Education Services
The Girls and Boys Town Education Model

In August 2000, the name Boys Town was expanded to Girls and Boys Town to acknowledge the fact that the organization serves both girls and boys. Services completed before that time refer to the program as Boys Town or Father Flanagan’s Boys Home.

For many years, Father Flanagan's Boys Home has been successful in helping children from all over the country to improve their lives. After experiencing the tremendous success on the home campus in Omaha Nebraska, school systems across the country have requested the secret to that success. The Training Evaluation and Certification Center at Girls and Boys Town developed the Boys Town Education Model for schools that are interested in training their staff to duplicate the program in their districts.

The Girls and Boys Town Education Model (GBTEM) was developed in 1979 and is an extension of the Boys Town Family Home Program (Coughlin & Shanahan, 1986) and the Teaching Family Model (Phillips, Phillips, Fixsen & Wolf, 1973). The GBTEM has been adapted to train classroom teachers, building administrators, and support staff to implement three critical elements:

1. A school-wide social skills curriculum
2. An administrative intervention process
3. A proactive classroom behavior management approach

These three critical elements contribute to a system-wide approach that fosters respectful and caring staff/student interactions by fundamentally changing the way schools address discipline and deal with student behavior.

Collaborative services are designed to assist school staff as they develop or revise a comprehensive school plan for improving discipline and teaching student responsibility. GBTEM training professionals work directly with staff through workshops and consultation and assist schools with establishing quality-learning communities.

Girls and Boys Town Education Model Components

The GBTEM is designed to increase time for academic instruction by reducing the amount of time needed to address inappropriate behaviors in the classroom.

Key components of the model include:

• Life Skills Curriculum – a curriculum of specific skills taught as expectations in the classroom. Demonstrations of these skills by students will increase 1) the opportunity for success in the classroom; and 2) the generalization of skills for use in other aspects of a student’s life.

• Teaching Methods that Support the Life Skills Curriculum – the model gives teachers specific ways to teach the student life skills. The methods are similar to academic instruction and focus on correction of inappropriate behaviors by teaching alternative behaviors rather than relying on punishment to reduce behavior problems. When students increase the intensity or severity of inappropriate behavior, our approach emphasizes the need to teach students self-control mechanisms rather using physical restraint and other measures to control the students.

• Motivation System – The model also includes a multi-level token-economy system that promotes self-government, self-discipline, self-control, and problem solving in students.

• Administrative Intervention – The GBTEM provides a method of dealing with students who have been referred from the classroom because of disruptive behavior. The administrator sets a course for the student’s success by teaching the student alternative behaviors that will help him/her remain in the classroom, and by administering consequences that will encourage the student to engage in the appropriate behavior. Additionally, administrators learn how to collect and use classroom observation data and extant discipline data to develop strategies for reducing disruptive classroom behaviors .

• Focus on Student Competencies – The model emphasizes the need to create a positive classroom environment by encouraging teachers to see the value in developing relationships with each individual student.

Comprehensive services

The Girls and Boys Town Education Model offers additional services intended to help teachers and administrators become more effective in their school settings. We have found a four-step process to be most effective when helping schools implement school-wide changes in their discipline practices. This process ensures that services meet the needs of the schools and evaluation measures are in place to assess progress during and after changes are made. Each step of the process is described below.

Step 1.Provide Assessment

The School Discipline Assessment provides a snapshot of how a school and its collective membership function on the days of the on-site visit. Two Girls and Boys Town staff typically spend two ten- to fourteen-hour days at a school conducting a variety of data collection activities to obtain a representative picture of each school involved in the assessment.

School Discipline Assessments focus on obtaining data from four sources:

1. Direct observations of teachers and students in classroom and school activities
2. Focus groups or interviews with students, teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents
3. Pencil and paper surveys with students, teachers, parents, and administrators
4. A review of available school data, e.g., office referrals and suspensions (Table 1).

