Positive behavior rewards program benefits Winona Middle School students, staff

The school district describes the program on its website as “a systems change process for an entire school. The underlying theme is teaching behavioral expectations in the same manner as any core curriculum subject. The school will focus on three to five behavioral expectations that are positively stated and easy to remember.”

Through the program, students are recognized and rewarded with points and rewards for positive behaviors — further pushing the students to want to be their best selves.

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According to the presentation, 80% of staff believe the effort has benefited classrooms and 90% of staff regularly give out points in their classroom.

As for students’ perspectives on the behavioral system, according to the data, 83% have had their behaviors influenced by the rewards system and 88% like the rewards system overall.

As for behavior trends seen in the middle school since implementation of this system, behavior referrals have declined by 8% from the school’s first to second quarter.

According to the data, there were 469 referrals in the first quarter, while there were 431 in the second quarter.

Additionally, from October to January, behavior referrals per day have dropped from 12 to 4.

For more information about behavior programs at different levels in the school district, visit www.winonaschools.org.