Discover how Nash Elementary transformed its systems by gathering student feedback.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
Jordan resides in Lexington, Kentucky. He has experience in Public Education as an Administrator, Science Teacher, and as a Coach. He has extensive experience with School Discipline, PBIS, SEL, Restorative Practices, MTSS, and Trauma-Informed Care.
We all want our schools to improve.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
We all want our schools to improve.
We want schools to be more engaging, inclusive, and effective. To that end, we have an industry full of talented teachers, administrators, coaches, and support staff working to make our schools just a little bit better.
But better for who? That’s the key question that we want to tackle today. If we are going to throw all of our heart and soul into making an impact on education…we need to focus on who should be the primary beneficiary of that effort: students.
That’s exactly what Nash Elementary School of Fine and Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois did. They had really good systems. They made them great by gathering feedback from their students – and acting on that information. Let’s take a closer look at how they did it.
Sometimes feedback isn’t a formal survey. Sometimes feedback comes in the form of actions. When it comes to student behavior oftentimes you're going to get audible feedback from students...but sometimes that feedback is going to come in the form of the actual behavior.
That was the case for Nash and PBIS school-wide expectations.
PBIS is a proactive approach to behavior management that emphasizes teaching and reinforcing positive behaviors to create a supportive and inclusive school environment. When they started with PBIS they were focused on the acronym “ROAR”:
The staff at Nash used PBIS Points (or LiveSchool Points) to reinforce those expectations. When they saw a student exhibiting those positive behaviors they would award them with LiveSchool points.
This is a really good system. However, the behavioral feedback they were receiving from students suggested that they were struggling with tardiness, attendance, and dress code.
So in addition to the posted expectations, the team at Nash began awarding points for arriving at school, complying with the dress code, and being on time for class.
The new plan worked so well that they even began awarding points for overcoming logistical hurdles like having your parent pick up your report card from school!
Inspired by the magic of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Nash Elementary initially introduced a House Point system, dividing students into four distinct Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
This whimsical approach, brimming with wizarding charm, aimed to instill a sense of camaraderie and competition among students and muggles alike. There was only one problem…most of their students hadn’t read or watched Harry Potter.
As Nash embarked on its second year of implementing the House Point system, the team recognized the need to evolve and tailor their approach to better resonate with its student body.
Acknowledging that many students were unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe, they seized the opportunity to create a more relatable and goal-oriented framework.
Thus, the House Point system was rebranded to an 8-House system themed after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
This innovative adaptation not only celebrated the rich heritage and academic excellence of HBCUs but also provided students with tangible goals aligned with their own experiences and aspirations.
Nash also underwent some adjustments when it came to how they were rewarding students.
School stores come in all sorts of forms and the only real right answer to what you choose to do for your store is that whatever you choose needs to fit the capacity of your staff and the needs of your students.
At Nash, they originally chose a school store system based on Google Forms and hand-delivering items to students similar to the system at Von Tobel Middle School. But in this case, the feedback from students said one thing overwhelmingly: “We want a physical store.”
So the team created a school reward store, working out the logistical concerns needed to make it work. Was it more work? Absolutely. But the results were worth it. Nash now has a reward system aligned to their students' interests and motivations.
That is an incentive plan that can work!
Aligning your systems with student feedback is crucial for maximizing their impact and nurturing a student-centric learning environment. By actively soliciting and incorporating student input, schools empower learners to play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
I want to leave you with three ways you can gather student feedback in your school:
Ultimately, aligning school systems with student feedback not only enhances the relevance and effectiveness of educational practices but also cultivates a sense of ownership and engagement among students, leading to positive academic and social outcomes.
All the behavior resources you need to create the positive culture your school community deserves.
