Purpose: Safe and orderly school environments are important for student achievement. Many students may be referred for special education services and exhibit behavioral problems in school because of a chaotic school environment or a classroom teacher who is not able to create a safe and orderly classroom environment. The school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program holds promise for enhancing the school climate and reducing student behavior problems. The purpose of this study is to determine whether implementation of PBIS Plus in elementary schools will result in improved outcomes for students beyond those achieved by the standard model.

Project Activities: PBIS Plus expands the standard program by training elementary functional behavioral assessment teams to create behavior support plans and implement the subsequent supports. The functional behavioral assessment teams are supported by state infrastructure and include members from state-level, school-level, and team-level groups. In PBIS Plus, there is also an increase in the number of functional behavior assessment team meetings and in input from the Statewide Positive School Climate Advisory Group. In addition, special education staff are expected to devote increased planning and coaching time for students who are not responding.

This research team is evaluating PBIS Plus in a group of elementary schools that have already achieved satisfactory implementation of the standard model, but continue to have a high rate of students not responding to the universal intervention. Schools will be randomly assigned to either continue with standard model or to implement PBIS Plus. The outcomes of interest include numbers of students requiring special education services, receiving office disciplinary referrals, receiving poor scores on standardized tests, and being identified by teachers as having behavioral problems or lacking in social emotional skills.

Products: The products of this study include reports of the impact of PBIS Plus relative to standard PBIS, publications, and presentations.

Structured Abstract

Setting: Elementary schools are located in Maryland.

Population: A total of 46 elementary schools will participate in the study. Schools must have successfully implemented the universal aspects of PBIS, but also continue to have a high rate of students not responding to the universal intervention. Schools will be randomly assigned into either the PBIS Plus condition or the standard model condition.

Intervention: PBIS Plus augments Maryland's standard model in three ways: training elementary school functional behavioral assessment teams to conduct functional behavioral assessments, create behavior support plans, and implement the subsequent interventions using a previously developed training model, Functional Behavior Assessment and Intervention CD-ROM: A Simplified Team Process (Scott, Liaupsin, & Nelson, 2005); building on existing Maryland support infrastructure by creating state functional behavioral assessment liaisons, school-based functional behavioral assessment teams, and school-based functional behavioral assessment team leaders; and expanding the monthly Maryland leadership team meetings and the Statewide Positive School Climate Advisory Group to include staff from special education in the local school systems and devote increased planning and coaching time to challenges presented by students not responding to the universal standard model.

Research Design and Methods: This project proposes to evaluate PBIS Plus through a stratified, group randomized trial including 46 Maryland elementary schools that have already achieved satisfactory implementation of the universal components of the standard model, but which continue to have a high rate of students not responding to the universal intervention. Schools will be randomized into treatment and control conditions. Fidelity of implementation will be monitored.

Control Condition: The control condition is standard PBIS implementation in the state of Maryland.

Key Measures: Six types of variables will be measured: fidelity of universal PBIS (PBIS staff survey and systems-wide evaluation tool); fidelity of PBIS Plus (PBIS Plus project monthly functional behavioral assessments data log, functional behavioral assessments protocol, PBIS Plus effective teaming checklist, and a panel of functional behavioral assessment expert assessors); demographic characteristics of students and schools (rate of special education service use, number of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), suspensions, attendance, and number of students eligible for free or reduced meals); student academic performance, attendance, and behavior (school-wide information system and teacher observation of classroom adaptation); students' use of and need for special education services (teacher report about the child's use of and need for special education services and mental health services); and students' social-emotional functioning (teacher observation of classroom adaptation subscale for social-emotional skills).

Data Analytic Strategy: Analysis will be based on the generalized linear mixed model. The analysis will be implemented in two stages using logistic regression in the first stage and analysis of covariance in the second stage. Analyses will include variables that might moderate or mediate the outcomes. In addition, subgroup analyses on students with higher levels of office discipline referrals, those referred to special education, and those receiving functional behavioral assessments to determine if PBIS Plus is associated with better outcomes in terms of receipt of special education services, disciplinary referrals, academic performance, classroom behaviors, and social emotional skills.

Products and Publications

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Bradshaw, C.P. (2013). Preventing Bullying Through Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS): A Multitiered Approach to Prevention and Integration. Theory Into Practice, 52(4): 288–295. doi:10.1080/00405841.2013.829732

Bradshaw, C.P., and Haynes, K.T. (2012). Building a Science of Partnership-Focused Research: Forging and Sustaining Partnerships to Support Child Mental Health Prevention and Services Research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 39(4): 221–224.

Bradshaw, C.P., and Pas, E.T. (2011). A Statewide Scale-Up of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Description of the Development of Systems of Support and Analysis of Adoption and Implementation. School Psychology Review, 40(4): 530–548.

