Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

Contributions to this document from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) were made possible through funds provided by the Center on PBIS cooperative grant supported by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) of the U.S. Department of Education (H326S230002).

Mohamed Soliman, MA, EdS served as the project officer.

The views expressed by the Center on PBIS do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, or enterprise mentioned in this document is intended or should be inferred.

The PBIS framework can help enhance efficiencies, address inequalities, and improve the effectiveness of behavior support and violence prevention efforts by using data to guide decision-making and systems to monitor and support implementation fidelity and effectiveness.

This document begins with a description of the critical features of BTAM and best practices for BTAM implementation, then describes the essential elements of PBIS.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) represents a powerful application of the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework in educational settings.

As a comprehensive public health approach, PBIS promotes safe, positive, predictable, and effective learning environments that include and benefit all students.

Recent research demonstrates that when schools implement PBIS with fidelity, they see significant improvements in behavior, well-being, attendance, and academic performance, while experiencing reductions in harassment, bullying, and disciplinary actions that exclude students from learning opportunities (Santiago-Rosario et al., 2023).

PBIS implementation prioritizes equitable practices, data, and systems to enhance meaningful outcomes for all students.

Although identified outcomes frequently include improvements in school climate and/or students’ SEB or academic performance, outcomes should always be locally meaningful, collaboratively defined, and aligned with specific strengths and needs within the school.

The clear identification of outcomes guides teams in the selection of practices, the use of data for decision-making, and the development of systems within the PBIS framework.

Practices are the evidence-based supports and interventions provided to students to address valued outcomes and goals. In the PBIS framework, practices are organized within a continuum.

Data guide decision-making and all aspects of implementation. Leadership teams use multiple sources of data (e.g., attendance, discipline, academic, staff/student/family surveys, and rates of students experiencing homelessness) to assess strengths and needs within the school community and select a continuum of evidence-based practices that are aligned with documented needs and valued school and community outcomes.

Systems, in PBIS, represent the infrastructure that supports implementation and sustainability.

They also include action planning routines; procedures to ensure selected practices and data are used consistently and effectively; and procedures for ensuring the active engagement of students, staff, and families in all elements of implementation.

Practices, data, and systems are implemented across a continuum of prevention and support from universal (Tier 1), to targeted (Tier 2), to individualized (Tier 3; see Figure 2).

A representative leadership team guides PBIS implementation. These teams are organized across the tiers of support and are representative of the school and community. This ensures a range of expertise and experiences are considered in implementation and data-informed decision-making at the school and district levels.

Teams focus on both supporting and monitoring individual student success for all students and identifying and removing systemic barriers to access or achievement.

When PBIS is implemented with fidelity, it includes active use of data to guide implementation and engagement with students, families, and community members to support the development of intervention components and to monitor and adjust implementation as needed.

Aligned with Tier 1 and 2 supports • Designed with student and family individualized instructional support plan

Aligned with Tier 1 supports • Explicitly teach targeted SEB skills • Increase opportunities for practice with both positive and corrective instructional feedback using at least a 5:1

Prioritize connection and belonging • Codesign schoolwide and classroom-wide expectations • SEB skill instruction for all students • Structures to support a culture of acknowledgment and appreciation • Clearly defined instructional and supportive responses to student behaviors

The specific practices implemented within each tier are selected and supported by the leadership team.

Core universal, or Tier 1, practices include intentional efforts to prioritize belonging and connection for all, clearly codefining and teaching schoolwide and classroom expectations, developing systems of acknowledgment and appreciation, and clearly defining instructional and supportive responses to behaviors that do not align with established expectations and values.

Core, Tier 2, or targeted practices include systems for identifying students needing additional supports and a range of small group interventions designed to support student internalizing and externalizing SEB needs.

Intensive and individualized, or Tier 3, practices are guided by an individualized comprehensive assessment used to inform a plan of support developed in partnership with students and families.

These include preventative strategies and supports to develop healthy SEB competencies/skills and prevent concerning behaviors.

Core practices across tiers are progress monitored at the student and system level to ensure implementation fidelity and intended impact.

For more information on PBIS implementation, its essential elements, and the tiered system of delivery, see the PBIS Implementation Blueprint (Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2023) or visit the topic-specific pages for Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, and Equitable Supports at www.pbis.org.

Focuses on building a continuum of supports to promote all students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health

Systems represent the infrastructure and operational supports necessary to help adults successfully implement and sustain practices designed to support students and aid achievement of valued outcomes.

In PBIS, the leadership team guides implementation, monitors effectiveness, and provides continuity across contexts (Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2023).

All staff should receive training on core, universal (Tier 1) PBIS elements to better understand schoolwide and classroom expectations, acknowledgment and appreciation systems, and response to behaviors that do not align with established expectations and values.

Practices represent the evidence-based interventions and supports educators implement to positively impact student behavior and address desired outcomes (Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2023).

For more information regarding the implementation of the PBIS framework and multi-tiered systems of support, visit the resource pages What is PBIS?, Why Implement PBIS?, and Getting Started from the Center on PBIS.