About the Center

Center on PBIS Core Values and Actions

The Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) was initially funded in 1998. In October of 2023 a new five-year funding cycle was launched. By securing this round of funding, the Center builds on the momentum of the last five years to support more than 25,000 schools across all 50 states to continue to sustain and scale up their PBIS implementation efforts. To do that, partners will promote real-world examples of PBIS implementation, host its annual forum, and continue to release free resources for educators to co-create affirming, culturally-supportive, and productive learning environments. If you are new to PBIS, find out how to get started.

Over the past 26 years, the Center has established itself as a leader in the field of education, working together with state and local agencies to improve social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes for all students. Its work is rooted in prevention, centered in equity, based on human-centered science, and only implemented through collaborative partnerships with students, families, educators, and their extended communities.

Values

‍The Center on PBIS is grounded in the values of comprehensive prevention, based on human-centered science, and implemented through collaborative partnerships, centered in equity, to improve social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes.

• Prevention includes holistic approaches, organized within a tiered prevention framework (PBIS), to proactively support each and every student, family, and educator through safe, positive, and inclusive instruction and support.‍
• Science includes empirical research, informed and supported by local data and practice, that honors identities, improves outcomes, and enhances experiences of students, families, and educators,* who also inform and improve science.‍
• Partnerships describes active collaborations with national, state, and local (students, families, and educators) stakeholders to co-create affirming, culturally sustaining, and productive learning environments.‍
• Equity refers to actions that elevate historically marginalized voices; honor individual, family, and community identities; and reflect equitable learning opportunities through meaningful participation of each student, family, and educator in the systems we promote. ‍
• Improved outcomes—experienced by students, families, and educators—are the ultimate reason for and test of PBIS implementation.

Actions

‍The Center on PBIS achieves its aims through:

• Delivering a continuum of technical assistance (TA) to SEAs and LEAs, including federal grantees, to build local capacity to implement, sustain, and scale PBIS.
• Engaging multiple and diverse perspectives and lived experiences in TA, implementation, and evaluation.
• Creating freely available resources (assessments, briefs, guides, and tools) to assist educators in implementing and sustaining PBIS across an extended array of contexts.
• Providing model demonstrations of implementation of tiered PBIS framework and improved outcomes (e.g., social, emotional, behavioral, and academic growth).
• Extending the lessons learned from PBIS implementation to the broader agenda of educational improvement and improved quality of life for students, families, andeducators.
  

*Educator is a broad term that includes all individuals within a school setting who support students (e.g., teachers, educational aides, administrators, counselors, school psychologists, administrative assistants, community mental health providers).