Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS)

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SPS students practicing community meeting SOP

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Our schools use it as a proactive approach to improve behavior and support every student’s behavioral needs. Within the framework, there are three tiers that include specific interventions at each level. The basic idea of PBIS is simple; Educators focus on positive behaviors and reinforce those behaviors with incentives and rewards.  A main focus of PBIS best practices is preventing negative behavior from occurring instead of punishing them once they have been exhibited. Over time, the hope is students will need less and less incentives to do the right thing. The more we focus on the positive and teach students explicitly what good behavior looks like, the more apt students will be to behave appropriately. 

So what does this actually look like in our schools?

Below you will find a list of examples of how PBIS tiers are implemented and used at the classroom level. Remember, the better a child’s foundation, the stronger a child will be both academically and behaviorally. 

PBIS

PBIS Implementation Strategies:

  1. Positive Speak

  2. Providing Structure

  3. Using Reinforcers

  4. Explicit Teachings of Expectations

  5. Integrating Social-Emotional Learning

  6. Creating an Inclusive Environment

  7. Connecting School and Home Behavior

  8. Initiating restorative conversations

PBIS Structure

PBIS

Newsletters

Parent-Home Connection Newsletters

Surveys

Twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, each school in RSU 4 will conduct school climate surveys. The School Climate Survey helps teams gain insight into how school personnel, students, and their families feel when they walk into the buildings. The results of these surveys provide useful data to help support the implementation of PBIS. Each school's PBIS team, as well as the districtwide PBIS team, reviews the data and adjusts the school-wide plans. Our first surveys were conducted in the Fall of 2023 and the results of those surveys are attached under each school.