Table 1. Data collection and individuals involved
Data Collection Process	Students	Teachers/ Support Staff	Administrators	Parents
Class, lunch, and hallway observations
Pencil and paper surveys
Focus group/ Interview
File review of discipline data

Step 2. Build training to meet the school’s needs

The model currently includes three workshops designed to teach participants a specific set of skills and strategies for effectively addressing the social skill needs of all students. Workshops are conducted through the use of lectures, demonstrations, group activities, videotapes, and guided practice/feedback sessions. Training activities and content are adapted based on information gathered during the assessment. The three workshops are as follows:

The Well-Managed Classroom is a two-day workshop that focuses on the basic model. Included in the instruction are the philosophy of the model and the four teaching interactions that promote positive change in the classroom. The goal of this training is to reduce the occurrence of students’ disruptive behavior in classrooms and throughout the school. The following strategies are included in the training:

• Social reinforcement
• Prevention of problem behaviors
• Social skills instruction
• Blending of social and academic lessons
• Problem solving skill instructions
• Correcting problem behaviors
• De-escalating student behavior in emotionally intense situations

Specialized Classroom Management is a five-day workshop that prepares teachers, paraprofessionals, and support personal to work with students who have moderate to severe behavior problems and are in specialized programs. The goal of the training is to reduce the occurrence of students’ disruptive behavior in self-contained and special education classrooms, and alternative education programs.

The workshop includes comprehensive instruction in the Social Skills Curriculum, the mechanics of a multi-level token economy (motivation) system, and a brief interactive instructional sequence used to teach behavioral expectations, reinforce pro-social behavior, and deal with inappropriate behavior consistently in a respectful and positive manner. The motivation system provides s tructure for students and teachers, immediate feedback for students, and documentation for Individualized Education Programs and Behavioral Intervention Plans.

Administrative Intervention is a two-day workshop that teaches principals, counselors, and behavior interventionists’ effective ways to develop a school-wide discipline plan, and reduce the frequency and severity of office referrals for disruptive and aggressive students. This includes instruction in ways to de-escalate volatile behavior when office referrals occur and prepare referred students to return to, and remain in, class. Participants also receive instruction in ways to e valuate classroom and school-wide discipline strategies.

Step 3. Structure consultation

Studies have indicated that “coaching” in the classroom increases the likelihood that teachers use the skills they have been taught. Our goal with consultation is to provide the greatest likelihood that teachers are using what they learn and adapting those skills to meet their unique classroom needs. Consultation services include:

1. Data collection via
   • Class, lunch, and hallway observations
   • Meetings with administrators & staff
   • Implementation surveys
   • Office referral reviews
     
2. Development of intervention strategies via
   • A review of implementation and evaluation efforts
   • Collaboration with administrators & staff
     
3. A written summary that includes
   • Data summary and analysis
   • Intervention strategies
   • Future directions and recommendations

Step 4. Provide evaluation

Evaluation of model implementation occurs via consultation services and a post assessment that mirrors several aspects of the pre-assessment. The evaluation process can be tailored to meet the needs of funding organizations, boards, or school administrations. The goal of the evaluation is to provide an objective picture of changes that have occurred since the pre-assessment.

The Girls and Boys Town Education Model:
Summary of Preliminary Research Findings

Burke, R., O’Neill Fichtner, L., Powell, W., Oats, R., Johnson, S., & Guck, T. (2005, March). Using the transtheoretical model to assist resistant school staff with PBS strategies. Paper presented at the International Conference on Positive Behavior Support, Tampa, FL.

• Study presents an overview of the transtheoretical model of change and how the model was used to help a teacher overcome her resistance to changing aversive classroom management practices.
• An experienced, urban middle school teacher used negative self-monitoring to assess the frequency with which she raised her voice with students.
• Baseline data indicated that the teacher raised her voice 211 times during 10 days of class for an average of once every 18 minutes during the 6.5-hour day.
• The teacher selected four GBT Well-Managed Classroom strategies to decrease her use of a raised voice; strategies included specific praise and coupling, empathy, and reality statements.
• Results indicated an 82% baseline to intervention reduction in teacher use of a raised voice, with another 14% reduction at 3-year follow-up. Student off-task rates were at 12% during baseline and between 0% and 7% during intervention and follow-up.

Mojica, A., O’Neill Fichtner, L., Johnson, S., Gemma, G., Lindley, M., & Burke, R. (2005, February) A collaborative project to improve student behavior and academic performance. Paper presented at the National Association of Secondary School Principals Convention, San Francisco, CA.

