Case Study: Alfred A. Benesch achieves a 73% reduction in suspensions and stronger school culture with Kickboard

Improving Culture with PBIS, Leader in Me, and Kickboard

Alfred A. Benesch, a K–8 school in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District serving 349 students, faced severe behavioral challenges when new leaders arrived in 2016: frequent classroom “walk outs” (as many as 20 per day), high suspension rates, and an ineffective paper reward system tied to their PBIS and Leader in Me initiatives. Seeking a data-driven way to organize incentives and track behavior, the school adopted the Kickboard platform.

Using Kickboard, Benesch reconfigured rewards around the 7 Leader in Me habits, tied Scarab bucks to measurable behavior data, and removed punitive options so students could only earn positive points; teachers adopted daily tracking and classroom “Leadership Boards.” The result was dramatic: suspensions dropped by as much as 73% year‑over‑year (comparing 2017 to 2018), walkouts declined, the school climate became more positive, and academic measures improved (third‑grade reading passage rates rose to 46% in 2018 and the school saw a 5‑point Performance Index gain), with Kickboard data driving recognition and interventions.

Alfred A. Benesch

Carlisha Bias

Assistant Principal