In the same way PBIS operates school-wide as a multi-tiered framework, school personnel implement a full continuum of classroom PBIS practices to meet students’ needs. Beyond that, school and district leadership teams offer a tiered approach to training, coaching, and feedback to educators to support their classroom PBIS implementation. By differentiating support levels for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.
Classroom PBIS is critical to students and school personnel success. When PBIS is implemented in the classroom, individual student outcomes improve.[1] At the school-wide level, schools experience overall improved outcomes and are more likely to sustain their PBIS implementation.[2]
There are three foundational elements to classroom PBIS:
Classroom PBIS practices are preventative and responsive. They are strategies you can implement with all students needing support at any tier. When implemented with fidelity, classroom PBIS practices lead to fewer disruptions, improved student behavioral and academic outcomes, and more time spent teaching,
Positive classroom practices include:
For more information and ideas for PBIS practices in classroom settings, check out the Supporting and Responding to Behavior Guide.
For classroom PBIS to work effectively, school personnel need school and district leadership to put systems in place to support their effort. Specifically, leadership teams select and implement systems based on documented needs within their district and schools.
Systems supporting classroom PBIS include:
More information about implementing PBIS systems in classroom settings can be found in the PBIS Technical Brief on Systems to Support Teacher's Implementation of Positive Classroom Behavior Support.
Classroom PBIS requires on-going attention to improve upon the systems and practices you have in place. Data are an active, dynamic part of informing these decisions. Data are objective, observable, and measurable pieces of information about students, school personnel, and schools. All data should be valid, accurate, reliable, and efficient.
Data guide instruction and classroom PBIS implementation by:
For more information about which data best support classroom practices and systems, download a copy of the PBIS Technical Guide on Classroom Data.
Just as with school-wide PBIS, school personnel implement a multi-tiered system of PBIS practices in their classrooms. In addition, school and district leadership teams implement a full continuum of training, coaching, and professional feedback systems to support school personnel in their classroom efforts. By differentiating supports for all, some, and a few students and educators, leadership teams can effectively support all students and staff.
Tier 1 elements of classroom PBIS apply to every student in the room, regardless of the additional supports they receive. At this tier, school personnel should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) of their students.
These proactive, preventative, positive elements include:
Similarly, at Tier 1 there are systems to support school personnel. At this tier, school and district leadership teams should expect to meet the needs of most (>80%) school personnel. Systems at this tier include, resources, effective professional development, coaching, and feedback.
The goal at Tier 2 is to align a school’s Tier 2 supports with existing classroom practices. For example, school personnel may teach all students a social skill (Tier 1) that individual students learned during a social skills group (Tier 2). During that instruction, school personnel highlight how that skill fits with their classroom expectations. Following instruction, school personnel may increase prompts and specific feedback for that social skill.
Leadership teams may find some educators require more targeted professional support to successfully implement classroom PBIS practices. For example, while all teachers may have a professional development plan, administrators may require mentoring for newly hired teachers as a Tier 2 strategy.
At Tier 3, school personnel support individual students who require intensive, individualized, support. Student-specific teams design behavior support plans (BSP) which include goals for school personnel to implement these strategies..
At this tier, leadership teams and administrators also support school personnel who require intensive, individualized professional development to be successful (e.g., 1:1 consultation). School personnel needing this type of support consult with a behavior coach, mentor, or administrator to develop his/her own individualized professional development plan. The school leadership team’s goal is to ensure that individualized supports are coordinated within the broader continuum of professional development supports.
Whether you are brand new to implementing classroom PBIS practices at your school, or you want to improve your existing framework, there are a few concepts to work around first.
Classroom PBIS works best when it is implemented within a school-wide PBIS framework. Expectations in the classroom should mirror the expectations at the building level. Aligning classroom expectations with school-wide expectations ensures students not only understand how the classroom works, but also gain a better understanding of what they need to do school-wide.
It can be more efficient and effective for school personnel to incorporate both academics and the core features of classroom. They are likely to use similar components of delivering quality instruction when they implement positive classroom systems and practices. Why not find ways to do both at the same time?
To use data to drive decisions, it’s important to have a process. We recommend asking the following set of questions in the decision-making cycle (consider questions related to equity along the way):
There are three resources best suited to guide your classroom PBIS implementation: one for practices, one for systems, and one for data.
This is the document to read about classroom PBIS practices. It includes an interactive map of classroom PBIS strategies, a self-assessment, examples of critical practices in elementary and secondary settings and so much more.
This is a short guide to support school and district leadership teams as they work to implement classroom PBIS systems school-wide.
This document describes the critical features of assessing fidelity, assessing outcomes, ensuring equity, and creating action plans. It walks through the types of data included in a comprehensive decision-making process, how to use data to support classroom PBIS implementation, and recommended tools.
Resources in this section include assessments, blueprints, examples, and materials to aid in implementing PBIS.
Publications listed below include every eBook, monograph, brief, and guide written by the PBIS Technical Assistance Center.
Presentations about their experiences, published research, and best practices from recent sessions, webinars, and trainings
Recordings here include keynotes and presentations about PBIS concepts as well tips for implementation.
