Running head: A LOOK AT SCHOOL WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT 1

A Look at School Wide Positive Behavior Support and Response to Intervention

Harper LaFond

EDU 348
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A Look at School Wide Positive Behavior Support and Response to Intervention

Managing student behavior is one of the most important topics in education today.

Research has shown that student behavior can have a significant impact on academic learning

and overall school climate (Nocera, Whitbred, & Nocera, 2014). Students exhibiting problem

behavior, especially students with disabilities, have an increased risk of suspension, expulsion, or

dropping out (Lewis, McIntosh, Simonsen, Mitchell, & Hatton, 2017; Nocera et al., 2014); in

fact, students with emotional/ behavioral disorders are more likely to be arrested and face other

serious problems later on in their lives (Lewis et al., 2017). These facts are disheartening because

it would seem that students who need school to advance academically, socially, etc. and would

benefit from the structure offered by school the most are being excluded from this opportunity.

Therefore, in continuing to use traditional behavior management strategies, teachers,

administrators, and schools are doing their students a disservice by not successfully addressing

and dealing with the issues contributing to problem behavior. Along with this topic comes the

issue of discipline. Traditionally, teachers and schools have resorted to methods of punishment

including office discipline referrals and suspensions to discipline students (Lewis et al., 2017);

but, these methods of discipline are like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound—they only

solve the issue of problem behavior temporarily as they do not get to the root of the behavior and

students are either expelled or dropout. However, the good news is that there is a solution!

Response to Intervention (RTI) for behavior is a three-tiered approach to addressing problem

behavior. RTI has been proven to work for students of all ages, even high school students

(Freeman et al., 2016) and students who have severe disabilities (Hawken & O’Neill, 2006).

Within the Tier 1 of RTI is a structured approach called School-Wide Positive Behavior Support
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(SWPBS). Both RTI and SWPBS are meant to help regulate student behavior and ensure success

for individual students, classrooms, and entire schools by setting forth clear expectations to

encourage and promote appropriate student behavior in all settings. The overarching goal of RTI

for behavior and SWPBS is to create positive environments conducive to learning.

Definition of Practice

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a three-tiered approach with both behavioral and

academic components. For the sake of this paper, only the behavioral component will be

discussed. Tier 1 in RTI for behavior encompasses about 80% of students who participate in

school-wide initiatives to learn about and practice appropriate behavior in school (Caldarella,

Shatzer, Gray, Young, & Young, 2011). One of the best examples of a Tier I strategy is the

“whole-school -level” of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) which is a specific,

structured approach to behavior. To understand exactly what SWPBS is, it’s important to first

understand what SWPBS is not. Sugai and Simonsen (2012) highlight several important

misconceptions about SWPBS. SWPBS is not a single method of managing student behavior; it

is not something new and it was not designed specifically for students with disabilities, although

it most definitely does include and benefit students with disabilities; finally, SWPBS and RTI are

not separate approaches—in fact, they are deeply connected. In addition, whole schools must

implement SWPBS. SWPBS is not an educational philosophy, but a comprehensive approach to

managing student behavior. Therefore, no one teacher or administrator can implement SWPBS

because it requires joint effort in the implementation and execution of particular components and

procedures. There are five main components of SWPBS which include having a solid, trained

SWPBS team, defining expectations, teaching expectations, having a system of rewards and

consequences to promote good behavior, and collecting data and continually trying to improve
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the SWPBS system (Horner et al., 2005 as cited in Caldarella et al., 2011). But what does

SWPBS actually look like in real life? In a study conducted by Nocera et al. (2014), researchers

followed Roosevelt Middle School during its transition to using SWPBS in an attempt to

determine the benefits of SWPBS. Some of the steps Roosevelt Middle School took to

implement SWPBS included analyzing current student behavior, teacher training on school

climate, and creating and understanding a new discipline policy and reward system. The reward

system Roosevelt Middle School chose to use was a token economy system. In simpler terms,

students received “P.R.I.D.E”. cards when they exhibited pride, respect, integrity, determination,

or excellence through their words or actions. Students could then “purchase” tangible rewards

with their “P.R.I.D.E.” cards. In addition, Roosevelt Middle School came up with Tier II and

Tier III interventions to use with select students. Caldarella et al. (2011) states that Tier II in RTI

encompasses about 10-15% of students who may not respond to Tier I interventions; this level of

support involves strategies such as small groups. Finally, Caldarella et al, (2011) states that Tier

III in RTI encompasses about 1-5% of students who may not respond to Tier II interventions;

this level of support involves strategies such as individual instruction. Therefore, RTI is set up in

a logical manner to move from whole school or whole group interventions to individual

interventions and from less intensive interventions to more intensive interventions. In this way,

RTI follows suit after other popular trends in education by allowing for individualization. In

conclusion, it is difficult to reduce the definitions of RTI and SWPBS down into a few sentences

because, as stated by Sugai & Simonsen (2012), they are both comprehensive approaches.