Bradshaw, C.P., Pas, E., Bloom, J., Barrett, S., Hershfeldt, P., Alexander, A., McKenna, M., Chafin, A.E., and Leaf, P. (2012). A State-Wide Partnership to Promote Safe and Supportive Schools: The PBIS Maryland Initiative. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 39(4): 225–237. doi:10.1007/s10488–011–0384–6

Bradshaw, C.P., Pas, E.T., Goldweber, A., Rosenberg, M., and Leaf, P. (2012). Integrating School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports With Tier 2 Coaching to Student Support Teams: The PBISplus Model. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 5(3): 177–193. doi:10.1080/1754730X.2012.707429

Bradshaw, C.P., Waasdorp, T.E, and Leaf, P.J. (2012). Effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Child Behavior Problems. Pediatrics, 130(5): 1136–1145. doi:10.1542/peds.2012–0243

Bradshaw, C.P., Waasdorp, T.E. and Leaf, P.J. (2012). Effects of School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on child behavior problems. Pediatrics, 130(5): e1136–e1145. doi:10.1542/peds.2012–0243

Debnam, K., Pas, E.T., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2012). Secondary and Tertiary Support Systems in Schools Implementing School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Preliminary Descriptive Analysis. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 14(3): 142–152. doi:10.1177/1098300712436844

Debnam, K.J., Pas, E., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2013). Factors Influencing Staff Perceptions of Administrator Support for Tier 2 and 3 Interventions: A Multilevel Perspective. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 21(2): 116–126. doi:10.1177/1063426611410571

Domitrovich, C.E., Bradshaw, C.P., Greenberg, M.T., Embry, D., Poduska, J.M., and Ialongo, N.S. (2010). Integrated Models of School-Based Prevention: Logic and Theory. Psychology in the Schools, 47(1): 71–88. doi:10.1002/pits.20452

Domitrovich, C.E., Bradshaw, C.P., Poduska, J., Hoagwood, K., Buckley, J., Olin, S., Hunter, L., Leaf, P.J., Greenberg, M., and Ialongo, N.S. (2008). Maximizing the Implementation Quality of Evidence Based Preventive Interventions in Schools: A Conceptual Framework. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion: Training and Practice, Research and Policy, 1(3): 6–28. doi:10.1080/1754730X.2008.9715730

Hershfeldt, P., Rosenberg, M., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2011). Function-Based Thinking: A Systematic way of Thinking About Function and its Role in Changing Student Behavior Problems. Beyond Behavior, 19(3): 12–21.

Hershfeldt, P., Sechrest, R., Pell, K., Rosenberg, M., Bradshaw, C.P., and Leaf, P.J. (2009). Double-Check: A Process of Cultural Responsiveness Applied to Classroom Behavior. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 6(2): 2–18.

Hershfeldt, P.A., Pell, K. Sechrest, R., Pas, E.T., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2012). Lessons Learned Coaching Teachers in Behavior Management: The PBIS "Plus" Coaching Model. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 22(4): 280–299. doi:10.1080/10474412.2012.731293 Full text

Mitchell, M.M., Bradshaw, C.P., and Leaf, P.J. (2010). Student and Teacher Perceptions of School Climate: A Multilevel Exploration of Patterns of Discrepancy. Journal of School Health, 80(6): 271–279. doi:10.1111/j.1746–1561.2010.00501.x

Pas, E., Bradshaw, C.P. and Mitchell, M.M. (2011). Examining the Validity of Office Discipline Referrals as an Indicator of Student Behavior Problems. Psychology in the School, 48(6): 541–555. doi:10.1002/pits.20577

Pas, E.T., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2012). Examining the Association Between Implementation and Outcomes: State-Wide Scale-Up of School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 39(4): 417–433. doi:10.1007/s11414–012–9290–2

Pas, E.T., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2014). What Affects Teacher Ratings of Student Behaviors? The Potential Influence of Teachers' Perceptions of the School Environment and Experiences. Prevention Science, 15(6): 940–950. doi:10.1007/s11121–013–0432–4

Pas, E.T., Bradshaw, C.P., and Hershfeldt, P.A. (2012). Teacher- and School-Level Predictors of Teacher Efficacy and Burnout: Identifying Potential Areas for Support. Journal of School Psychology, 50(1): 129–145. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2011.07.003

Pas, E.T., Bradshaw, C.P., Hershfeldt, P.A., and Leaf, P.J. (2010). A Multilevel Exploration of the Influence of Teacher Efficacy and Burnout on Response to Student Problem Behavior and School-Based Service Use. School Psychology Quarterly, 25(1): 13–27. doi:10.1037/a0018576

Pas, E.T., Waasdorp, T.E., and Bradshaw, C.P. (2014). Examining Contextual Influences on Classroom-Based Implementation of Positive Behavior Support Strategies: Findings From a Randomized Controlled Effectiveness Trial. Prevention Science, 16(8): 1096–106. doi:10.1007/s11121–014–0492–0

Stuart, E., Cole, S., Bradshaw, C.P., and Leaf, P.J. (2011). The Use of Propensity Scores to Assess the Generalizability of Results From Randomized Trials. The Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 174(2): 369–386.

Waasdorp, T.E., Bradshaw, C.P., and Leaf, P.J. (2012). The Impact of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Bullying and Peer Rejection: A Randomized Controlled Effectiveness Trial. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 116(2): 149–156. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2011.755