• Project was supported by a community partnership that included Hartford Public Schools, United Way of the Capital Area, the Hartford Federation of Teachers, The Village, and Girls and Boys Town.
• Setting was an urban middle school serving 1140, primarily Black (33%) and Hispanic (63%) students with high-risk profiles: 100% were in compensatory education programs; 95% qualified for free/reduced priced meals, 63% were from families where English is not the home language; 21% qualified for Special Education services; 14% were in ESL classrooms; 13% of 8 th grade students met the state goal on all three, i.e., reading, writing, and mathematics, standardized tests.
• The direct focus of the study was to increase student time for academic instruction by decreasing disruptive student classroom behavior, in-school suspensions, and out-of-school suspensions. The indirect focus was to improve student academic performance as indicated by student standardized test scores.
• Interventions included a Student and Family Assistance Center and the Girls and Boys Town Education Model.
• During the school year, seven challenging classrooms were identified that had student on-task rates less than 90% (range=42-84%). At post-evaluation, six of the seven classrooms had more than 95% of students on-task.
• School-wide frequency of In- and Out-of-School suspensions (ISS, OSS) decreased steadily over the past three years. From 2000-’01 to 2001-’02, ISS and OSS decreased by 25% and 15%, respectively, when the SAC program was implemented. ISS and OSS rates decreased by 42% and 28%, respectively, during the first full year of combined SAC and GBTEM programs.
• The percentage of students who met the state goal on reading and writing tests on the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) has steadily increased in each of the last two years. Percentage of students meeting the state goal on the Mathematics test has fluctuated each year

Garcia, H., Burke, R., Powell, W., Oats, R., & Bolton, J. (2005, March). Effects of positive interactions with high school students. Paper presented at the International Conference on Positive Behavior Support, Tampa, FL.

• Study was a preliminary examination of the Girls & Boys Town Education Model (GBTEM) at the high school level using an experimental design. Occurred at an urban high school with an enrollment of 3,932 primarily Hispanic (93%), low income (69%) students.
• 14 non-tenured high school teachers were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group.
• Five months after training, data indicated that five of the seven treatment group implemented little of the intervention. There were no significant differences between treatment and control groups at pre- or post-assessments on implementation or outcome indicators.
• A second review of the data suggested that those teachers who used strategies taught in training, regardless of group assignment, had better student outcomes.
• Classrooms where teachers praised at high rates (once or more per minute) had decreases in student off-task behavior, increases in student compliance with teacher correction for behavior problems, and lower office referral rates when compared with teachers with low rates (once every two or more minutes). Grades were significantly lower and frequency of absentees and tardies were significantly higher for the high praise group.
• Results suggest that high rates of teacher verbal praise are conducive to developing positive environments where student prosocial behavior, e.g., on-task behavior and compliance with teacher correction, is more likely to occur. However, high school students’ academic performance and attendance may be more intractable and, therefore, less susceptible to change in a short period of time, especially when the change agent (high rates of verbal praise) is inconsistently provided across class periods.

Gulley, T. J., Burke, R. V., & Hensley, M. M. (2003, April). Collaborative efforts to improve students’ social behavior: A four-step process for helping staff work together. A paper presented at the National Association of Elementary School Principals Conference, Anaheim, CA.

• During the first full year of using the Girls and Boys Town Education model (GBTEM), office referrals rates decreased 48% from the prior year, with a 46% reduction in office referrals for students’ physically aggressive behavior.
• Teachers reported significant gains on the Walker McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment in students’ social behaviors and school adjustment.
• At 4½ months after implementing GBTEM:
  • 95% of staff reported that they could see progress in students’ social behavior.
  • 85% of staff reported it was not difficult to incorporate social skills and academic instruction.
  • 90% of staff reported that procedures for handling behavior problems were clear.
  • 75% of staff reported that staff were consistent when handling student behavior problems.

Burke, R.V. (2002, February). Classroom management and discipline: Closing the gap between research and practice. A paper presented at the 2002 Alternative Education Summit, The Ohio State University, Center for Learning Excellence, Columbus, OH.

