1, but those who want specific information on a given tier can jump ahead to that chapter (chapters 2 to 4). For those looking just for information on how to implement SWPBIS, they can skip to chapter 5. For those who need a concrete example of the whole model, chapter 6 provides that.
1
Overview of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
A school is primed for academic success if its students regularly engage in appropriate behaviors and require minimal discipline time. As we like to say about students and behavior, “If they’re not listening to directions, they’re not listening to instruction.” This is the aim of using Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in schools: to create a safe, orderly environment with a positive school climate that enables students to achieve social and academic success. Within this chapter, we explore SWPBIS’s research base and theoretical background, after which we discuss the four key elements and the Problem-Solving Model.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is about building effective environments and using evidence-based practices that teach and encourage appropriate behaviors to replace undesired behavior (Carr et al., 2002). Accordingly, PBIS applied to the entire school is schoolwide PBIS. This creates a framework for all students that uses a broad range of strategies for teaching positive behaviors while also preventing and reducing undesired behavior, thus creating a system of supports within the school (Sailor et al., 2009). This system of supports is often referred to in the broader sense as Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), which incorporates social behavior systems (for example, SWPBIS) as well as academic systems (for example, response to intervention; Buffum, Mattos, & Weber, 2009; Jimerson, Burns, & VanDerHeyden, 2007). We refer to SWPBIS as a framework that can be applied as a stand-alone framework or as the behavior support side of MTSS (McIntosh & Goodman, 2016). We also use the terms model and framework interchangeably, as both refer to the broad, tiered structure of SWPBIS.
SWPBIS provides all students with universal instruction, called Tier One, using instructional and behavioral principles to teach a handful of schoolwide behavioral expectations (for example, be safe, be respectful, be responsible). This foundational level serves a preventative function to mitigate problematic behavior, and at least 80 percent of the students’ needs are met with universal instruction alone (George, Kincaid, & Pollard-Sage, 2009; Horner, Sugai, et al., 2005). A range of increasingly intensive and evidence-based supports are available for students who need more direct support for behavioral concerns, which allows school teams to match each student’s needs with a corresponding level of support and intervention. An additional 10 to 15 percent of students require supplemental, targeted support called Tier Two (also referred to as targeted support), and 3 to 5 percent require intensive, individualized support called Tier Three (also referred to as indicated support; Sugai & Horner, 2009). As illustrated in figure 1.1, SWPBIS creates a healthy, functioning school in which all students’ needs are met. It is important to understand that figure 1.1 represents a healthy system and is the ideal outcome of implementing SWPBIS. Some schools may serve populations in which most students may initially appear to need Tier Two or Tier Three supports; however, once the foundational systems and supports are in place, such schools can achieve outcomes that represent a healthy system (that is, at least 80 percent of students’ needs are met with Tier One alone, no more than 10 to 15 percent require Tier Two, and no more than 5 percent require Tier Three; Bohanon et al., 2006; Netzel & Eber, 2003). Whereas some schools may find that that 40 percent of their students are at risk for academic or behavioral failure, over time, SWPBIS will likely decrease the number of students who are at risk (Greenwood, Kratochwill, & Clements, 2008). See table 1.1 for a summary of SWPBIS.
Source: Harlacher, Sakelaris, & Kattelman, 2014.
Figure 1.1: SWPBIS framework.
SWPBIS is a responsive, efficient system of supports in which the intensity of support and services increases as students receive supports that are higher up in the triangle. To ensure their needs are met, teachers screen all students at least two to three times per year to identify those who may be at risk for behavioral difficulties (students already identified at risk are monitored with similar tools). Teachers provide students with support, and their progress is regularly monitored to ensure that support is effective (Horner, Sugai, Todd, & Lewis-Palmer, 2005; Sailor et al., 2009). Every teacher proactively assesses students’ needs, provides instruction, and then monitors its impact on every student; the entire school uses this approach. Such processes create a fluid system that emphasizes evidence-based practices and data for decision making (Horner, Sugai, et al., 2005; Sailor et al., 2009). Consequently, SWPBIS is a continuous-improvement system. It requires school teams to regularly examine both the impact and the implementation of individual interventions and the system itself (Newton, Horner, Algozzine, Todd, & Algozzine, 2009).
Table 1.1: SWPBIS Summary
| Instruction | Group Size | Frequency and Duration |
| Tier One | ||
| Three to five positively stated expectations; teaching and reinforcement of those expectations; consistent procedures for responding to misbehavior | Whole school, taught in various formats (for example, at an assembly, in classroom, and so on) | Initial teaching; reteaching and recognition provided throughout school year; instructional boosters provided as needed, based on data |
| Tier Two | ||
| Targeted group, interventions to supplement Tier One with goal of displaying schoolwide expectations with increased instruction in explicit skills, increased oppor tunities to practice and receive feedback | Small group or 1:1 Designed to reach groups of students but not always delivered in a group setting | Occurs daily or weekly, depending on intervention Duration determined by student’s progress, but typically no longer than twenty weeks |
| Tier Three | ||
| Intensive instruction that includes small-group, 1:1, and wraparound services Individually designed | 1:1 or small group, depending on intervention | Varies by student, but usually daily occurrence Longer duration relative to Tier Two |
Source: Adapted from Harlacher et al., 2014.
However, SWPBIS is about more than just teaching behavioral expectations to students; SWPBIS focuses on creating supportive environments (Sugai & Horner, 2009). The most obvious way school teams do this is through its facilitation of social competence by directly teaching behavioral expectations and prosocial skills (Sugai & Horner, 2009). For example, school teams teach students the schoolwide expectations (such as be respectful and be safe), and they may also receive instruction on related prosocial skills (such
