Positive Behavioral Supports

Positive Behavioral Supports

Elizabeth Stiles

Why should I have to teach kids to be good?

Why can’t I just expect good behavior?

They already know what they are supposed to do.

In the past, school-wide discipline has “focused on reacting to student misbehavior using strategies such as reprimands, loss of privileges, office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions. However, research has shown that punishment, in the absence of positive

strategies, is unsuccessful.”

Being proactive is much more effective than waiting for problem behaviors to occur.

(Association for Positive Behavior Support, 2011).

What is PBS?

School-wide PBS is an approach used by administrators, teachers

and other school personnel that teaches students how to behave by

acknowledging positive behavior.

All students are included in Tier 1 universal interventions.

In Tier 1, administrators and teachers define and teach positive social

expectations.

Rather than using punishment, administrators and teachers reward

students for showing positive behaviors.

Consequences are established and used as needed.

Prevention Tier Core Elements

Primary

•Behavioral Expectations Defined •Behavioral Expectations Taught •Reward system for appropriate behavior •Continuum of consequences for problem behavior •Continuous collection and use of data for decision-making

What is Tier 1?

(Technical Assistance Center of Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, 2011)

Teaching Positive Behaviors

Be Safe Be Respectful Be Responsible

Keep hands, feet Use appropriate Follow directions the and objects to yourself. and positive language. first time they are given.

Walk at a safe pace. Listen when others Be prepared.are speaking.

Give your best effort.

Examples of Positive Rewards

● Positive teacher attentionVerbal acknowledgementHigh fiveThumbs up

● Positive visualCAT “Caught Acting Terrifically” rewards

● Lottery drawings and couponsTeddy bucks

● Activity rewardsGamesMusicSports

Examples of Consequences

● Conference with student● Conference with parents

● Think sheet● Loss of privilege

● Corrective assignment● Time-out

Additional Interventions “Tier 2 of the PBIS triangle model provides additional interventions to

support the smaller percentage of students who do not sufficiently respond to Tier 1 strategies.”

Office referral data is used to find the locations in the school or times of the day that are especially problematic and problem-solve solutions.

The data is also used to find students who are demonstrating behavior

problems and provide them with more intensive instruction insocial skills or replacement behaviors.

(Michigan Department of Education, 2010)


Secondary

•Universal screening •Progress monitoring for at risk students •System for increasing structure and predictability •System for increasing contingent adult feedback •System for linking academic and behavioral performance •System for increasing home/school communication •Collection and use of data for decision-making

What is Tier 2?


● Increase opportunities for positive adult and peer attention.● Provide students access to alternate activities.

● Provide specific social skills instruction.● Promote a positive relationship with an adult in the form of a school

mentor.● Increase structure and stress expectations.

● Provide simple behavior plans and contracts.● Increase academic and social support.

● Increase opportunities for strong incentives and reinforcements.● Create a home/school partnership with consistency in home and school

expectations.

Types of Tier 2 Interventions


What is Tier 3?


Tertiary

•Functional Behavioral Assessment

•Team-based comprehensive assessment

•Linking of academic and behavior supports

•Individualized intervention based on assessment information focusing on (a) prevention of problem contexts, (b) instruction on functionally equivalent skills, and instruction on desired performance skills, (c) strategies for placing problem behavior on extinction, (d) strategies for enhancing contingence reward of desired behavior, and (e) use of negative or safety consequences if needed.

•Collection and use of data for decision-making


"Tier 3 of the triangle model focuses on the individual needs of students who exhibit ongoing

patterns of problem behavior and typically require intensive intervention.“

“Tier 3 intervention should be consider when problem behavior is chronic, dangerous, highly

disruptive, impeding learning and/or resulting in social or educational exclusion.”

Intensive Individualized Interventions


● Provide students with instruction for replacement behaviors.● Provide system for individualized positive reinforcement.

● Provide consequences to decrease problem behaviors.● Implement functional behavior assessments (FBA) and

behavior intervention planning.

FBA’s are crucial to Tier 3 and include identifying student goals, gathering data, postulating relationships between behaviors and

the environment, developing and implementing a behavioral support plan and monitoring the outcomes.

Types of Tier 3 Interventions


that effective behavior management techniques such as PBS can increase student engagement and improve academic

achievement.

that a critical factor in preventing school violence is having a positive relationship with a supportive adult in school.

Research shows…

(Scheuermann & Hall, 2008)

More Research

A study analyzing outcomes from 2002 to 2006 in over 100 elementary schools found overall that PBS significantly improved

social skills, decreased the amount of time and resources needed to address behavior problems, and resulted in higher test scores and

academic achievement.

A study of 22 New Hampshire schools found that after only two years of implementation, 73% of PBS schools had increased math scores on standardized tests. The schools also significantly lowered suspensions and office discipline referrals, allowing schools to recover hundreds of days of instructional time that had previously been lost to behavioral

disruptions.

A study conducted in Illinois found that 62% of 3rd grade students in the schools in which PBS was implemented met the Illinois State

Achievement Test Reading Standard. In contrast, only 47% of students met the standard in schools that had not fully implemented

PBS. (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, n.d.)

Predictability Positivity

Schools that have implemented PBS have seen “decreased levels of disruptiveness, office referrals and suspensions, an increase in instructional

time, and an improvement in school climate, safety and order”

Consistency

(Michigan Department of Education, 2010).

References:

Association for Positive Behavior Support (2011). What is positive behavior support? Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.apbs.org

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law (n.d). Fact sheet positive behavior supports (PBS) and school achievement. Retrieved April 18, 2011 from http://www.bazelon.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=URI2hc1RS7A%3D&tabid=333

Michigan Department of Education (2010). School-wide positive behavioral interventions & supports. Retrieved April 18, 2011 from http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/SchoolwidePBS_264634_7.pdf

Scheuermann, B.K., & Hall, J.A. (2008). Positive behavioral supports for the classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: PEARSON/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Technical Assistance Center of Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (2011). Is school-wide support an evidence-based practice?Retrieved April 18, 2011 from http://www.pbis.org/research/default.aspx

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Positive Behavioral Supports