Positive Behavioral Support Systems

(b) The data for this study came from a sample of 6,988 children enrolled at 21 elementary schools that participated in a randomized trial of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS). This trial specifically included data on instances of

McKevitt, B. C., & Braaksma, A. D. (2008). Best practices in developing a positive behavior support system at the school level. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (5th ed., pp. 735–747). Bethesda, MD: National Association of School Psychologists.

There are many different policies and procedures that schools have to abide by some of these are;

Wheeler, John C, Richey, David Dean (2010). Understanding behavior in children and youth. Behavior Management Principles and Practices of Positive Behavior Suppo

According to Feierman, (2013)Researchers have identified evidence-based practices that reduce incidents of school delinquency including violent misbehavior, lessen the need for exclusionary disciplinary practices or referrals to the justice system, and amilorate academic performance among all students. School-Wide Positive Behavioral Supports (SWPBS)—also referred to as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), restorative justice and trauma-informed education are examples of these practices. PBIS is the only such approach directly supported by federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires consideration of PBIS in an eligible student individualized education program.

Working as one of the five teachers in middle school at Calvin Hunsinger, I work closely with the behavior specialist and the school social worker to analyze data and implement

This article is based from an AB designed case study that lasted three years in an alternative, private school setting in Northern California where School-wide PBIS was implemented. The students in this study exhibited a variety of disabilities including: autism, Downs Syndrome, visual impairments, emotional disturbance, among others such as ADD and cerebral Palsy. Enrollment increased during this study from 33 students to 53 students on average. Authors use data from the Discipline Prevention data from Eugene, Oregon. The authors also use the following articles to support their findings from the case study: “Second Step: A violence prevention curriculum” “Social skills instruction for students at risk of antisocial behavior” “School wide positive behavior intervention support: An alternative approach to discipline in schools” Shifting from reactive to proactive discipline in an urban school district” “A blueprint of positive behavior intervention

Raver and Knitize state (as cited by Bayat, Mindes, & Covitt, 2010) that “some estimates suggest 10% of preschoolers exhibit noticeable problem behaviors, with 4-6% of this population exhibiting serious behavior difficulties. Preschool children are expelled at a rate that three times more than students in grades K-12 (Bayat et al., 2010). Gilliam reported (as cited in Bayat et al., 2010) that the lowest rate of expulsion was associated with when there are behavioral interventions in the classroom. Progress monitoring and interventions are not only for academic struggles. It can be used to help with behavior issues and struggles in the early childhood classroom. Intervention teams have intervention opinions to use such as Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and function-based interventions.

In this tier, approximately 15 to 20% of students are being serviced by receiving more intensive behavior interventions. These more intensive behavior interventions include supports that only students not responding to tier one will receive. These supports include small group or individualized interventions strategies that are easily administered by teachers and faculty. An example of such instruction would be a group that reenacts social situations to learn appropriate behaviors to replace inappropriate behaviors. In addition, behavior education plan may be implemented during this stage for some students. Several types of data are collected to ascertain whether interventions in this tier are working. These include office discipline referrals, classroom incidents, observations, out-of-school suspensions and in-school suspensions, faculty/teacher surveys, fidelity evaluations and through progress monitoring. If data collected reveals that a student is not adequately responding to interventions in this tier then other interventions may need to be tried or the student moved to the third tier. If a student does respond adequately, the interventions should be continued and if no longer necessary, the student returned to receiving only tier one

A Positive Behavioral Support System (PBSS) is critical for students that have challenging behaviors to increase academic success. The PBSS will look and be implemented differently in each school district. According to Bloom (2013) Students that display challenging behaviors often seem unmotivated and unengaged to the classroom teacher and disruptive. A Positive Behavioral Support System has evidence based data linking academic success with positive student behavior; furthermore, it must meet the needs of the students and the school district. Considering each student and school district is different the PBSS will be different in many aspects. Richards, Murakami, and Weiland (2014).

Consistency is important to any Positive Behavioral Support System and it is the third step in the model. Without consistency the PBSS would not work, it links skills to accountability and special situations (Knoff, 2017a). Being consistent means to conform, accuracy, or fairness. By practicing expected behavior in the classroom and common areas will improve the success and create a positive environment. Staff can intervene/prevent special situations such as teasing, taunting, bullying, harassment and fighting by following the Behavioral Matrix (Knoff,

Using the results of the Scale of Effective School Discipline and Safety (SEDS) Questionnaire given to Lacy Elementary School participants, an analysis of the readiness of their teachers to implement a Positive Behavioral Support System (PBSS) will be examined. The SEDS questionnaire consists of 58 items, which are organized into five areas of attention by scale: Scale 1: Teachers’ Effective Classroom Management Skills (24 items), Scale 2: Teachers’ Positive Behavioral Interactions and Respect (11 items), Scale 3: Holding Students Accountable for Their Behavior: Administration and Staff (7 items), Scale 4: Teachers’ Contribution to a Positive School Climate (9 items), and Scale 5: School Safety and

Positive Behavioral Support Systems (PBSS) have shifted from its inception as a response to punitive discipline practices for students with severe behavioral challenges. Instead of creating interventions for individuals with profound disabilities, as it once did in the 1980’s, it recognizes that all stakeholders within an organization contribute to a positive climate. The movement was sparked by changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 1997, which acknowledges that individuals with exceptionalities should not be targeted with specialized plans but be incorporated into a comprehensive framework that holds high expectations for all. This change in philosophy helped to address a need for policies and approaches that vary the levels of interventions required for both academic and behavioral needs. This contribution has inspired the development of multi-tiered levels of support. This approach suggests that when we have effective practices in place for the majority, we should only expect a small percentage of others to require alternative methods. (Dunlap &

Changing the culture and climate could not be achieved by barking orders or mandating behaviors; conversely, the principal and assistant principal engaged and modeled turnaround behaviors necessary to bring about change. Specifically, they shared a strong work ethic, embraced teamwork, and presented an unrelenting resolve to achieve. Modeling these behaviors while embarking in initiatives (distributed leadership, collective responsibility for student learning, curriculum alignment, enhanced teacher efficacy) set the stage for high expectations for ALL in the school (Okilwa & Barnett, 2017).

Administrators are supportive of teachers in dealing with student discipline matters at Lacy Elementary, which is needed for PBSS to work and be successful. The three tiered approach of PBSS should be used at Lacy Elementary School (Bradshaw, 2015, p. 481). Tier 1, universal interventions for all students it is a proactive and preventative approach for both academics and behavioral issues. Tier 2, targeted intervention, the purpose is to reduce risks of problems with academics, behavior or both for some students and is supplemental and highly efficient. Tier 3, indivualized, function based and high intensity (Horner, R. H., Sugai,, G. & Anderson, C. M. , 2010, p. 4-5).