Teachers are already living the data out loud: noticing patterns, trying strategies, and adjusting instruction in real time. But when they bring that lived experience to a behavior support team, the first response is often procedural: “Collect six to eight weeks of data and come back.”
When PBIS feels heavy or misaligned with your school’s culture, there are meaningful alternatives that still support clarity, connection, and consistency. This piece offers practical ways schools can simplify PBIS, adapt it, or build something different that truly fits the community and honors teacher capacity.
This conversation with Dr. Katie Kuhn and Elizabeth Slater offers a real look at community schools student support, and how people leading with clarity and care make a difference. Their stories show what becomes possible when schools and community partners share the work of helping young people feel safe, seen, and ready to learn.
The Pre-CICO Checklist helps schools launch Check-In/Check-Out as a relationship-centered Tier 2 support. It guides teachers and coaches through clear, simple steps that start with connection, not paperwork. Use it to plan logistics, clarify roles, and ensure every student begins CICO with consistency, clarity, and genuine care.
PBIS grew from Applied Behavior Analysis, but narrowing its focus left schools with hammers instead of tools. This article from Dr. Tim Grivois explores how PBIS and ABA can reconnect with psychology, relationships, and context to create behavior support systems that are practical, humane, and deeply effective.
This fall, I’m hosting free, one-hour workshops for educators on Zoom. Together we’ll explore simple strategies for CICO, schoolwide interventions, and ADHD that make behavior support feel less like paperwork and more like a promise we can keep. All recordings and handouts are included.
Solution #1 for teacher recruitment and retention is salary and benefits, and that’s typically outside a principal’s control. However, what
Most Tier 2 behavior support systems fall short—not because educators aren’t working hard, but because the structure doesn’t support what matters most. This post explores how schools are shifting from point sheets to meaningful support, from compliance to connection, and from one-off trainings to sustainable, yearlong change.
At TGS Educational Consulting, we know effective Tier 2 systems begin with better conversations. Starting this fall, we’re offering a
Students with ADHD often struggle with working memory—but that doesn’t mean they lack motivation. It means they need support. Visual task cards are a simple, powerful way to help students follow routines, start tasks, and know what comes next—without relying on memory alone.
