Table of Contents:
1.) What Is PBIS Behavior Management?
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), is a systematic approach to managing and improving behavior in schools and other organizations. The focus of PBIS is on creating a positive and supportive environment that helps all children and adults learn and succeed. This approach is based on the idea that all students have the potential to do well if they are given the right kind of support and encouragement.
PBIS emphasizes building positive relationships between students and between students and teachers. This starts with setting clear behavior expectations and teaching students what is expected of them behavior, both in and out of the classroom. Educators work with students to develop positive and respectful relationships, and they use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior.
One key aspect of PBIS is that it focuses on prevention rather than punishment. Instead of waiting for negative behavior to occur and then responding with punishment, PBIS focuses on teaching children the skills they need to behave well and prevent problems from arising in the first place. This approach incorporates a range of evidence-based strategies, including teaching social-emotional skills, providing positive feedback, and creating a safe and supportive learning environment.
PBIS is a data-driven approach to behavior management. That means that schools and other organizations that implement PBIS will collect data on their students' behavior, both positive and negative, and use that data to guide their decision-making. By using data to better understand why certain behaviors are occurring and which interventions are effective, schools can continuously improve their approach and better help their students.
2.) What is the History of PBIS?
The history of PBIS dates back to the 1980s when the concept of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was introduced. In the mid-1990s, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) established funding incentives for schools that adopted a research-based approach to addressing behavioral challenges in students with disabilities. Thus, PBIS or Positive Behavior Support (PBS) emerged as a way to bring together the principles of FBA and the strategies of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA.)
Over the years, PBIS has gained widespread acceptance in schools across the USA. Its success is based on the premise that students can be taught appropriate behaviors just as they acquire academic skills. With clearly defined behavioral expectations, continuous monitoring, data collection, and reinforcement systems, PBIS helps create a school culture that fosters positive behavior, contributing to students' academic & social success.
3.) How has PBIS been Shown to Help Students?
PBIS helps create a safe and positive school culture by promoting positive behavior rather than merely punishing negative behavior. Through PBIS, teachers and administrators establish clear behavioral expectations and reward and reinforce positive behavior. PBIS has been shown to help students in a variety of ways: Improved Student Behavior PBIS implementation has been shown to reduce discipline referrals and improve overall school safety.
PBIS provides a framework that enables teachers and administrators to identify and address problematic behaviors before they lead to disciplinary action. This proactive approach helps to create a safer school environment where students can focus on learning. Research has shown that schools that implement PBIS experience fewer incidents of disruptive behavior and more positive interactions between students and staff.
A recent study showed that using positive behavior support to prevent bullying resulted in a 72% decrease in problem behavior among the most difficult students in three elementary schools*. The study also found that other students, including victims and bystanders, were better at dealing with bullying incidents, which ultimately led to a decline in such behavior.
Improved Academic Achievement
PBIS has been shown to improve academic achievement. When students feel safe and supported, they are better able to focus on their academic goals. By promoting positive behavior and reinforcing good behavior, PBIS helps to create a more positive learning environment. Students who feel connected to their school are more motivated to learn and are more likely to meet academic standards.
Improved Student Social Skills
PBIS has been shown to help students develop social and emotional skills that are essential for success in school and beyond. PBIS emphasizes the development of social and emotional skills like empathy, self-awareness, and self-regulation. These skills enable students to navigate complex social situations, build positive relationships, and manage their emotions effectively. By teaching these skills, PBIS helps students become more resilient and better prepared for future success.
PBIS is an essential framework for creating a positive and safe school environment that supports student growth and development. PBIS provides a proactive approach to addressing negative behavior and promoting positive behavior, which has been shown to reduce disciplinary issues and improve academic achievement while promoting social & emotional skills.
By implementing PBIS principles in schools, educators can help all students succeed and thrive.
4.) The Three Tiers of PBIS / Multi-Tiered Pyramid
Tier 1 Universal Prevention (for everyone) forms the foundation of behavioral and academic support. Schools provide these universal supports to all students to ensure they have what they need to be successful and prevent future problems. The core program is designed for most students and is aimed at meeting their needs.
Tier 2: Targeted Prevention (for some) focuses on targeting specific skill deficits students may have. Schools often provide Tier 2 supports to groups of students with similar needs. Supporting a group of students ensures that they have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback, while keeping the intervention as efficient as possible. Students may require assessment to determine their need for this level of support and which skills should be addressed. Tier 2 supports are intended to help students develop the skills needed to benefit from core programs at the school.
Tier 3: Intensive Individualized Prevention (for a few) are the most intensive supports that schools offer. Due to the individualized approach of developing and carrying out these interventions, they require the most resources. Schools rely on formal assessments at this level to determine a student's need and to create an individualized support plan. Student plans often include goals related to both academics and behavior support to address their specific needs."
