Nov - Coffee Talk Tuesday Summary
Check-In/Check-Out: Q & A
Thank you to everyone who joined Zoom on November 14th for our monthly Coffee Talk chat. If you missed it, please register for the next one on our Events page. It will be taking place on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you are already registered, you will be invited to all future chats this school year - no need to register more than once.
Check-In/Check-Out, also referred to as CICO, is a simple, low-level Tier 2 intervention with a large capacity for supporting many students. It provides students with daily reminders of the school-wide Expectation Matrix, high-frequency behavioral feedback, additional positive adult connections and explicit reinforcement. Check-In, Check-Out has been shown to improve student behavior and increase academic success while also creating a stronger home-school connection.
The discussions during the Chat included many success stories, as well as questions about implementing CICO:
First, we discussed how CICO has its foundation in relationship-building. This includes the relationship between the student and the CICO facilitator as well as between the school and families. It was mentioned that CICO can be implemented as an individual intervention or can be done in groups of students working toward the same goal, bringing in the aspect of potential student-to-student relationships as well.
Then, we talked about the connection between CICO and trauma-informed care, coming to the awareness that this intervention may be a good start, but not enough, for students who don’t trust adults. CICO is a good layer of support, but some students need multiple-layers of a Tier 2 intervention. One idea that was raised in cases where families are not able to participate in the intervention was that perhaps the student could report on their progress to another adult who is not their CICO Facilitator. This could be a coach, a before/after school program adult, or even an off campus advocate at a YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, or religious group the student attends.
Next, we talked about the need to conduct CICO with fidelity before reporting out on student progress in response to the intervention. A number of tools for tracking fidelity and progress were shared with the group and discussed. See sidebar list in this blog.
Finally, there was detailed discussion about implementing CICO in virtual instructional settings. A number of participants were in this situation and shared out about successes and challenges. Suggestions for increasing virtual relationship-building and rapport were discussed. The idea of conducting possible in-person events for community building also came up.
The conversation ended on a positive and encouraging note as we discussed additional strategies for helping the adults using CICO in adapting, or maintaining, positive mindsets about the students for whom they are facilitating this intervention.
FREE KOI Resources Shared During the Chat:
Our PBIS Tier 2 Manual explain how to use all these tools.
CICO Cycle (PDF)
CICO DPR - Template (Google Doc) (DOCX)
CICO DPR Example (PDF)
CICO DPR Icon Example (PDF)
CICO Fidelity Checklist (PDF)
CICO Roleplay Script (Google PDF) (PDF)
CICO Weekly Progress Report - Template (DOCX)
Tier 2 Handbook Template (Google Doc) (DOCX)
Guidance on Adapting Check-in Check-out (CICO) for Distance Learning (PBIS.org)
CICO video from Edutopia
CICO is a brief meeting every morning and afternoon with an adult who is not a student’s teacher, that gives that student a chance to review their social and emotional goals, to build their capacity to be successful.
Research shows CICO to be effective K-12.