Following are the data from eight of the many schools that have experienced
success when using the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP).

Lincoln Academy for Boys in Toledo, Ohio

RTP and state achievement tests

Lincoln Academy is an all boys' school in the central city of Toledo, Ohio, and is part of the Toledo Public School system. It is the only all boys public school in Ohio. There are 180 students, from kindergarten to sixth grade. It has 98% free and reduced lunch count. Sue Smith is the assistant principal, and Vicki Creekmore is the Responsible Thinking Classroom (RTC) teacher. Mrs. Creekmore is also an RTP Trainer and is the RTP contact person for Ohio.

The staff received accredited training in Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) during the summer of 2004 and began to use RTP at the academy in the September. In 2004-2005, the 4th and 6^th graders took the proficiency tests and the 3^rd graders took all achievement tests. The State of Ohio changed to achievement tests at all levels in 2005. Below shows the percentage of students scoring proficient or higher.

RTP and Improved Behavior

Prior to RTP, in the 2003/2004 school year, they had 39 suspensions and two expulsions.  They began to use RTP in the fall of 2004. During the 2004/2005 school year they had one suspension and no expulsions.  ( See chart below. )

Here are five of the many comments from the staff:

Janet White, our school's union representative reported that the district union president reported that she had not had one complaint this year since Mr. Roberts, our principal, and Responsible Thinking Process have been at Lincoln Academy.

Mrs. Kahn, a Special Education teacher: "It works!! They are really thinking about their choices."

Jody Crowl, 4th grade teacher, "I had my students write letters to their parents about their homework assignments. I noticed I had so many students talk about being responsible for their work. I see them thinking this way because of RTP and from learning how to write and use plans in the RTC."

From Vicki Creekmore, RTC teacher, came this: A 6th grader had a hard time adjusting to the process at the beginning of the year. He is now setting goals for himself and trying hard to be more responsible. He walked into RTC the other day and said, "I know, I know, I have messed up this time." A year ago he would have been blaming everybody else for what went wrong and now he is taking the responsibility for his bad choices.

Sue Smith, assistant principal, says: "This school year has been a new experience. I have observed students accepting the responsibility for their behavior, setting goals, making plans, and successfully changing their behavior. I have been amazed at the honesty of our students when asked the RTP questions. As a former special education teacher, I believed that we had to teach the students appropriate behaviors and I was constantly teaching them the same thing, over and over. When asking the questions, I have discovered that the students know the rules, and are willing to learn a better way of getting what they want without disrupting.

RTP has been a win-win program for all the stakeholders of our school. Teachers have more time for the important task of teaching. Parents are happy to know their son will be in school everyday, learning skills that will help them be more successful in school. Community members feel that our students are becoming more responsible members of their community. The students are feeling a sense of pride in the realization that they are in control of the situations that they are in, both in school and the neighborhood. As a school leader, I am thrilled to have the school performing in such an orderly and effective manner."

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Togiak School in Togiak, Alaska

Togiak School is a rural Alaska K-12 public school with a student population of 240 students, and a free and reduced lunch count at 100%. The principal is David Wick. Togiak is one of eight regional schools in the Southwest Region School District, with district offices in Dillingham, Alaska.

The Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) was implemented in August, 2005, with a two-day training by Ed Ford. This was followed up with a weekly class for college credit offered by Jack Foster, an RTP trainer who also doubles as the school district superintendent.

Following are six of the many comments from the staff of Togiak School

Mary Pipal, Assistant Principal: “RTP has made a difference in the overall school environment. The halls and classrooms are quieter. There are fewer disruptions during the transition periods. The atmosphere seems calmer and students seem to be more focused on learning.”

Kathy Hutson, Middle School Language Arts teacher: “At the beginning of the year students were loud, disrespectful, and not following the rules. It was very difficult to get their attention and to keep them on task. The teachers kept asking the RTP questions. At first we had some angry resistance, but the students finally realized the RTP was not going away. It was exhausting to keep constantly following the RTP guidelines. Now, the halls are quiet and students are on task. Everyone seems happier. I see more smiles. I have a good working relationship with most of my students. There is still room for improvement, but it is so much better than the first week of school. Now I can’t bear to think about teaching without RTP.

Martin Hutchison, High School Science teacher: “ When a student decides they need to be the center of attention, the RTP allows the teacher to quickly deal with that student and then get on with teaching those students who want to learn.”

Patricia Wick, Middle School Math teacher: “I have seen a lot of changes in my classroom at all three grade levels (6,7, 8) thanks to the RTP. Across the board, grades have increased dramatically. During the first quarter there were a lot of frequent flyers being referred to the Responsible Thinking Classroom (RTC) who did not makeup the work they missed in my class. In second quarter, those students made a goal of not causing disruptions that would cause them to be sent to the RTC. The look on their faces when they received their high marks for second quarter was priceless. Overhearing their remarks about not going to the RTC and about doing their homework showed me that RTP is working. Another RTP benefit is that students are taking much more interest in facilitating their own learning in class and are asking more math related questions. I have even had students asking for MORE math work!”

Susan Alexie, 3-4 grade teacher: RTP has given me back control of teaching opportunities and more control of the atmosphere for educational opportunities for my students. I even stopped one day and tried to recall the last time I went home with a migraine at the end of the working day and I could not recall such a thing this year. I still do have wooly days with mustangs, but they are controllable this year.”

Sam Gosuk, Special Education teacher: “Since learning RTP, students are more on task. Students who have had disrupting behaviors are calmer now. Students now know exactly what will happen if they disrupt. Our classes are more structured. With the RTP expectations, our class is quieter and calmer. The use of RTP is making a difference in our class.”