• Reviewed research on effective discipline practices in general and alternative education classrooms.
• Examined direct observation data from classroom observations of teachers and students, including rates of student off-task behavior, teacher correction, student compliance, and teacher attention for positive behavior.
• Data sampling from more than 1,000 classroom observations indicated that roughly 50% of classes have student off-task rates less than 10%, 25% of classrooms have between 10% and 25% of students off-task, and 25% of classrooms have more than 25% of students off-task.
• Discussed examples of how the Girls and Boys Town Education Model was used to reduce classroom and school-wide behavior problems, including reductions in time off-task, time spent in class-to-class transitions, and rates of office referrals for disruptive students.

Burke, R., Maybank, D., Hensley, M., Duppong Hurley, K., Spenceri, M. (2001, November). Measuring Effects of School Discipline Interventions. A paper presented at the annual American Evaluation Association Conference in St. Louis, MO.

• Discussed a variety of data elements collecting in schools implementing the Girls and Boys Town Education Model, including discipline records, focus groups, opinion surveys, and structured observations.
• Indicated a decrease in the frequency of office referrals from before implementation of the GBTEM to after implementation. There was agreement among teachers, administrators, parents and often students regarding the themes addressed in the focus group sessions.
• Opinion surveys assessed baseline attitudes towards student/teacher relationships, classroom management, classroom behavior and safety for students, teachers, and parents. By examining observation data, changes were discovered in the rate of off –task behavior and the amount of positive attention given by a teacher.
• Recommendations were given for refining the data collection process and for encouraging schools and consultants to use the data for decision-making.

Duppong Hurley, K., Shaw, T., Spenceri, M., & Burke, R. (2001, November). Monitoring Implementation of a School-wide Classroom Management Program. A paper presented at the annual American Evaluation Association Conference in St. Louis, MO.

• Described the development of a user-friendly system to monitor the implementation of the Girls and Boys Town Education Model (GBTEM).
• The components included general observation; a rating section with 33 items focusing on Teaching Components, Motivation Systems, and Relationship Building; and overall summary ratings and comments
• Findings indicated preliminary support for the tool. For example, as one would expect, teachers who had been implementing the program longer on average had higher implementation scores.
• The tool also helped to identify specific areas where teachers, as well as schools, need additional training on the GBTEM.

Duppong Hurley, K., & Hyland, T. (2000, November). Girls and Boys Town Education Model shows promise with elementary and adolescent SE/BD students, Teaching-Family Association Newsletter (Teaching Family Association, 910 Charles Street, Fredericksburg, VA, 22401).

• Describes longitudinal study of specialized programs serving SE/BD students, which implemented the GBTEM model in 1996.
• To date, over 2000 students have participated in the study, with more schools getting GBTEM training.
• SE/BD students showed gains in social skills from the start to the end of the school year.
• On average, office referrals were reduced for students in the program for two years.

Duppong Hurley, K., Dickson, L., & Swan, W. (2000, November). Examining the Effects of the Girls and Boys Town Education Model with Elementary and Adolescent SE/BD Students. Poster session at the Biannual International Adolescent Conference in Portland, OR.

• Examined four specialized programs serving SE/BD students in the South that had implemented the GBTEM for four years.
• Found an increase in office referrals after the first year of implementing the GBTEM, with a decrease in office referrals in following years compared to first year implementation rates.
• Students in GBTEM program for two years showed a decrease in office referrals.
• On average, both elementary and adolescent students showed gains in social skills at the end of the school year.
• When compared to programs not using the GBTEM, both GBTEM and comparison schools show gains for students in social skills. However, the average social skills total score for the GBTEM programs was higher than for comparison schools.

Dickson, L., Thompson, R., & Swan, B. (1999). A Longitudinal Study of Students with SE/BD Using the Boys Town Teaching Model. A paper presented at the International Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders in Dallas, TX.

• Examined longitudinal changes in four special education programs located in Southern United States for students in the program for three years.
• For elementary students, scores on the Walker McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment improved across time.
• The number of office referrals decreased over three years for the matched students.
• Office referral data showed a decrease in referrals for incidents of hitting or fighting.

