The district coach is a member of the district behavior leadership team and is the liaison between school-wide behavior leadership teams and the district behavior leadership team. The duties of the district coach are integrated into the existing duties of personnel employed in district leadership. The district coach is responsible for guiding the district behavior leadership team through rolling-out PBIS in district and ensuring that schools’ PBIS needs for training and technical assistance are met. The district coach is also responsible for ensuring that implementing schools are evaluated for fidelity in accordance with framework and supported appropriately.
Communication
An important role of the district coach is to collect and summarize the school’s data in order to present the information at the district behavior leadership team meetings.
The coach discusses implementation with schools and provides feedback and suggestions from the schools to the district behavior leadership team and/or to the SERC PBIS Team regarding training and the implementation process. The district coach also functions to share the district behavior leadership team’s vision, decisions, and expectations regarding PBIS implementation with building administrators, school-based coaches, and school-wide behavior leadership teams.
The district coach should work with the district behavior leadership team to design a plan for rolling-out PBIS. It is the coach’s role to support new schools in meeting the readiness requirements and in preparing them to participate in the PBIS Training Series.
As schools move through the implementation process, the district coach is responsible for providing technical assistance and encouragement to school-wide behavior leadership teams.
Training
The district PBIS coach attends, at minimum, one full three-year training series and, when possible, attends all additional trainings with schools and coaches. The coach should become a PBIS content expert in order to provide technical assistance and strategic decision-making assistance to schools.
Evaluation
The district coach is expected to become a School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) Evaluator. SET Evaluators visit schools and conduct the SET in order to determine the fidelity to which PBIS is implemented in a building. Building capacity in SET Evaluators within the district is integral to the sustainability of PBIS in the district. The district coach must also attend a School-wide Information System (SWIS) training event to become familiar with how to operate the system and assist schools with troubleshooting.
The district coach builds relationships with the schools and uses data, observations, and the knowledge gained through training and other resources to monitor schools and identify those that are in need of assistance or additional support. Updates are provided to the district behavior leadership team regarding schools’ implementation and progress.
Additional Support
The district coach provides training boosters to teams, building administrators, and school-based coaches, and ensures that PBIS overviews are given to staff that are new to the district or to PBIS schools. The district coach may also assist schools in presenting PBIS related information to parents or community members. In addition, the district coach monitors schools to ensure participation in the PBIS Training Series, evaluation, and other activities required to enhance implementation.