Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS)

In the summer of 2023, we started a journey to bring the Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support (PA-PBS) framework to Skyview Upper Elementary. As a community, we agreed this journey was worthwhile to increase consistency in recognizing when students do and do not meet our behavior expectations. While we have come so far since the implementation of the framework began, there is still much work to be done.

As we work to incorporate this framework, we will also ask for your participation in recognizing when you see your child being safe, owning their actions, acting responsibly, and being respectful at home. After each quarter, Skyview will celebrate the positive choices our students make each day.

The overarching goal of PBIS is to improve the overall climate of our school and lay a foundation for building relationships with students that will pay dividends in the future. Students may not remember what we taught them, but they always will remember who we are and how we taught them. Together, through a focus on building positive relationships in all stakeholder groups, we can improve the climate of our school community and improve outcomes for your children.

What is PBIS?

The U.S. Department of Education first referenced the term “positive behavioral interventions and supports” (PBIS) in 1996, and the term is currently used in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The Department of Education indicated further that:

PBIS does not “mean any specific program or curriculum.”
PBIS generically references “a multi-tiered behavioral framework used to improve the integration and implementation of behavioral practices, data-driven decision-making systems, professional development opportunities, and evidence-based instructional strategies.”
A PBIS framework helps to “improve behavioral and academic outcomes by improving school climate, preventing problem behavior, increasing learning time, promoting positive social skills, and delivering effective behavioral interventions and supports.”
A PBIS framework supports “a variety of behavioral practices into a school-wide framework that would (1) address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students with challenging behaviors comprehensively and deliberately, similar to how academic instruction is provided; and (2) provide a structure for the delivery of a continuum of evidence-based practices designed to benefit all students and supported by data-driven decision making.”

In the 1990s, the PBIS Center adopted the three-tiered prevention logic to conceptualize the “multi-tiered behavioral framework” with an emphasis on prevention logic. As the magnitude of the problem increases, so does the need for (a) resources to address the problem, (b) enhancements to teaching and learning environments, (c) collecting and using data for decision-making, (d) teaming and coordination, and (e) engagement with and feedback to students.

Terms to Know

PBIS - Positive Behavior Intervention Support

MTSS - Multi-tiered System of Support (framework of academic and behavioral supports)

200 Club - School-wide acknowledgment system designed to celebrate students for making positive choices at school (see full explanation below)

Behavior Matrix - outlines expectations for behavior in all school settings. These expectations are taught and reinforced throughout the school year.

Principal's 200 Club

The Principal’s 200 Club is a Tier I school-wide, prevention-focused acknowledgment system. It applies to all students, staff, and settings in the building, and consists of several evidence-based behavior management practices and techniques. Specifically, the incentive program utilizes: 1) verbal praise; 2) public recognition; 3) the Mystery Motivator; 4) a variable reinforcement schedule; and 5) a group contingency.

Reasons to use the Principal’s 200 Club:

To establish a more positive social climate in a school.
To improve rule-following behavior for all students.
To encourage positive student-teacher interactions.
To improve home-school relations.
To establish and reinforce consistent school-wide expectations.
To promote any initiative to improve school behavior (social skills, character education, anti-bullying, etc.)
To decrease the number of office discipline referrals and time spent on discipline.

Skyview’s 200 Club board hangs in the main lobby at Skyview, where students will gather to find their names and see if they are close to being a 10-in-a-row winner.

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