast is now a district full of well-managed classrooms with plenty to be proud of!
To learn more about how Education Services can help your school or district through its Education Model and training workshops, e-mail or call 1-800-545-5771. Need to train a large group? Girls and Boys Town can bring customized training and consultation to your site.
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