Impact of SWPBS on Student Behavior and School Climate

Up to this point, SWPBS may sound like a great approach to improving student behavior

in school, but this approach is only meritorious if it has been proven to work. Fortunately,
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SWPBS has been proven to be a highly effective approach for improving student behavior in

countless studies. Specifically, SWPBS has been proven to be effective in improving student

behavior and school climate (Caldarella et al., 2011; Freeman et al., 2016; Nocera et al., 2014).

Nocera et al. (2014) conducted a study in which they followed a middle school, Roosevelt

Middle School, before, during, and after the implementation of SWPBS in their school from

2007-2010. The researchers collected data and conducted surveys to determine the impact, or

lack thereof, that SWPBS had on Roosevelt Middle School. Overall, they found that SWPBS had

a significant, positive impact on student behavior and school climate. Even more specifically,

they found that SWPBS helped decrease the frequency of office discipline referrals, suspensions,

physical aggression, insubordination, disrupting class, inappropriate behavior, skipping

detention, cutting class, being tardy, and being disrespectful to staff. For these categories, the

percentage change was anywhere from -6% to -55%. In another study conducted by Caldarella et

al. (2011), researchers followed two middle schools over the course of four years. One school

was the treatment school and the other school was the control school. The treatment school

implemented SWPBS while the control school did not implement SWPBS. Caldarella et al.

(2011) wanted to compare the changes brought about by SWPBS in the treatment school with

any changes in the control school. Just like the previous study, researchers found that SWPBS

had a significant, positive impact on student behavior and school climate in the treatment school.

Researchers also found that there were significant discrepancies between improvement for the

treatment school and the control school in different categories such as student prosocial behavior,

school safety, and tardiness. Overall, it is clear from both studies that SWPBS promotes

appropriate student behavior and positive school climates.

Impact of SWPBS on Academics

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While SWPBS has been proven to be effective for improving student behavior and school

climate, it has not been proven to be effective in improving academic outcomes. In fact, this has

been a trend across various SWPBS studies; when schools have implemented SWPBS, academic

improvement has been either minimal, ambiguous, or non-existent. In the study conducted by

Caldarella et al. (2011) and discussed in the previous section, there was a slight increase in GPA

for the treatment school, but the control school also experienced the same increase in GPA.

Therefore, no significant correlations could be made between SWPBS and academic outcomes.

Caldarella et al. did note that their study didn’t really focus on the impact of SWPBS on

academic improvement, but they did suggest that SWPBS could have an indirect impact on

academic outcomes. In a study conducted by Freeman et al. (2016), researchers collected data

from about 800 high schools and 800 middle schools to determine the effectiveness of SWPBS

in different categories. While researchers did find SWPBS to be effective in improving student

behavior, they did not find SWPBS to be effective in improving academic outcomes, even

though it was proven to positively impact student behavior. In truth, it is important to note that

SWPBS is generally implemented in an attempt to improve student behavior with academic

improvement being of secondary concern for this approach.

Implications for Practice

Overall, RTI and SWPBS have been proven to be a highly effective methods of

addressing problem student behavior. Teachers and administrators alike should be aware of the

current trends in research surrounding RTI and SWPBS and definitely consider looking into

these approaches to implement in their schools, especially if their schools are having significant

trouble with problem student behavior. While implementing RTI and SWPBS may take a lot of

time and energy upfront, the benefits of these approaches would far outweigh this initial effort.
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For example, Caldarella et al. (2011) pointed out that even a slight decrease in office discipline

referrals can save teachers and administrators significant amounts of time that could be used for

more important things such as instruction. RTI and SWBPS also have numerous implications for

special education teachers. Because the stakes are so high for students with disabilities, special

education teachers have a special duty to ensure that their students with problem behavior are

able to remain in school and continue to meet their behavioral expectations and goals (Lewis,

