July 1, 2010

During the 2007-2008 school year, the Illinois Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Network developed an action plan to support Special Education Cooperatives interested in positioning personnel as External Coaches for schools implementing PBIS. Today, twenty-five Cooperatives across the state have positioned and trained PBIS External Coaches and are partnering with the Network to support PBIS schools in their member districts. We are extending this invitation to participate in the training for PBIS External Coaches to you because your Cooperative has expressed interest in developing PBIS coaching capacity. The outline below provides a summary of our training and technical assistance plan for developing PBIS coaching capacity in Special Education Cooperatives. Background/Rationale: External PBIS Coaches are a support system to individual schools and provide technical assistance in district or regional planning, networking, communication, data collection, data interpretation, and implementation integrity. Special Education Cooperatives have the expertise to support the academic and behavioral Response to Intervention (RtI) model at Tier 1/Universal, Tier 2/Secondary, and Tier 3/Tertiary. Cooperatives are a natural provider for systemic prevention support to schools, and with PBIS implementation increasing in Illinois schools, the Illinois PBIS Network is investing resources to build coaching capacity in Special Education Cooperatives. 1. Qualifications: A PBIS External Coach based in a Cooperative needs competency with academic and behavioral data-based decision-making, problem-solving team facilitation, function-based behavior interventions, and supporting problem-solving teams. 2. Time Commitment: Implementation experiences across the country indicate that it takes about 20% (or .2 FTE) of an External PBIS Coach’s time to provide support and technical assistance to five implementing schools. For example, if a School Psychologist, or other instructional support team person at a Special Education Cooperative, could commit one day per week to External PBIS Coaching next year, the Cooperative could provide support to five PBIS implementing buildings. 3. Support: The Illinois PBIS Network Technical Assistance staff actively supports External PBIS Coaches through a variety of methods (i.e., skill set development, network meetings, phone conferences, e-mails, district planning meetings, etc.) and would provide this same support to the External PBIS Coaches based in Cooperatives throughout the year. 4. Training: The Illinois PBIS Network offers required and elective training for External PBIS Coaches. Required  Core training - Internal Coach Skills (C100s, C200s)  Core training - External Coach Skills (EX100s, EX200s)  Team training with implementation teams for all tiers that they coach. This could include one or more of the following training sequences: Tier 1/Universal, Tier 2/Secondary, and Tier 3/Tertiary  External Coaches Network Meetings (N200) Elective  On line trainings on data tools (C201e-C206.2e)  Support for Classroom Management (EX300)  Support for Coaching Behavioral Interventions at Tier 2 and 3 (EX400)  State Leadership Conferences (August in the North, January in the South) the Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports component of the IL Statewide TA Center (IS-TAC) 335 N. LaGrange Rd., Ste. 4

LaGrange Park, IL 60526

p:708-482-4860

f:708-482-4875

www.pbisillinois.org

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District Summit (AS400e) External Coaches Forum (AS600e)

All course descriptions, regional training schedules, and registration information can be found at www.pbisillinois.org under “Training.” 5. Costs: The Illinois PBIS Network charges a per person registration fee for trainings to cover materials, facility rental, food, etc. Trainer costs are covered by the Illinois PBIS Network, thus keeping registration costs to a minimum. 6. To get started please review the enclosed informational documents: 

PBIS External Coach Job Description

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External Coach Rubric of Skill Competencies: This document represents a threeyear plan to develop coaching skill for Tier 1/Universal, Tier 2/Secondary, and Tier 3/Tertiary Technical Assistance expertise for an External PBIS Coach. The first phase of the rubric, Universal Implementation, would start in FY11.

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Letter of Agreement: Special Education Cooperatives desiring to develop PBIS External Coaches need to submit the enclosed Letter of Agreement before the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.

Thank you for your support of the PBIS initiative. We look forward to collaborating with you in developing an External PBIS Coach from your Special Education Cooperative. If you have any questions please contact me at [email protected]

Sincerely, Marla Dewhirst Technical Assistance Director Illinois PBIS Network Enclosures: External Coaches Job Description External Coaches Skill Rubric Special Education Cooperative Letter of Agreement

the Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports component of the IL Statewide TA Center (IS-TAC) 335 N. LaGrange Rd., Ste. 4

LaGrange Park, IL 60526

p:708-482-4860

f:708-482-4875

www.pbisillinois.org