The implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has been attributed to a decrease in office discipline referrals (ODRs) and suspensions and to increase academic performance, and engagement, as well as staff, family, and student perceptions of a safe and positive school climate. High schools have had more significant…

This phenomenological case study explores the perceptions of high school administrators who have implemented Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) at the universal tier with fidelity. For this study, perceptions refer to the views and experiences of administrators implementing SWPBIS on the success and growth they have…

Researchers have found that removing students from instructional settings for behavioral infractions adversely influenced student learning. The problem of this basic qualitative study was that strategies, challenges, experiences, and approaches used by high school general education teachers to manage student misbehavior were unknown. The purpose…

Improving student learning and behavior has been a topic of discussion in the education community for a long time. The Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) program is proposed to achieve this. While PBIS successfully improves academic and behavioral outcomes, there are concerns that it may only meet the needs of some students.…

Previous research has demonstrated a need for contextual fit when implementing behavior supports in high schools (Flannery et al., "The High School Journal," 96(4), 267-282, 2013; Flannery & Kato, "Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth," 61(1), 69-79, 2017). As high schools move beyond the…

The Schoolwide Expectations Survey for Specific Settings (SESSS) is a free-access tool that school leadership teams can use to gather opinions from faculty and staff regarding what student behaviors are critical for success in various school settings. While the SESSS has been used for over a decade to inform the building of schoolwide expectation…

When implementing schoolwide PBIS in secondary schools, creating effective acknowledgment systems for expected student behavior can be challenging. To overcome this challenge, it is helpful to understand acknowledgement preferences from the student point of view. In this study, we surveyed students in three middle, two traditional, and two…

Previous research has demonstrated a need for contextual fit when implementing behavior supports in high schools (Flannery et al., "The High School Journal," "96"(4), 267-282, 2013; Flannery & Kato, "Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth," "61"(1), 69-79, 2017). As high…

Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) Tier 2 interventions are deemed an evidence-based practice that influences student academic and behavioral success. The problem addressed in this study was that there exists an academic and discipline disparity between African American students and peers of other races. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore African American students and school administrators' experiences with out-of-school suspension (OSS) and their perceptions of strategies to reduce suspensions. Researchers have identified research-based strategies to reduce OSS, including restorative practices and Positive Behavior…

The successful implementation of school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) relies greatly on staff's commitment and buy-in, as these factors directly impact the level of their involvement and engagement. As such, it is crucial to develop and use psychometrically sound tools to measure staff's supportive beliefs regarding SWPBS. In this study,…

Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) is a widely implemented, evidence-based Tier 2 behavior intervention used primarily in schools implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The purpose of this national extant study was to examine implementation patterns using an extant database of 24,425 students within 1,766 schools across 40 U.S.…

In recent years, high schools have turned to PBIS to address issues related to dropout rates, school climate, and disciplinary practices. However, high schools pose unique implementation challenges when compared to elementary and middle schools, such as large school sizes, organization and culture focused on academics rather than behavior, and the…

The purpose of the study was to gain deeper understanding of the PBIS process in high schools and high school principal perceptions of leadership qualities that enable, and challenge, school-wide change to facilitate PBIS successfully. The study provided an opportunity for high school principals to give a voice to PBIS leadership through sharing…

This qualitative study explores teacher enactment of education policy, specifically Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), in a large suburban Midwestern high school. Participating educators constructed policy meaning while they sought to understand it, over a multi-year rollout process. Data were gathered using five teacher and…