McIntosh, Simonsen, Mitchell, & Hatton, 2017; Nocera et al., 2014). In the study conducted by

Nocera et al. (2014), there was a 49% decrease in the percentage of special education students

who were suspended after their school implemented SWPBS. Therefore, based on this fact alone,

special educators as well as general education teachers might consider bringing up the idea of

implementing RTI and SWPBS with their schools’ administrators in hopes of benefitting their

students with special needs and the school as a whole. Finally, teachers, administrators, and even

parents need to be faithful to the processes outlined by RTI and SWPBS if they want to see

results. In the study conducted by Freeman et al. (2016), the researchers stressed the importance

of fidelity in measuring the outcomes of using the SWPBS approach. In addition, it is important

for teachers and administrators to realize that progress won’t occur overnight. It is important for

teachers and administrators to be patient and remain faithful to the process. In the study

conducted by Caldarella et al. (2011), researchers noted that certain categories for the treatment

school such as office discipline referrals and tardiness actually increased during the second year

following the implementation of SWPBS in the school, but that both office discipline referrals

and tardiness decreased during the fourth year after implementation. In conclusion, teachers and

administrators need to seriously consider the approaches of RTI and SWPBS given their proven
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effectiveness, especially for students with disabilities and problem behavior. In addition, teachers

and administrators should be patient and remain faithful to the process in implementing SWPBS.

Future Directions for Research

While there has been plenty of research as to the behavioral implications of RTI and

SWPBS, there has not been a lot of research as to the academic implications of these approaches.

In the research that has been done on the academic implications of RTI and SWPBIS, there has

been little or no evidence of academic improvement in schools after implementation of SWPBS

(Caldarella et al. 2011); Freeman et al. (2016). Therefore, future research should focus on

determining why this is the case and what can be tweaked within the SWPBS framework to

maximize the potential for improving academic as well as behavioral outcomes. There is also not

a lot of research on the data surrounding outcomes for students with disabilities within the

SWPBS framework. The main conclusion is that students with disabilities do in fact benefit from

RTI and SWPBS (Lewis et al., 2017; Hawken & O’Neill, 2006). Therefore, future research

should focus on gathering data on the relationship between SWPS and students with disabilities.

Conclusion

All in all, as long as school is in session, teachers will have to deal with problem student

behavior; however, there are promising solutions to addressing this behavior such as RTI for

behavior and SWPBS which have been proven to be effective in promoting positive student

behavior and even occasionally improving academic outcomes. Teachers and administrators

have a duty to ensure that students with disabilities and students with problem behavior are able

to remain in school and exhibit positive behavior in all settings. Therefore, an approach such as

SWPBS may very well be the first step in ensuring success for all students, whether or not they
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may have disabilities or have dealt with problem behavior in the past. RTI and SWPBS are two

highly effective approaches to helping students achieve success in the classroom and beyond.
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References

Caldarella, P., Shatzer, R. H., Gray, K. M., Young, K. R., & Young, E. L. (2011). The effects of

school-wide positive behavior support on middle school climate and student outcomes.

RMLE Online, 35(4), 1-14. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ959830.pdf

Freeman, J., Simonsen, B., McCoach, D. B., Sugai, G., Lombardi, A., & Horner, R. (2016).

Relationship between school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports and

academic, attendance, and behavior outcomes in high schools. Journal of Positive Behavior

Interventions, 18(1), 41-51. doi: 10.1177/1098300715580992

Hawken, L. S., & O’Neill, R. E. (2006). Including students with severe disabilities in all levels of

school-wide positive behavior support. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe

Disabilities, 31(1), 46-53. Retrieved from

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2511/rps d.31.1.46

Lewis, T. J., McIntosh, K., Simonsen, B., Mitchell, B. S., & Hatton, H. L. (2017). Schoolwide

systems of positive behavior support: Implications for students at risk and with

emotional/behavioral disorders. AERA Open, 3(2), 1-11. doi: 10.1177/2332858417711428

Nocera, E. J., Whitbread, K. M., & Nocera, G. P. (2014). Impact of school-wide positive

behavior supports on student behavior in the middle grades. RMLE Online, 37(8), 1-14.

Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1032366.pdf

Sugai, G., & Simonsen, B. (2012, June 19). Positive behavioral interventions and supports:

History, defining features, and misconceptions. Retrieved from

https://www.pbis.org/common/cms/files/pbisresources/PBIS_revisited_June19r_2012.pdf