School Management Team Interview

Attachment E
School Management Team Interview Guide

School Management Team Interview Guide
I.

OBJECTIVES

The main purpose of our interviews with the School Management Team (SMT) is to gather
information on the implementation of the Best Behavior whole-school approach to violence
prevention. Our objectives include:
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To briefly learn about the SMT member’s background and violence prevention roles
To learn how staff in each school have implemented Best Behavior, including challenges
faced and “lessons learned”
To assess fidelity of implementation, and adaptations
To gather staff impressions on training and technical assistance received
To gather staff impressions on how well Best Behavior and RiPP have fit together, and
with other programs

II. INTRODUCTION
We are interested in the implementation of the Best Behavior whole-school approach to
violence prevention in your school. We are talking to members of the School Management
Team to better understand your experiences, both positive and negative. We know you are
very busy and we really appreciate your time and help.
We value the information you will share with us and want to make sure we capture all of it, as
accurately as possible. We will both be taking notes and audio taping this interview. If at any
time you would like to tell us something in private, we will be happy to turn off the recorder.
Information we collect will be summarized across all schools. We will not use your name or
quote you, or identify your school. Is that all OK with you?
Before we begin, do you have any questions?
III. INTERVIEW TOPICS AND RELATED PROBES
A. Background and role of respondent
First, I would like to ask you about your background, training, and experience.
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What is your position in the school?
How long have you been working in schools? How long have you been at this school?
What role or roles do you play in your school’s violence prevention efforts? Do you also
teach the Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways program? Are you involved in
violence prevention in this school in any other ways?
Prior to joining the school management team and implementing Best Behavior, had you
ever been involved in violence prevention programs or curricula?
Prior to Best Behavior, had you received any training or other professional development
related to violence prevention?

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B. Best Behavior implementation experiences, challenges, and impressions
Now, let’s talk about your experience with implementing Best Behavior, so far.
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How long have you personally been involved in implementing the Best Behavior
program in your school?
Do you have a particular role or responsibility within the school management team?
How involved have you been with the school management team? Have you attended
most meetings? About how many hours per week did you spend preparing for and
attending school management team meetings and activities in a typical week?
How would you describe the main objectives of Best Behavior?
How comfortable are you with the Best Behavior approach?
What is going well?
What are the major challenges in implementing the Best Behavior program?
How has the Team addressed those challenges? Are there any challenges that you
have not been able to address?
What lessons have you learned from your work with Best Behavior so far?
Do you plan to do anything differently next semester?
Are there specific activities or approaches that school staff members have trouble with?
How do you think the program could be improved to address these challenges?
In general, do you think the Best Behavior approach is appropriate for your school? If
not, what aspects should be changed, and how?
Have you seen any positive impacts of the program, whether intended or
unanticipated?
Have you received any feedback related to Best Behavior from staff, students or
parents? Or from others?

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C. Fidelity and adaptation
1. Please describe the administrative leadership involved in implementing the Best
Behavior program.
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Who has been involved, and in what capacities?
Has their involvement been consistent and ongoing?
How often does the school management team meet?

2. Has the School Management Team worked at clarifying and teaching behavioral
expectations for student behaviors?
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In what ways?
Has the SCIDDLE rubric been introduced school-wide?
How was this done?
How is it reinforced?
How well has this worked?

3. How much use does the school make of positive reinforcement and recognition for
pro-social behaviors in classrooms and school wide?
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What are some of the ways in which this has been implemented in classrooms?
School-wide?

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•

What has worked well, or not so well, with this approach?

4. Has the Team systematically collected and reviewed patterns of discipline referrals
to guide decision making and planning?
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If so, did the review influence decision making and planning?
How?
How helpful was the guidance or recommendations provided by Best Behavior?
Any areas in which they were particularly helpful, or not helpful?

5. Have teachers been provided instruction on classroom organization and
management techniques in line with Best Behavior recommendations?
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How many teachers received instruction?
What proportion of teachers is that, among all classroom teachers in the school?
Do you have any feedback on how helpful the instruction was, or whether there were
any areas that were particularly helpful or not helpful?

6. How does the school address students who require additional individual support for
behavior problems?
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How does the school assess student behavior problems?
Following assessment, does the school use individual behavior support plans?
Has the Best Behavior program played any role in developing individual support
plans?
How helpful would you say the plans developed so far have been in addressing
individual student behavior?

7. Has the School Management Team reviewed the school’s discipline policies to see
how well-aligned they are with Best Behavior recommendations?
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If so, did the review lead to any changes in policy?
Please describe any changes.
How helpful were the recommendations?
Any areas in which they were particularly helpful, or not helpful?

D. Training and technical assistance
Now I would like to ask about the training and technical assistance you have received
on Best Behavior.
1. How much training have you received on implementing Best Behavior?
2. Did the training adequately prepare you to serve on the school management team and
implement Best Behavior? If not, what could have been improved?
3. What particular aspects of the training were the most useful? The least useful?
4. Have you received technical assistance in implementing Best Behavior? If so, on what?
From whom? How often?
5. Was the TA useful? If not, what could have been improved?

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6. What particular aspects of the TA were the most useful? The least useful?
7. How often have you interacted with the site monitor since you began serving on the
school management team? Have you sought any TA from this person? How available
was the site monitor when you needed TA?
8. Would additional training or support be helpful? What kinds might be helpful, and why?
E. Best Behavior, RiPP, and other programs
1. How familiar are you with the RiPP program being taught in the classroom?
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If familiar, to what extent do the Best Behavior and the RiPP programs work
together?
Do they complement each other?
Are there inconsistencies or conflicts?
If there are inconsistencies or conflicts, do you have suggestions for addressing
them?

2. In what ways has the school management team worked to reinforce RiPP concepts
school-wide? In what ways has the Best Behavior program been used to support how
the teachers implement the RiPP curriculum?
3. Do you think that together the programs have helped to reduce violence and foster
better behavior?
4. How have they fit in with any other programs, especially violence prevention programs,
that the school is using or has recently used?
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IV.

Do they complement the other programs?
Are there inconsistencies or conflicts?

DEBRIEFING

Thank you again for your time—the information you have provided is very helpful. Is there
anything we have not talked about that you would like to mention? Is there anything about
implementing the Best Behavior program in your school that we did not cover?

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