Georgia Education Climate Coalition, Georgia Appleseed, Southern Education Foundation | Georgia | Education | gaappleseed.org + pbis.org
Education ecosystems impact learning, engagement, and student success.
“PBIS isn’t a curriculum you purchase or something you learn during a one-day professional development training. It is a commitment to addressing student behavior through systems change. When implemented well, students achieve improved social and academic outcomes, schools experience reduced exclusionary discipline practices, and school personnel feel more effective,” according to PBIS.org.
THE CHALLENGE
The Georgia Education Climate Coalition (GECC), a coalition of professional agencies, advocates, educators, schools, and school districts, was formed to improve the school climate in Georgia. As the weather metaphor implies, PBIS considers a school as an ecosystem composed of distinctive climates through which students pass each day: for example, the climate of a playground is different from the climate of a classroom; a lunchroom climate is different that of a hallway; a school bus climate is different from that of an AP classroom. PBIS helps integrate the educational climates into a coherent, flexible system that has improved student social and academic outcomes across the nation. This campaign seeks to demonstrate the value of PBIS and clearly define the challenges with any school’s education ecosystem.
THE OUTCOME
The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) framework is now in use at more than 1,200 Georgia public schools, an increase of 100% in participants since the launch of the campaign.
Education ecosystems impact learning, engagement, and student success.
TEAM
Brian Merwin
Doug Grimmett
Emma Weldon
Ingrid Sibley
Kathi Roberts
Matt Porter
Nakita Pope
Neil Fried
Tess Perez
Peyton Bowen
Sarah Lawrence
Symone Walker
“Our campaign grew out of a fifty-participant, community-based design charrette hosted by Good Thinking. The creative solution mirrors the intent of the PBIS framework: solutions must be flexible and community-supported to meet the particular needs of any school district. Top-down solutions imposed by distant ‘experts’ will not work.”
Sharon Hill
Executive Director (retired), Georgia Appleseed
GECC Coalition Partner