PBIS Office Discipline Referral Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When disaggregating ODR data by student subgroup, a school notices that English Language Learners receive referrals at three times the rate of native English speakers. What is the most appropriate first step?
- Increase consequences for ELL students to ensure consistency
- Examine whether referral categories reflect cultural or language misunderstandings (Correct answer)
- Suspend ELL students less frequently to balance the data
- Remove ELL subgroup data from the ODR dashboard
Correct answer: Examine whether referral categories reflect cultural or language misunderstandings
Disproportionate ODR rates for ELL students often signal that behaviors are being misinterpreted through a cultural or language lens, requiring examination of referral definitions and teacher training.
Question 2: A school's ODR data shows a sharp spike in referrals every Monday morning. Which hypothesis best explains this pattern?
- Students are inherently more disruptive after weekends
- Monday transitions or schedules may lack sufficient structure or predictable routines (Correct answer)
- Teachers are more lenient on other days, inflating Monday numbers artificially
- The data collection system records referrals from the weekend on Mondays
Correct answer: Monday transitions or schedules may lack sufficient structure or predictable routines
A consistent temporal spike suggests an environmental or scheduling factor, such as inadequate routines during Monday morning transitions, rather than a student characteristic.
Question 3: Which metric best measures the severity of the school's discipline climate when comparing ODR data across years?
- Total number of referrals issued
- Referrals per 100 students per day (RPD) (Correct answer)
- Number of unique students referred
- Percentage of referrals resulting in suspension
Correct answer: Referrals per 100 students per day (RPD)
Referrals per 100 students per day (RPD) is the standard PBIS metric that normalizes for enrollment size and school days, enabling valid year-to-year comparisons.
Question 4: A team reviews ODR data and finds that 72% of referrals come from only 15% of the teaching staff. What action does this finding most directly support?
- Disciplining the teachers who write the most referrals
- Investigating whether those classrooms lack structured environments or consistent expectations (Correct answer)
- Reassigning students from high-referring classrooms to other teachers
- Eliminating referral forms for that subset of teachers
Correct answer: Investigating whether those classrooms lack structured environments or consistent expectations
Concentration of referrals among a small staff subset suggests those classrooms may benefit from Tier 1 classroom management coaching and structured environment support.
Question 5: In PBIS, what does a 'chronic offender' pattern in ODR data indicate about intervention needs?
- The student should be referred directly to law enforcement
- The student likely needs Tier 3 individualized support including a functional behavior assessment (Correct answer)
- Additional Tier 1 school-wide reminders should resolve the issue
- The student's parents should be required to attend school with the student
Correct answer: The student likely needs Tier 3 individualized support including a functional behavior assessment
Students with chronic referral patterns are not responding to universal supports and require individualized Tier 3 interventions, typically beginning with an FBA.
Question 6: When using SWIS or a similar ODR data system, what does the 'motivation' field help teams determine?
- Which teachers should write fewer referrals
- The function of the problem behavior to guide intervention selection (Correct answer)
- Whether to assign in-school or out-of-school suspension
- The appropriate severity rating for the incident
Correct answer: The function of the problem behavior to guide intervention selection
The motivation field captures the perceived function of the behavior (e.g., obtain peer attention, avoid task), which helps teams select function-matched interventions.
Question 7: A PBIS team's ODR data shows that most referrals occur during lunch and are labeled 'defiance.' What is the most data-informed next step?
- Add a new behavioral expectation specifically for defiance
- Conduct a setting analysis of lunchtime to identify antecedent conditions contributing to the behavior (Correct answer)
- Increase supervision staff ratios at all times of day equally
- Change the lunch menu to reduce student agitation
Correct answer: Conduct a setting analysis of lunchtime to identify antecedent conditions contributing to the behavior
When ODR data clusters by setting and behavior type, a setting analysis identifies specific antecedents (e.g., crowding, unclear expectations, transition gaps) that can be addressed directly.
PBIS Office Discipline Referral Analysis 2
When disaggregating ODR data by student subgroup, a school notices that English Language Learners receive referrals at three times the rate of native English speakers.
What is the most appropriate first step?