Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we could substantiate that the majority of a school’s office referrals were for will-based behaviors (verbal/physical interactions, inappropriate language, damage to property or materials, etc.); during distance learning, we have seen these behaviors flipped in the opposite direction into skill-based behaviors (students not logging on, lack of motivation, not turning in assignments, students having low self-concept, etc.).  As a result, the gap has widened in the behavioral needs of our students. If we have learned anything through teaching during this pandemic, it is that the term “behavior” doesn’t simply refer to a disruptive student.  The term behavior refers to academic behaviors (skill-based) AND social behaviors (will-based) and both need to be taught and reinforced schoolwide and in every classroom.

Schools have taken tremendous strides over the past two decades to ensure data driven structures and processes are in place for student academic success. In high performing PLC schools for example, each collaborative teacher team understands their role and takes lead responsibility and collective ownership to answer these four critical questions for their shared grade level or course identified academic standards: 1) What is it we want our students to know and be able to do? 2) How will we know when each student has learned it? 3) How will we respond when some students do not learn? 4) How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient? (DuFour et al., 2016, p. 59). Read more