Johns Hopkins University



Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Maryland

PBIS is a framework for enhancing the adoption and implementation of a continuum of evidence-based interventions to achieve important academic and behavioral outcomes for all students. It is a three-tiered model which follows the public health approach to prevention by providing more intensive supports for students not responding adequately to a universal system of support. PBIS provides systems for schools to design, implement, and evaluate effective school-wide, classroom, non-classroom, and student-specific discipline plans. Implementation of school-wide, universal PBIS aims to reduce disruptive behavior problems, enhance school climate and create safer, more effective schools for ALL students by targeting staff behavior and teaching students agreed upon behavioral expectations while promoting a shift from reactive punitive practices to prevention and promotion of positive behavior. PBIS can be implemented in any school level, type, or setting and is flexible to fit the school context.

PBIS focuses on the following concepts:

o Data-driven decision-making

o Continuum of intensive individual interventions

o Administrative leadership – Team-based implementation (systems that support effective practices)

o Prevention

o Defining and teaching positive social expectations

o Acknowledging positive behavior

o Arranging consistent consequences for problem behavior

In Maryland, the PBIS Initiative is supported through a collaboration that includes the Maryland State Department of Education, Sheppard Pratt Health System, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Maryland has the fifth highest number of PBIS schools and is considered a national model for state-wide implementation. Eight hundred and twenty-one (821) Maryland schools have been trained since 1999 and more than 500 behavioral support coaches have been trained to assist in the implementation and maintenance of PBIS in Maryland schools.

Maryland’s success is built on a state and local school system infrastructure that has developed over time. It has been an expectation that the state provide training and the Local Systems build the capacity to support trained schools and coaches locally. These expectations are formalized in a Standards and Procedures document which defines the make-up of a trained PBIS team, lists the annual requirements for continuing as an active PBIS Maryland School, and describes the annual three-tiered PBIS Maryland Recognition process for schools and school systems. This formal structure supports the ongoing mission and principals of PBIS implementation in Maryland.

PBIS Maryland “Special Schools”

Many students with disabilities have intensive needs and are being educated and supported in non-public, alternative and residential school settings. PBIS Maryland identifies these facilities as “Special Schools.” These schools receive targeted training, outreach and support to foster positive academic, social, and behavioral development, to support at-risk students in reaching their potential.

PBIS Maryland “Special Schools” include Maryland Association for Non-Public Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) Schools, Orthodox Jewish Day Schools, and behavioral health facilities focused on treatment and recovery.

What makes these schools “special?”

PBIS Special Schools serve children and youth with specific disabilities that need the structure and support of a non-public educational setting. These schools have large numbers of special populations, including students with specific learning disabilities, Autism, and Emotional Disabilities. Each of these disabilities is characterized by significant academic, social, and behavioral challenges. Thus, PBIS Special Schools have a great need for targeted (Tier II) and intensive (Tier III) interventions to meet the unique needs of the students they serve.

What supports are offered to PBIS Special Schools?

There are 2 dedicated PBIS Special Schools Points of Contact (POCs). The primary functions of the PBIS Special Schools POCs are to promote coordination, progress monitoring, and training/technical assistance efforts for non-public and alternative settings in the adoption and implementation of PBIS. The PBIS Special Schools Points of Contact are focused on:

• providing PBIS coaching and support for special education facilities in all local school systems;

• improving communication with and amongst the Special Schools;

• recruiting new Special Schools (to ensure compliance with COMAR regulations which state that MANSEF schools must implement a positive behavioral support program); and

• providing enhanced training and technical assistance opportunities based on the intensive needs of the Special Schools.

Implications of PBIS for Maintaining Students with Disabilities in the General Education Setting

PBIS implementation is vital in addressing academic, behavioral, and social challenges and supporting youth with disabilities in the general education setting. Beyond universal (Tier I) interventions, Tier II and Tier III interventions offer targeted and intensive strategies for positive behavioral support that are instrumental in maintaining students with disabilities in their community schools, rather than more restrictive educational placements (i.e. “Special Schools”).

The educators, families, specialists and service providers that comprise Individualized Education Program (IEP) Teams which serve youth with disabilities in the general education setting often struggle with issues related to behavior management and modification of curriculum to accommodate students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. A goal of the PBIS Maryland Management Team is to provide targeted support and training (beyond universal interventions) to local school system personnel to ensure that all students, including those with disabilities, have equal access to the general educational curriculum and typically-developing peers, to enable the highest level of academic progress and achievement that is commensurate with each student’s cognitive ability. While each student’s unique needs and abilities must be taken into consideration by the IEP team when making decisions about educational placement, placement decisions are often made based on the limited capacity of the local education agency to provide the appropriate supplementary aids and services necessary to support students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Non-public special education facilities have the capacity to provide a continuum of behavioral support services with varying levels of intensity, which prompts many IEP teams to opt for non-public placement for the most challenging students with disabilities. The PBIS Maryland Management Team is expanding the availability of training and technical assistance opportunities for local school systems to adopt Tier II interventions to meet the needs of students who need more intensive behavioral support, thus enhancing the menu of behavior support options available to IEP teams to employ for youth with disabilities. These targeted and intensive supports may improve outcomes and result in the diversion of many students with disabilities from referral to more restrictive educational placements.

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