In recent years, there has been an increased research focus on developing tools to support the design, installation, and evaluation of tiered systems of support. In this special issue, we focus on research validating freely available tools to (a) measure fidelity of implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a widely implemented framework for promoting positive school systems and fostering students' social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health. Numerous studies indicate that PBIS implementation improves student outcomes, educator practices, and school systems. This brief presents the…

Positive behaviour support and schoolwide positive behavioural interventions and supports (PBIS) emerged in response to the misuse of behavioural theory and ableism in educational systems. Yet even with these advances, inequitable outcomes based on ability and race persist. The purpose of this article is to describe an equity-centred schoolwide…

Clip charts have been a common classroom strategy for many years. Once considered an effective tool for displaying behavioral progress and adherence to classroom rules, they may not be as helpful as once thought. In this practice brief, we describe how such strategies are inconsistent with a PBIS [Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports]…

Disproportionality in exclusionary school discipline is a longstanding challenge in general and special education. To reduce disproportionality in discipline in a way that produces measurable results, federal law provides a mechanism referred to as Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS). Whether a school district has been cited for…

Parent educational involvement is an important avenue for enhancing student outcomes. Schools seek myriad ways to include families; however, the parent involvement practices used by schools lack coordination and are disconnected from existing school approaches. School wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a systematic and…

Because of its widespread adoption and implementation (in over 13,000 schools in the US; Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, 2010), there has been increasing attention to how School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) systems can be sustained. Sustained implementation can be defined as "continued use of an…

Students with or at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders pose an immense challenge for educators, and typical practices to address them are punitive and exclusionary, leading to poor academic and social outcomes for students. To address the complex needs of students with intensive emotional and behavioral needs, evidence-based practices and…

All educators will inevitably face unwanted student behavior that they need to address. A ubiquitous response to unwanted behavior is exclusionary discipline practices, including time-out, office discipline referrals, and suspensions. However, extensive research has demonstrated that these practices are associated with negative outcomes, including…

In the face of principal turnover, a common approach taken by staff is to simply wait until the new school year begins and hope that the new administrator will continue to support current programs. It is our experience that this passive strategy is not as helpful, because there are proactive approaches that are more likely to be successful. The…

Increasingly, schools have been adopting comprehensive, three-tiered response to intervention (RTI) systems to support students in both academics and social behavior. But with each new systems change initiative comes separate teams, data, and training and coaching systems. Given the intensity of resources required to implement and sustain such…

Bullying is often defined as unprovoked aggressive behavior repeatedly carried out against victims who are unable to defend themselves. Children and youth who engage in bullying behavior may have a physical advantage, higher social status, or power in numbers, whereas those who are targeted by bullies are likely to be solitary, smaller in stature,…

Functional behavior assessment and function-based support have increasingly been used in school settings in the past decade. This increased use has come under scrutiny from some experts who have argued in the past that function-based support has not yet been proven to be effective in typical school settings with students without severe…