Ibsen Cole, D., Nelson, C., & Dickson, L. (1999). Ready?... Use Boys Town’s Administrative Intervention Program, Set?…Monitor Students’ Behavior More Easily With Our Office Referral Database, Go! ... See Your Students Reach Their IEP Goals. A paper presented at the International Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders in Dallas, TX.

• Describes the creation of a database that captures office referral information for students, teachers, and administrative staff.
• The database is user-friendly and provides real-time information regarding office referrals for a school. It also provides aggregate and individual reports on teachers, students, and administrative staff.
• Data from other schools and districts can be combined, allowing for comparisons between programs, as well as across time.
• A program using the database showed a decrease in office referrals for matched students.

Thompson, R., Nelson, C., Spenceri, M., & Maybank, D. (1999). Safe and effective schools: The Boys Town Model. Caring, 15(3), 10-15.

• An urban elementary school saw a 52% decrease in school suspensions two years after the Boys Town Education Model was implemented. More specifically, school suspensions for physical and verbal aggression were reduced by 60%.
• During the second year of implementation, office referrals were cut in half from the first semester to the second semester.
• At the end of the second year of implementation, teachers reported that 80% of their students were paying attention in class, following instructions, and participating in classroom activities.
• The principal felt the school was functioning better than any other time in the past 10 years.

Furst, D.W., & Thompson, R. W. (1998). Boys Town Education Model: Outcomes and Effects. Boys Town, NE: Father Flanagan’s Boys Home .

• Examined pre and post BTEM implementation satisfaction outcomes for 15 schools.
  • Before implementation of the BTEM, teachers’ overall satisfaction indicated that they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. After implementation, they improved to the slightly satisfied range ( p<.001)
• Examined office referrals for three elementary schools and two middle schools one year prior and one year after implementation of the BTEM.
  • In the three elementary schools and two middle schools, the overall frequency of office referrals decreased in the year following implementation of the BTEM. All three elementary schools reported a significant reduction in office referrals for physical and verbal aggression.
• Compared student on-task behavior in an elementary school participating in the BTEM model with one not using the Model.
  • Found that second and fourth graders with one year of the BTEM were on-task about 10% more of the time than students in the same grades in a school not using the BTEM.

Terracina, C., & Furst, D. (1998). Improving Academic Performance and Conduct Grades of At-risk Elementary School Students. Boys Town, NE: Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home.

• A three-year study was conducted in a large elementary school in the South Central region of the United States, including one year of baseline data and two years after implementation of the BTEM. The students were identified as being at-risk if they had either an office referral during Year 1, received an overall conduct grade of unsatisfactory, or received a failing grade in a subject during one six-week grading period.
• There was significant improvement among students receiving a satisfactory/excellent rating for their conduct between Year 1 and Year 2, as well as Year 1 and Year 3.
• Results of analyses of overall average academic grades indicated a significant improvement in Year 2 compared to Year 1, as well as Year 3 compared to Year 1.

Gordon, R. A., & Dickson, L. J. (1998). An annual evaluation report based on school system iimprovement efforts. GPN Research Report, 7, 1-18.

• The South Metro Psychoeducational Program serves SE/BD students from birth to age 21 using a community-based approach.
• Their Blueprint for Progress plan included student indicators in three domains, i.e., presence and participates, academic and functional literacy, and personal and social adjustment
• Two key foci for the plan included the implementation of the GBT Education Model and leadership emphases on increases in student achievement
• Results indicated statistically significant improvements in the percent of:
  • Birth to age 14 student and 15 and older students who moved to fewer segments of special education
  • Age 6 and older students who showed gains in reading for the school year
  • Age 16 and older students who demonstrated an adult functional reading level at 6 th grade level
  • Elementary and secondary students who showed gains in social competence and school adjustment

 Thompson, R. W., Ruma, P. R., Nelson, C. S., & Criste, A. H. (1998). Implementation of the Boys Town Education Model in four Georgia Psychoeducational Network Programs: Initial impact on student social skills and adjustment. GPN Research Report, 7, 31-40.

