Evaluation Briefs

In this evaluation brief, we examined whether and how state recognition systems may contribute to the scale up of schools implementing PBIS with fidelity at Tiers 1, 2, and 3. The sample included five U.S. states with schools implementing PBIS from the 2017-18 to 2023-24 school year. Three states created school recognition systems, one had a district recognition system, and one did not have any recognition systems. The states with recognition systems were more successful in scaling up PBIS across the tiers over time, and dropping the requirement to reach a fidelity criterion was associated with more—not fewer—schools implementing with fidelity.