5.) The Impact of PBIS Systems on Teachers
As the demands placed on teachers continue to increase, including the burden of assessments and stagnant wages, some regions are experiencing a shortage of educators. Sadly, the consequences of this shortage are compounded by the negative impact on teacher wellbeing and the development of burnout. Fortunately PBIS is a promising approach for addressing this issue.
Research has revealed that schools that have effectively integrated PBIS techniques have demonstrated significant improvements in both burnout levels and the effectiveness of their educators. Furthermore, studies have shown that the benefits of PBIS are most significant for teachers in schools located in low socioeconomic areas where challenges are often magnified.
By reducing burnout and increasing teacher efficacy through PBIS implementation, schools may be able to address two crucial issues simultaneously: teacher retention and improved academic outcomes.
6.) PBIS Case Study: Danielle Mack
“So then we saw Bloomz as a top competitor, and we were looking at the features and just love the fact that it had that PBIS feature. We are a PBIS school. We want to celebrate scholars for doing the right thing. So not only do we want to see a platform that has messaging to families and calendars, but we also want to show them the things that our scholars are doing during the day.” “So we love that feature, and it honestly was probably one of the few platforms that had that as well and didn't require yet another app for our families to download. So once we started to do the research into the website and getting to know the team, meeting with the sales team, it just seemed like it matched in alignment to our care for our families, our love for our families, and just being effective and efficient.” - Danielle Mack
6.) PBIS Case Study: Mallory Miller
“While working on our yearly school wide comprehensive needs assessment, one area of concern that came up was school wide disconnect with communication. We discovered we were using over 6 different methods in communicating to our families. We need something more effective and efficient. We had narrowed down our searches to three platforms (LiveSchool, Class Dojo and Bloomz). We created a pros/cons list for each platform. After comparison and discussion we chose Bloomz. Not only did Bloomz offer the capability of addressing our school wide communication concern, but it included an additional component of support PBIS.”
“The additional component Bloomz offered of being able to target and track data to enhance our school wide PBIS practice allowed us to tackle another school wide concern. Working alongside the CEO of Bloomz has been amazing. He listened to the needs of our school and how we were using the PBIS tracking system. He made adjustments to the platform, which ultimately made it easily and more effective for my staff to implement. Every single staff member on my campus was now empowered to take part in rewarding and correcting student behavior. This created a campus-wide buy-in and continues to build upon our motto that it truly does take a village to educate our students.” - Mallory Miller
7.) PBIS Behavior Management Apps on the Market
Classdojo, Parentsquare and Bloomz are some of the popular classroom management tools that come with advanced PBIS capabilities.
Classdojo is a popular platform that enables teachers to track student behavior, communicate with parents, and reward them for achieving their goals. It comes with a variety of features such as online reporting, real-time updates, and automated reminders. It also allows teachers to share classroom activities and messages with parents. While it is a useful tool, it is not as effective in managing student behavior as others. Bloomz allows standardization of PBIS behaviors at school-level while ClassDojo does not allow for that - which is particularly important for larger districts. Bloomz allows for PBIS referrals using Flags automation, ClassDojo does not.
PBIS Rewards is an affordable system for managing Positive Behavioral Interventions in schools. It aids in acknowledging students for meeting behavior expectations throughout the entire school, beyond just the classroom. With a convenient multi-device app, it is easy to use from any location within the school. The app includes additional features such as referral tracking, Check-In/Check-Out, and a rewards system for teachers.
However, it is worth noting that the app suffers from various issues, including frequent bugs, slow scanning, and a confusing user interface. While it may not be the most ideal choice for accessing PBIS features, it still provides some functionality. Nevertheless, when compared to applications like Bloomz, which offers an extensive analytics dashboard and group points, PBIS Rewards falls short in terms of available tools.
Bloomz is an all-in-one classroom management tool that comes with advanced PBIS capabilities. Our app enables teachers to manage student behavior more effectively and efficiently by using its behavior management features such as timers, rewards system, and parent-teacher messaging. It also comes with grading, attendance tracking, and personalized news feed for parents. Bloomz is the best choice for managing student behavior using PBIS due to its easy-to-use interface and advanced features.
Overall, Bloomz is the best classroom management tool for effective PBIS management. Are you a school principal, staff, or district administrator who struggles with school communication? It’s time to unify all your communication tools in one single app! By submitting your information, we will promptly reach out to you and arrange a virtual meeting. During this meeting, we will personally guide you through the multitude of powerful features that Bloomz has to offer. Let us help you enhance and simplify your school communication experience.
1- Bradshaw C., Waasdrop, T. & Leaf, P. (2012). Effects of School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and 1 Supports on child behavior problems. Pediatrics, 130(5): 1136-1145. 4.)
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