The Federal Commission on School Safety will have its first “field” hearing Thursday—and second meeting—at a school in Anne Arundel County, Md., that has embraced Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. Also on hand: Dr. George Sugai, the co-director of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at the University of Connecticut.

Should a shooting or other traumatic event happen, schools that have positive behavioral interventions in place can respond “more quickly and more strategically,” said George Sugai, co-director of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

During a field visit by the Federal Commission on School Safety at the Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School in Hanover, Md., George Sugai said schools that have faithfully and consistently implemented the PBIS program — which includes interventions for students who misbehave — have seen results. If schools implement the strategy, “you’re likely to see decreases in referrals for major infractions. You’re likely to see decreases in bullying,” Sugai said.

This morning, Neag School Professor George Sugai, an expert in positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), was invited to speak about PBIS and improving school climate with representatives from the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Commission on School Safety, who made a field visit to an elementary school in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County to learn more about the impact of implementing PBIS practices. 

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will visit Frank Hebron-Harman Elementary School in Hanover Thursday to learn about the school’s use of approaches to encouraging positive behavior. The visit will be the first field trip by the Federal Commission on School Safety. University of Connecticut Professor George Sugai, a top PBIS expert according to the Education Department, will speak to the commission.

This interview features the perspectives of Dr. James C. Kaufman, Professor of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

Rachel E. Gabriel and Sarah L. Woulfin of the University of Connecticut ask a simple but very important question: Isn’t it time to redesign teacher evaluation? Most states are stuck with laws they wrote to apply for Race to the Top funding. Nearly a decade has passed. We now know that test-based evaluation has failed. Why are so many states and districts holding on to a failed strategy for evaluating teachers? Is it inertia? Apathy?

This week, we talk to Political Science Prof. Evan Perkoski about terrorism and cybersecurity, learn how Kristi Kaeppel went from dropping out of high school to pursuing a Ph.D. from the Neag School of Education, and explore some bygone UConn traditions that are probably best left in the past.

States must consider: Is their teacher evaluation improving teaching and learning or getting in the way of the very work it was designed to support?

In December 2017, the Associated Press conducted an analysis of charter school enrollment nationwide and found that the schools were among the most racially segregated in the nation. “we’re not taking seriously the dangers that privatization creates,” says Professor Preston Green.