1. School-wide Positive Behavior Support
Renee Bradley, Ph.D.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Special Education Programs

2. Goals
Present an approach to behavior support in schools that weds Educational, Behavioral and Mental Health practices.
Provide a brief overview of how this approach is being implemented
Provide a brief summary of implementation outcomes.

3. School-wide Positive Behavior Support
Socially Important Outcomes
Academic gains
Social competence
Safety
Research-validated Practices
Systems that support these practices
Active use of data for decision-making

4. School-wide PBS
School-wide PBS consists of a broad range of systemic and individualized strategies for achieving important social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behavior.

5. Academic Achievement, and Safety
SW-Positive
Behavior
Support
Social Competence,
Academic Achievement, and Safety
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Decision
Making
Information
Supporting
Staff Behavior
SYSTEMS
PRACTICES
Supporting
Student Behavior

6. Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized
Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior
CONTINUUM OF
SCHOOL-WIDE
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
SUPPORT
~5%
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized Group
Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior
~15%
Primary Prevention:
School-/Classroom-
Wide Systems for
All Students,
Staff, & Settings
~80% of Students

7. Practices and Systems for School-wide Behavior Support
Define expectations
Teach expectations
Monitor expected behavior
Acknowledge expected behavior
Correct behavioral errors (continuum of consequences)
Use information for decision-making
Systems
Admin Leadership
Team-based implementation
Defined commitment
Allocation of FTE
Budgeted support
Development of decision-driven information system
Formal policies

8. Linking Mental Health and Behavior Support Efforts
Areas of Direct Compatibility
Prevention
Assessment-driven individual intervention
Comprehensive support
Areas to Develop
Implementing systems as well as practices.
Implementing at a policy-relevant scale
Efficiency
Use of information (data) for on-going decision-making

9. Linking Mental Health and Behavior Support Efforts
Prevention
Invest in all students before problems develop.
What are the critical features of schools that prevent, and limit the impact of, problem behavior on academic and social outcomes?

10. Linking Mental Health and Behavior Support Efforts
Assessment-driven support
Behavioral, Medical, Social
Comprehensive Support
Community
Family
Medical/Bio-medical Interventions
Behavioral
Social/Counseling

11. States Implementing School-Wide Behavior Support

12. 4% (5)
9% (6)
87% (10)

13. Is Implementation Related to Reduction in Problem Behavior?

14. 08%
05%
10%
14%
78%
85%
Without PBIS N=38
With PBIS N=31

15. Partial
Full
Partial
Full
Middle 15 (no) 7 (yes)
Elementary 38 (no) 31 (yes)

16. Is Implementation of School-wide PBS related to improved academic achievement?
If there are changes in school-wide behavior support practices, are there improvements in state achievement test scores?

17. Pre
Post
Pre
Post

18. Mental Health Outcomes
Does School-wide PBS fit within a comprehensive mental health model of prevention and intervention?
Changes in “risk factors”
Improvement in anti-social behavior, crime, alcohol and drug use.
Changes in “protective factors”

20. Risk and Protective Factor Comparison
t = (37) p < .036
t = 2.31 (37) p < .026

21. A&D = Alcohol and Drug; ABS = Anti-social Behavior Scale

22. Impact of Office Discipline Referral Reduction
Elementary Schools
76 schools with ODR information
29,851 students
If all w/o full PBIS 39,469 referrals
If all w/ PBIS 21,466 referrals
________
Savings ,003 referrals
PBIS data State of Illinois

23. Elementary School Administrative & Instructional Savings (76 schools)?
If an ODR consumes an average of 15 min of administrative time,
18,003 referrals = 270,045 min saved
4,500 hours saved
562 8 hr days saved
If an ODR consumes an average of 45 minutes of student time,
18,003 referrals = 810,135 min saved
13,502 hrs saved
2,250 6-hr days saved
PBIS data State of Illinois

24. Summary of Research Results
Investing in SW-PBS results in:
Change in school discipline systems
Team Checklist, SET, EBS Survey (experimental)
Reduction in problem behavior
SWIS ODR data, suspensions, expulsions (almost experimental)
Improved academic performance
Standardized scores (descriptive)
Savings in staff and student time (descriptive)
Improved effectiveness of individual interventions
Illinois wraparound analysis. (descriptive)
Improved perception of school safety, mental health
Risk factors and protective factors (descriptive)

25. Areas for future collaboration
Systems to sustain effective practices
Implementing systems with practices
Implementation at policy-relevant scale
Implementation of innovation at scale involves different approaches than initial demonstrations
Efficiency
Cost analysis
Time
Use of information (data) for on-going decision-making
Swis.org