PBIS - A General Overview

School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS) is a prevention model. It is based on the premise that all students can benefit from well implemented, evidence-based practices for improving student behavior. School-wide PBIS provides a comprehensive framework that can be used by any school to design their own system of behavioral supports for all students. It also provides informed decision making, based upon data analysis that guides the process of assessing student needs and providing additional levels of behavioral support to students in need.

Schools are discovering that PBIS:

• helps to create a positive school climate
• addresses the behavioral needs of all students with proven, easy to implement strategies
• allows the school to create the “right fit” for them, so that practices are appropriate to the context and sustainable over time
• results in increased time for instruction and fewer disciplinary incidents
• is doable and does not have to overwhelm staff given the limited time and resources that schools are experiencing
• is affordable

Schools that implement school-wide systems of positive supports focus on taking a team-based system approach and teaching appropriate behavior to all students in the school. Schools that have been successful in building school-wide systems develop procedures to accomplish the following:

1. Behavioral Expectations are Defined

A small number of clearly defined behavioral expectations are defined in positive, simple rules:

Be Respectful – Be Responsible – Be Safe.

2. Behavioral Expectations are Taught

The behavioral expectations are taught to all students and are taught in real contexts. Behavioral expectations are taught using the same teaching formats applied to other curricula.

3. Appropriate Behaviors are Acknowledged

Once appropriate behaviors have been defined and taught, they need to be acknowledged on a regular basis.

4. Behavior Errors are Corrected Proactively

When students violate behavioral expectations, clear procedures are needed for providing them with feedback, and preventing their unacceptable behavior from resulting in inadvertent rewards. Students, teachers, parents, and administrators all should be able to predict what will occur when behavioral errors are identified.