The Queen Anne’s County Public School System is the first school system in Maryland to have every school receive a PBIS Gold Banner from the Maryland State Department of Education for the 2012-2013 school year. QACPS is the only school system in the state to have all of its schools participate in the PBIS Program.
There were four schools who moved from silver to gold this year: Matapeake Elementary School, Matapeake Middle School, Queen Anne’s County High School and Anchor Points Academy.
PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) is designed to help students by utilizing the best evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving important academic and behavior outcomes for all students.
Mr. Brad Engel, Supervisor of Instruction, Student Support Services, said, “We are proud to announce that every school in the Queen Anne’s County school system has earned the gold banner for the 2012-2013 school year.
We are the first school system in Maryland to ever do this.
Every school has a dedicated staff of professionals who have implemented PBIS to its highest level. They are to be commended for all their hard work.
It is not an easy task for a school to earn a gold banner so this is quite an accomplishment…for our entire school system!”
Dr. Carol Williamson, Superintendent of Schools, said, “My congratulations go out to all of our schools and to our central office team. Thanks so much for your hard work towards this achievement.”
Janice Dickson says
Congratulations, neighbors.
We in Kent are so near, but so far from your achievement.
Perhaps your achievement will serve to motivate our school administration.
Hope springs eternal.
Keith Thompson says
“PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) is designed to help students by utilizing the best evidence-based academic and behavioral practices for improving important academic and behavior outcomes for all students.”
Can someone explain what this “eduspeak” means and what achieving this Gold Banner actually entails? Does this mean that the QACPS is being rewarded for faithfully following state guidelines or are they being rewarded for educating kids? While I don’t doubt that this is a great achievement for the school system, I’m not left with enough information to really understand what this achievement actually means.
Thomas Hayman says
PBIS is not linked to state guidelines per say. In order to receive a Gold rating, a school must show improvement in test scores, increase in overall attendance, and a decrease in discipline referrals and suspension. There is also a walk through that is conducted that involves an interview with school administration and random interviews with staff and students to see if they are aware of their school’s PBIS program and if it regularly used. Each school tailors PBIS to its own school climate and addresses the needs it sees as most important. The idea behind PBIS is to reward the positive and provide data-based interventions and/or supports to those individual students that frequently display a problem behavior to help them be successful.