Administrators’ Perception of Their Role in School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Implementation

Abstract

School administrators are called upon to enact and maintain school-wide systems and programs that promote student safety and success. The positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework is a popular school-wide approach for teaching, maintaining, and addressing student behavior through a three-tiered framework with the aim of reducing challenging behavior and enhancing opportunities for learning by all students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to learn more about how elementary school administrators set the stage for, and participate in, school-wide PBIS implementation. Ten elementary school administrators who were successfully implementing the PBIS framework were interviewed. Analysis of the interviews revealed that administrators indicated that their primary responsibilities in the PBIS implementation process included maintaining the fidelity of systems, rationalizing system for staff, moving the school-wide implementation forward, and building capacity within and across teams and that, central to the success, was continued communication with stakeholders, including teachers.