• (For more comments by educators from the Southwest Region School District in Alaska, see "RTP Success in Alaska" section on this web site.)
   

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Lincoln Elementary School in Westland, Michigan

Lincoln Elementary School is part of Wayne-Westland Community Schools in Westland, Michigan. Jennifer Munson is the principal. They are a K-5 school with 300 students and a free and reduced rate of 72%. They began using RTP in September 2004 and during the 2004-2005 school year, they had 14 suspensions for the total year, which was down 84% from the prior nine year yearly suspension rate average. 

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M. D. Fox Elementary School, Hartford, CT

In September 2004, M. D. Fox Elementary School in Hartford, Connecticut, following accredited training, initiated the Responsible Thinking Process. The school is an urban school with a population of 900 students, and a free and reduced lunch count at 95%. The principal is Fred DeJesus and the social worker is Kathy Bedula. Mrs. Bedula is an RTP Associate and is the RTP contact person for Connecticut. The school's suspension rate is down 42% after the first three months as compared to the prior year.

Teachers were asked after the first three months in a questionnaire the following: Has RTP made a difference in your classroom? The following are five of their comments.

"It has made students stop and think. It provides a calm way to handle disruptions."

"Disruptions stop very quickly when questioning is used."

"After asking the questions, I find that the behavior doesn't occur again which is wonderful. I think the best thing is that students are asked to be accountable for their behavior."

"Students need to be dealt with in a calm manner and must be made to think about their behavior. RTP does this quite well."

"It makes students think before they act. They are more responsible with their choices. It has even worked great at home with my kids!

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Evart High School

Evart High School is located in rural north central Michigan. The high school has 400 students. The prinicpal is Al Kullman. The school has a special education population around 20-25% range and a free and reduced lunch count exceeding 50%. The school began using RTP in the fall of 1998. Since then, all three of the Evart public schools have been RTP accredited and are well worth visiting.

At the high school, since the 1999-2000 school year, out of school suspensions have dropped 51.9%. Out of school suspensions for disrespect toward staff members has dropped 82.3%. The number of students suspended for fighting has decreased 44.4% and other incidences that would result in suspension from school such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco have declined 87.5%. Students suspended for skipping school has declined 45.4%.

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Breckenridge Middle School

Breckenridge Middle School is located in the middle of lower Michigan. Of the 250 students, special ed accounts for 10% and 33% of the students are on free or reduced lunch. Sheila Pilmore is the principal. Since the school implemented RTP in February, 2000, there has been a 65% drop in fights and a 65% drop in gross disrespect.

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Sahuaro Elementary School

Sahuaro School is part of the Washington Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona and serves a population of approximately 680 preschool through 6th grade students. Forty-four percent of Sahuaro students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Dave Anderson is Sahuaro's principal. The following appeared in the school's newsletter and reflects an analysis of data gathered over the three-year history of RTP implementation at Sahuaro.

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Is RTP working at Sahuaro School ?

Analysis of the data shows a 70 % decrease in student fights over the last 3 years. Other violent behaviors such as "reckless play" and "hurting other students" are down 40% and 61% respectively. The number of incidents of "disrespect to staff" is down by 77% from the 1999-2000 school year.

Since RTP began, "theft by students" has decreased by 40% and incidents involving "student profanity" have decreased by 71%. On the other hand, the number of "chill out" passes used by students has increased over the last 3 years by 266%. "Chill out" passes are used by students who feel upset and want to go to the RTC to calm down before they do something that gets them in trouble.

This shows that students are learning to take charge of their actions by making good decisions when they find themselves in a problem situation. This is what RTP is all about.

Presentation to the American Educational Research Association

In the fall of 1993, I was asked by the administrators of Clarendon Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona, to use their school as a model for a discipline program I had developed based on perceptual control theory. Clarendon School consists of seven fourth, fifth, and sixth grades and is in a multi-cultural, inner-city area. Once the staff had given a strong commitment and received adequate training, the program was initiated on January 24, 1994.
 

The basic principle of PCT explains that all humans are designed as self-regulating systems. With this understanding, children should be treated as systems whose behavior is their means of trying to control what matters to them. Self direction and responsibility are developed by asking them specific questions which request them to review the consequences of what they’ve done and whether they want to respect the rights of others and remain where they are or to leave. If they continue to disrupt, they are sent to the responsible thinking classroom (RTC). They remain there until they decide to return to wherever they were disrupting. Prior to leaving the RTC, they have to make a plan on how they will deal with the same or similar problem the next time in occurs. If they are disruptive in the responsible thinking classroom, they are sent home. When they are ready to return to school and follow the rules, they must first meet with an administrator accompanied by a parent or guaradian. The administrator checks on their commitment. Prior to returning to class, they must first return to the RTC to make a plan on how they are going to get what they want in school without violating the rights of others.

This program is explained further in my books, Discipline for Home and School, Fundamentals and Discipline For Home And School, Books One and Two, all of which can be found on the order form which is found at the bottom, right hand side of the web site front page. For more information on this program, write RTP, Inc., 10209 N. 56th St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85253, call 480-991-4860, or email me at -  edford@responsiblethinking.com

Phone 480-991-4860.

The following statistics reflect the success of this program:
 

  
Percentage of students currently living at or below poverty level: 65.5%
Presented by Edward E. Ford, M.S.W., to the American Educational Research Association
at their annual conference on April 20, 1995, in San Francisco.

Presentation to the AERA 207