PBIS SWIS & Data Visualization 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In SWIS, what does the 'perceived motivation' field capture?
- The student's academic performance level
- The staff member's hypothesis about why the behavior occurred (Correct answer)
- The time of day the behavior most frequently happens
- The consequence assigned by administration
Correct answer: The staff member's hypothesis about why the behavior occurred
Perceived motivation in SWIS is the referring staff member's best hypothesis about the function or reason behind the student's behavior.
Question 2: A SWIS bar graph shows Monday has significantly more ODRs than any other day. What is the most data-informed first step?
- Immediately suspend students with Monday ODRs
- Investigate what is different about Monday's schedule, staffing, or routines (Correct answer)
- Assume data entry errors and re-enter Monday records
- Increase consequences for behaviors occurring on Mondays
Correct answer: Investigate what is different about Monday's schedule, staffing, or routines
A spike on a specific day prompts teams to examine contextual factors like schedule changes, transitions, or staffing unique to that day.
Question 3: Which SWIS report is most useful for identifying students who are at risk and may need Tier 2 support?
- Referrals by location
- Referrals by problem behavior
- Students by referral count (Correct answer)
- Referrals by time of day
Correct answer: Students by referral count
The 'Students by Referral Count' report ranks students by number of ODRs, helping teams identify those crossing Tier 2 thresholds (typically 2–5 ODRs).
Question 4: When a PBIS team reviews SWIS data and sees that 'hallway' generates 40% of all ODRs, the most appropriate action is to:
- Remove hallway supervision entirely
- Target hallway-specific interventions and increase active supervision there (Correct answer)
- Exclude hallway ODRs from future reports
- Transfer students with hallway ODRs to alternative settings
Correct answer: Target hallway-specific interventions and increase active supervision there
Location-specific data should trigger targeted interventions such as re-teaching expectations and increasing active supervision in that setting.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of the SWIS 'Summary of Referrals' dashboard?
- To generate individual student behavior plans automatically
- To provide an at-a-glance overview of key data patterns for team decision-making (Correct answer)
- To calculate teacher performance metrics
- To archive disciplinary records for legal compliance
Correct answer: To provide an at-a-glance overview of key data patterns for team decision-making
The Summary of Referrals dashboard gives teams a quick visual overview of ODR patterns across time, location, behavior, and motivation to guide decision-making.
Question 6: A school notices its SWIS data shows 'disrespect' as the top problem behavior. What caution should the team keep in mind?
- Disrespect is always a Tier 3 behavior requiring FBA
- Subjective behavior labels may reflect staff interpretation differences rather than only student behavior (Correct answer)
- Schools should stop tracking disrespect to reduce bias
- Disrespect data should only be reviewed annually
Correct answer: Subjective behavior labels may reflect staff interpretation differences rather than only student behavior
Subjective behavior categories like 'disrespect' can reflect varying staff interpretations, so teams should audit how the label is being applied across classrooms.
Question 7: In SWIS data visualization, a line graph tracking ODRs across months is most useful for:
- Comparing individual students' behavior frequencies
- Identifying seasonal trends and evaluating the impact of school-wide interventions over time (Correct answer)
- Determining which classroom has the highest referral rate
- Calculating the average consequence duration
Correct answer: Identifying seasonal trends and evaluating the impact of school-wide interventions over time
A monthly trend line reveals seasonal patterns and helps teams assess whether interventions implemented at specific points are reducing ODR rates over time.
PBIS SWIS & Data Visualization 2
In SWIS, what does the 'perceived motivation' field capture?