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 2018 a new five-year funding cycle was launched. The purpose of the new Center is to improve the capacity of state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools to establish, scale-up, and sustain the PBIS framework to (a) scale up tier 2 and 3 systems to improve outcomes for students with or at-risk for disabilities, (b) enhance school climate and school safety, and (c) improve conditions for learning to promote the well-being of all students. (If you are new to PBIS, find out how to get started)

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).