Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Tier 1

There is strong evidence that Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Tier 1 improves behavioral outcomes by setting clear behavior expectations and recognizing positive student behaviors (McDaniel 2020, Noltemeyer 2019, Gage 2018, Bradshaw 2012, Flannery 2014). More research is needed to examine how PBIS Tier 1 practices can be equity-focused (McIntosh 2023, McDaniel 2020).

PBIS Tier 1 has been shown to reduce office discipline referrals (ODRs) (Estrapala 2021, Flannery 2014, Simonsen 2012, Muscott 2008) and suspensions (Pas 2019, Simonsen 2012). Studies of schools that implement PBIS Tier 1 have shown a statistically significant reduction in disparities in ODRs and suspensions between Black and white students (McDaniel 2020). However, disparities in discipline persist across race and disability and additional research is needed on how to implement equity-focused PBIS Tier 1 (McIntosh 2023, Vincent 2011).

PBIS Tier 1 may improve academic achievement (McDaniel 2020, Noltemeyer 2019, Horner 2009, Bradshaw 2010, McIntosh 2011). PBIS Tier 1 can help increase staff’s confidence, trust, and warmth towards students (Bradshaw 2009), as well as teacher self-efficacy (Kelm 2012). Teachers in schools that use PBIS Tier 1 report increased understanding of behavior expectations in both students and staff as well as higher levels of professional trust and respect in their district (Houchens 2017).

Effects on student behavior (James 2019, Noltemeyer 2019a, Kim 2018b, Flannery 2014, Simonsen 2012, Cheney 2012) and school climate (Bradshaw 2009) appear strongest in schools that implement PBIS Tier 1 with high fidelity. Gains in teacher efficacy also appear greater when fidelity is higher, especially in schools with many students from low income backgrounds (Ross 2012a). Research suggests that implementing PBIS Tier 1 with high or medium fidelity is associated with increased academic outcomes (Houchens 2017) and that schools who have implemented PBIS Tier 1 for three or more years have higher levels of academic achievement than schools who have used PBIS for less than three years (Kim 2018b).

Schools that integrated PBIS Tier 1 with school mental health services using the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) showed reduced office discipline referrals and in-school suspensions compared to schools that used PBIS alone or PBIS alongside school mental health services (Weist 2022). Research also suggests that PBIS Tier 1 combined with social-emotional learning (SEL) and character education is more effective in improving student behaviors than PBIS Tier 1 alone (Zhang 2023).

Experts recommend integrating student voice and participation into PBIS Tier 1, especially at the middle and high school levels (Lloyd 2023). Research suggests that high school students have unique preferences for types of rewards and that administrators and staff should be responsive to student opinions in designing rewards (Tyre 2023). Providing professional development and dedicated staff planning time as well as data infrastructure and system-level supports can strengthen PBIS Tier 1 implementation (Zhang 2022a, Tyre 2021, George 2018).

PBIS Tier 1 in alternative education (AE) settings can reduce restraint and seclusion incidents and may also improve academic outcomes in AE settings (Grasley-Boy 2021). Research suggests that PBIS Tier 1 implementation results in net cost savings for schools due to reduced discipline and mental health concerns alongside improved academic outcomes (Bradshaw 2020).

There is some evidence that equity-focused Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Tier 1 has the potential to reduce disparities in school discipline between students who are Black and those who are white, as well as between students with disabilities and students without disabilities (McDaniel 2020, McIntosh 2021, Simonsen 2022, Payno-Simmons 2021). Experts caution that implementing PBIS Tier 1 without an intentional focus on equity can reinforce disparities and further harm students who are already marginalized (McIntosh 2023).

Schools where staff receive equity-focused professional development and integrate learning into PBIS practices show reduced disparities in office discipline referrals (ODRs) between Black students and other groups of students when compared to schools where staff did not receive equity-focused professional development (McIntosh 2021). Another study suggests that equity-focused PBIS can both reduce ODRs for all students as well as reduce disparities in ODRs between Black and white students (Payno-Simmons 2021).

Students with disabilities may be less likely to receive suspensions in schools that use PBIS Tier 1 (Simonsen 2022). Students with disabilities are also less likely to be sent to alternative education schools for behavior reasons if their school implements PBIS Tier 1 with fidelity (Grasley-Boy 2019). More research is needed to establish how PBIS Tier 1 can more effectively support students with disabilities (Simonsen 2022). Experts suggest that focusing on how PBIS Tier 1 can benefit students with disabilities, tailoring practices to individual student needs, and including special education teachers in PBIS Tier 1 teams may increase PBIS Tier 1 effectiveness for students with disabilities (Watkins 2023, Walker 2022, Shuster 2017).

