PBIS

By Monley Wu
You know when they say independent work should not be one size fits all, but should
be differentiated to meet the students needs? Have you ever wondered why some behavioral
interventions may work for one student or school but not another. It is the same for behavioral
management. A one size fits all approach would be less effective than interventions based on
the needs of the students or the needs of the schools.
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a positive and proactive approach
to dealing with behavior. It establishes the behavioral supports and social culture for students to
achieve social, emotional, and academic success. Instead of waiting for misbehavior to occur
then responding through punishment-based strategies such as loss of privileges, it is better to
teach students behavioral expectations and reward students for positive behaviors. The PBIS
approach is multi-leveled which is offered to all students in the school. First there is the primary
prevention, which is school/classroom-wide. It is a system for all students, staff, and settings. For
example, the school may have (but are not limited to) award assemblies and school-wide
expectations. Next there is the secondary prevention which is in the classroom. It focuses on
specialized groups and systems for students with at-risk behavior. This is the next tier for when
students are continuously displaying negative behavior and more intensive is necessary. An
example of what is used during this tier is a behavior education program, also known as Check
In, Check Out. Finally the last tier is the tertiary prevention, which supports specialized,
individualized, and systems for students with high risk. This tier is for students who are still not
responding to the secondary prevention tier and will need more individualized support. The
tertiary prevention may include Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and Behavior Support

Plan based on the FBA. Attention is focused on creating and sustaining the three tiers by making
misbehavior less effective while making desired behavior more functional.
Throughout all this data is a very essential part of PBIS. Data must be kept and analyzed
to make decisions on the whether the student behaviors are improving and which behaviors are
not and which behaviors work and which do not.
All while learning about PBIS, I was thinking of what the school I am working in
currently has. After reading it, I believe it is PBIS. In my school we have something called
Starbucks. Starbucks is basically fake school printed money that can be earned individually.
They can be handed out by any adult in the building to the students that are displaying exemplary
behavior. Teachers teach students expectations/behaviors that can help students achieve
Starbucks. Students can collect the Starbucks and exchange it at the Starbuck store to exchange it
for prizes. This is something that may not work is half of the teachers are on board and the other
half do not use it. All adults needs to be on board and utilized the system.
After learning about PBIS and really thinking about it, I do believe that behavioral
management should be different for schools and students. I actually connected what I learned to
what I experienced with my class now and class from last year. I taught first grade both years.
My class last year responded really well to attention signals. However this years class cannot do
attention signals. They will continue talking. With them, I have to give them prompts while
getting their attention. Just from my experience, it truly shows that behavioral management can
be changed to cater to the students as well as the teacher. (For example, Class Dojo. This is a
wonderful site, however it is just not for me. So I use a different system for behavioral
management.)

Overall PBIS was very insightful especially the videos where I was able to analyze and
view effective use of strategies and truly put everything into place. Many videos were provided
to show the use of PBIS at schools, even using the bathroom. The flexible use of PBIS can truly
make or break behavioral management in the classroom.

References
www.interventioncentral.org
www.pbis.org
www.nyspbis.org