• The treatment group consisted of 189 special education students (61 elementary and 128 adolescent); the control group (did not receive BTEM) was composed of 56 students (21 elementary and 35 adolescent).
• At pretest, there was a significant difference in scores on the Walker McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment for adolescents in the treatment and control groups ( p<.05). However, there was not a significant difference at pretest between elementary treatment and control groups on the Walker McConnell.
• Both the elementary and adolescent students in the treatment group made significant gains on the Walker McConnell from pretest to posttest. Neither the elementary nor adolescent students in the control group had significant gains on the Walker McConnell.

Dickson, L. J. (1998). Staff training strategies for implementing the Boys Town Education Model in Georgia Psychoeducational Network Programs. GPN Research Report, 7, 19-30.

• 10 GPN staff were trained by GBT to provide training and consultation to GPN school staff in the GBT Specialized Classroom Management program
• The 10 GPN trainers trained 154 special education staff (e.g., teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators) to use the GBT Specialized Classroom Management program
• Survey responses from the 10 GPN trainer/consultants indicated the following:
  • Improved consistency in the areas of teaching and data collection
  • An increase in professional expectations for all staff.
  • Greater staff accountability and success
  • Increased use of data to measure student success with IEP goals and objectives
  • Substantially less teacher attrition after first year of GBTEM implementation (10% versus prior 6 year average of 18%)

Furst, D. W., & Criste, A. H. (1997). Students as consumers: Using “satisfaction surveys” in the classroom. The Community Circle of Caring Journal 2(1), 11-13.

• Describes the construction and use of consumer satisfaction surveys to find out what students like and do not like about their classroom learning environments.
• Students have important insights on teacher/student relationships even though student self-report surveys need to be considered with a bit of caution.
  • Students would like teachers to smile, have fun, empathize, praise them, and listen more.

Furst, D. W., Terracina, C., Hamilton, R., Swank, P., Criste, A., & Daly, D. (1997). A two year study on the effects of the Boys Town Education Model in elementary schools. Unpublished manuscript.

• Included in the study were two large elementary schools in the South Central region of the United States. School A received BTEM training prior to Year 1 and School B received training at the start of Year 2.
• Both elementary schools had a significant decrease in office referrals from Year 1 to Year 2.
• School B had a significant decrease in office referrals for verbal and physical aggression from Year 1 to Year 2.
• There was an increase in students’ time on-task.
  • Found that second and fourth graders with one year of the BTEM were on-task about 10% more of the time than students in the same grades in School B, which was not implementing the BTEM.
  • During the second year, the overall percentage of time on-task for both schools increased, although School A’s on-task scores were 10% higher than those of School B.
• School B showed an increase in teacher satisfaction ratings from Year 1 to Year 2.
• School A showed a decrease in teacher satisfaction ratings from Year 1 to Year 2. It appears that this was due to one of the three principals in this school being off of work for 12 weeks due to medical leave. Comments from the teachers indicate that the office referral process was slower and less efficient during this time and may account for the decrease in overall teacher satisfaction.

Parsons, J., Temple, W. A., & Thompson, R. (1997). Mainstreaming Success and the Boys Town Educational Model: A Panel Discussion. A paper presented at the International Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders in Dallas, TX.

• Examined the percentage of mainstream classes for which special education students enrolled each year in a Southwestern school district in the United States.
• During each year of the project, there was a gradual increase in the number of mainstream classes, with a significant difference reported between Years 3 and 4.
• This project examined the school records from students present in Year 3 and Year 4 of the study. Therefore, students in the district during Year 1 or Year 2 but not Year 3 or Year 4 were excluded.

Bishop, G. B., Rosen, L. A., Miller, C. D., & Hendrickson, J. (1996). Evaluation of the Boys Town motivation system in a U.S. school setting. School Psychology International, 17, 125-131.

• Found an increase in on-task behavior with severely and moderately emotionally/behaviorally disturbed students in a BTEM classroom compared to a control group.
• Teachers felt that the BTEM: 1) has helpful techniques, 2) was beneficial and worth the implementation effort, 3) gives staff a common language resulting in an increase in communication across programs.
• Administrators found the BTEM to be: 1) an effective method for increasing teacher accountability in the classroom, 2) helpful in detecting and remediating teacher difficulties.

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