PBIS Tier 1 may also improve academic outcomes for students of color and students living in poverty, particularly if it is implemented with high fidelity (McDaniel 2020, McIntosh 2011).

From the late 1800s to the 1950s, the U.S. education system was influenced by the eugenics movement, which seeks to control, devalue, and segregate any person deemed ‘unfit’ (Spaulding 2015). Children with disabilities and children of color were segregated in separate classes or schools with minimal resources or denied education altogether (Kyere 2020, Spaulding 2015). Beginning with the Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the education system began slow progress towards inclusivity (US Courts-BvBE). In 1975, U.S. Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (US ED-IDEA History). Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) was first introduced in 1997 with a reauthorization of IDEA (Sugai 2020). This version of IDEA emphasized that students with disabilities should have access to general curricula and classrooms and presented PBIS as a framework schools could use to support students behaviorally (US ED-IDEA History).

PBIS is often understood to be an alternative to exclusionary and zero tolerance policies (Brookings-Perera 2023). Harshly punitive school discipline policies surged in popularity in the 1990s and 2000s, fueled by federal anti-drug policy of the 1980s (Brookings-Perera 2023, US ED-Skiba 2000). Research connected zero-tolerance policies with severe harms for Black students, other students of color, and students with disabilities as well as no significant improvements in school safety (APA 2008, Curran 2016). In response, the Obama Administration issued a Dear Colleague Letter in 2014 that included detailed guidance for protecting student civil rights and schools moved towards more lenient policies (Brookings-Perera 2023, Brookings-Perera 2023a). Recently, schools have struggled with a sharp increase in student behavior concerns after extended school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Belsha 2021) and schools have begun trending back towards stricter discipline policies (Brookings-Perera 2023).

• Who has a voice in PBIS Tier 1 decisions in your school or district? Whose input is not currently considered?
• How well are the positive expectations used in PBIS Tier 1 supported by community values? How clear and consistent are behavior expectations across the school building (e.g. cafeteria, classrooms, hallways, or common areas)?
• How present is racial bias in staff use of PBIS Tier 1 practices? How can your school community collectively address racial bias without shaming staff?

As of 2023, over 25,000 schools across the United States implemented Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) (US ED OSEP-PBIS). Implementation varies considerably by state (US ED OSEP-PBIS). Currently, all states and Washington, D.C. have a state PBIS Tier 1 coordinator (PBIS-State coordinators). Statewide partnerships can support and fund PBIS Tier 1 implementation; researchers recommend creating a coalition of stakeholders that develop a shared agenda through strong relationships built over time to meet each contributor’s needs (Bradshaw 2012). Some schools have also extended PBIS Tier 1 to include school buses (Kennedy 2019a, Collins 2016a).

AIR-School climate - American Institutes for Research (AIR). School climate and safety.

NCSSLE-SCI Resources - National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE). School climate improvement (SCI) resource package.

PBIS-School - Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS). What is school-wide PBIS?

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Bradshaw 2020* - Bradshaw CP, Lindstrom Johnson S, Zhu Y, Pas ET. Scaling up behavioral health promotion efforts in Maryland: The economic benefit of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. School Psychology Review. 2020;50(1):99-109.

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Cheney 2012* - Cheney D, Jewell K. Chapter 5 positive behavior supports and students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders. 2012;23:83-106.

Collins 2016a - Collins JC, Ryan JB. Extension of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports from the school to the bus: A case study. The Journal of At-Risk Issues. 2016;19(1):29-33.

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Walker 2022 - Walker VL, Loman SL, Mickelson AM, Lyon KJ. Participation of students with extensive support needs in SWPBIS: Administrator and educator perspectives. Psychology in the Schools. 2022;59(8):1623-1642.

Watkins 2023* - Watkins L, White S, McDaniel S, et al. Including students with autism within the PBIS framework: Recommendations for research and research-informed practice. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth. 2023.

Weist 2022* - Weist MD, Splett JW, Halliday CA, et al. A randomized controlled trial on the interconnected systems framework for school mental health and PBIS: Focus on proximal variables and school discipline. Journal of School Psychology. 2022;94:49-65.

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Zhang 2022a* - Zhang Y, Cook CR, Lyon AR. A simple matter of time? School-level analysis of the relationship between time allocation, treatment integrity, and student outcome. School Mental Health. 2022;14:73-87.

Zhang 2023 - Zhang Y, Cook CR, Smith B. PurposeFull People SEL and character education program: A cluster randomized trial in schools implementing Tier 1 PBIS with fidelity. School Mental Health. 2023;15:985-1002.