THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Program Description: The Assertive Discipline Program at John Swett Elementary clearly establishes student behavior expectation and consequences. In addition to these two outcomes, the program offers varying degrees of positive acknowledgment for students meeting or exceeding the expectations. Primary Purpose: The program was initiated during the 1979-1980 school year. The program goals were and continue to be to improve student behavior, increase student time on task, and improve school climate by acknowledging students' positive behaviors. Program Participation: Classroom teachers and special personnel establish for themselves and their students the expected behaviors and consequences. These hierarchies are relative to a school hierarchy and are consistently followed. The effectiveness of the program is insured by individual and group recognition of positive behavior. Positive hierarchies range from tokens provided to individual students to classroom banners or movies. The tokens are collected by the class and turned in for a classroom banner. Six banners entitle the class to a Disney film, and twelve banners earn the class ice cream bars or a lunch on the lawn with the principal. Most classroom teachers provide a similar reward hierarchy for their class. Evaluation: Statistics have been kept since the program's initiation. During the 1979-1980 school year, with a student population of 356 students, a total of 350 students were referred to the office for disciplinary reasons. During the 1982-1983 school year, 247 students visited the office out of a total school population of 365 students. This is a 30% reduction in student referrals. The nature of referrals has changed from inter-personal problems to those related to on-task behaviors. On-task behavior problems have shifted from gross class disruptions to simply not being on task when expected to be. A very positive evaluation occurred this Christmas when a group of third-grade students saved their Sunshine Award tokens so they could present their teacher with her own classroom banner. The students were very specific that this banner was not to be included in their class total. This document was selected by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Task Force on Public Confidence as descriptive of a promising practice or exemplary project worthy of highlighting for the California educational community. (Author)