Positive Behavior Support in the
Classroom
Tim Lewis, Ph.D.
University of Missouri
OSEP Center on Positive Behavioral
Interventions and Supports
pbis.org
Basic Steps
1. Focus on what you want students to do
“instead” (replacement behaviors)
2. Look for patterns of behavior that suggest
“functional relationships”
3. Teach replacement behavior and provide
multiple opportunities to practice
4. Deliver high rates of positive feedback/same
similar outcome as problem behavior when
students display replacement behavior
A Classroom Example…
Stichter, J. P., Lewis, T. J., Johnson, N., & Trussell, R.
(2004). Toward a structural assessment: Analyzing
the merits of an assessment tool for a student with
E/BD. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 30, 2540.
Study Basics
• Subject:
– Seven years old
– Identified with EBD and ADHD
• Setting
– General education 2nd grade classroom with 19 other
students
– One licensed teacher and one student teacher
• Concern
– Student exhibits high rates of off-task
– Student shouts out answers and questions and comments
at high rates and often inappropriate
“Function of Behavior”
• Descriptive (interviews and teacher
reported ABC/ Scatterplot data)
– Function identified as Attention
– Significant antecedents: multiple step
direction and group settings
– Very High rates of both problem behaviors
reported/ inconsistency in accuracy of data
collection
“Environment Assessment”
Significant variables:
• clarity of expectations & directions
• consistency of expectations
• accessibility of class schedules
• lack of enforced procedures (especially
regarding to hand raising and verbalizations or
entire class)
55
Baseline
Level 1
Level 1, 2, & 3
Level 1 & 2
Follow-up
55
50
50
45
45
40
40
35
35
30
30
25
25
20
20
Off-Task
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Sessions
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Frequency of Verbalizations
Percent of Intervals Off-Task
Verbalizations
PBIS TECHNICAL BRIEF ON CLASSROOM
PBIS STRATEGIES
Simonsen, Freeman, Goodman, Mitchell, Swain-Bradway,
Flannery, Sugai, George, & Putnam (2015)
Classroom Foundations
• Effectively Design The Environment
– Physical set up
– Climate
• Develop & Teach Classroom Routines
• Define, Teach & Post 3-5 Expectations
Setting up the Environment
Establishing expectations (Kameenui & Simmons, 1990):
–
–
–
–
What do I want my classroom to look like?
How do I want children to treat me as a person?
How do I want children to treat one another?
What kind of information or values do I want to communicate to
students about being an adult, an educator, a woman or a man in
today's society?
– How do I want children to remember me when the last day of school
ends and I am no longer part of their daily lives?
 How can I change my instruction to help pupils develop the skills I am
trying to teach?
Bottom line = ask yourself if students have pre-requisite and
requisite skills to succeed based on each of your answers –
if not, teach and practice
Use Proactive and Positive CWPBIS
Practices Consistently
• Opportunities to Respond
• Prompts & Active Supervision
• Acknowledge behavior mastery with specific
positive feedback
OTR Whole Group Verbal Response
• Choral responding
• Strategy for reviewing or memorizing
information
• Students repeat information in unison when
teacher prompts
OTR Whole Group Written
Response
• Written responses should be short (not more
than one item)
• A verbal signal to indicate completion should
be given (e.g. put your pencils down and look up when you
are finished)
• Materials to use could include: Paper,
whiteboards, iPads
OTR Small Groups / Partners
• Used to give everyone a chance to:
– Express thoughts.
– Answer a question.
– Verbally participate when there could be a variety
of answers.
• Answers can be shared with other groups or
whole group.
• Answers can be written on smartboard by the
teacher and presented to group.
Addressing Minor Problem
Behavior
• Use brief, contingent, specific error correction
– An informative statement, typically provided by the
teacher, that is given when an undesired behavior
occurs, states the observed behavior, and tells the
student exactly what they should do in the future
• Delivered in a brief, concise, calm, and respectful manner,
typically in private.
• Pair with specific contingent praise after the student
engages in appropriate behavior
• Disengage at end of error correction and redirection—avoid
“power struggles”
“Learning Errors”
How are you going to prevent it
from happening again?
1. Minors addressed quickly and quietly/privately
2. School wide procedures for majors are followed
3. Upon “return,” debrief and plan to prevent
1. What does student need?
2. What can we do to help?
Learning Errors
Simple Error Correction (skill in repertoire?)
a) Signal an error has occurred (refer to rules,
"We respect others in this room and that
means not using put downs")
b) Ask for an alternative appropriate response
("How can you show respect and still get your
point across?")
c) Provide an opportunity to practice the skill
and provide verbal feedback ("That's much
better, thank you for showing respect towards
others")
“Appropriate” Responses to
Learning Errors
• If student removed from learning
environment, create opportunities to
teach/practice replacement behaviors
• Natural consequences (is it “punishment”
from the student’s perspective)
• Changes within and across environments to
promote appropriate behavior
Problem Behaviors Becoming Chronic
• Function-Based Strategies
• Classroom Problem Solving Process
Classroom Problem Solving
• Process leader
– Classroom teachers, Specialist teachers
• Tier II/III Team partner
– School Psychologist, Counselor, Administrator
• Process
– Data-based decision making
• Guiding questions
– Function-based intervention
• Teach replacement
• Environmental alterations / supports
– Monitor progress
Classroom Problem
Solving Process
• Develop intervention based on function of
behavior
• Environment changes
– Student skills to teach/practice/reinforce
• Monitor progress
– Same data that brought them to your attention
– Problem and Appropriate behavior
– Teacher observations
Effective Classroom Practices:
Mini Modules
MO SW-PBS
pbismissouri.org
Center for PBS
College of Education
University of
Missouri
Essential
1. Classroom expectations & rules defined and taught (all use
school-wide, create classroom examples)
2. Procedures & routines defined and taught
3. Continuum of strategies to acknowledge appropriate
behavior in place and used with high frequency (4:1)
4. Continuum of strategies to respond to inappropriate behavior
in place and used per established school-wide procedure
5. Students are actively supervised (pre-corrects and positive
feedback)
6. Students are given multiple opportunities to respond (OTR)
to promote high rates of academic engagement
7. Activity sequence promotes optimal instruction time and
student engaged time
8. Instruction is differentiated based on student need
Typical School Day
17%
33%
20%
30%
Direct Instruction
Seatwork
Transitions
Discipline & Other
Non-Instructional
Activities
Cotton, 1995; Walberg, 1988
MO SW-PBS
324
Discussion: Importance of
expectations & behaviors?
• Pair Up
• 2-Minute Frenzy – Discuss:
– How has clarifying schoolwide/non-classroom
setting behaviors/rules impacted student
behavior in our school?
– Why do you think it is important to clarify
classroom behaviors/rules?
Guidelines for Writing Classroom
Behaviors or Rules
Consistent with school-wide expectations
O = Observable; behaviors that we can see.
M = Measureable–we could actually count the
occurrence of the behavior.
P = Positively stated–things to do to be
successful.
U = Understandable–student-friendly language.
A = Always applicable.
MO SW-PBS
93
Activity: Classroom Rule Writing Activity
Option 1
• List problem behaviors in your classroom
• List replacement behavior (what we want kids
to do instead)
• List schoolwide expectations
• Categorize rules within schoolwide
expectations
Accommodations
ies-cars.org
Need for Appropriate Accommodations
• Approximately 85% of secondary students
with EBD have at least one class in the general
education setting.
• Help students:
– access grade level materials
– access instruction
– improve classroom performance.
• Prevent students from falling farther behind
academically and potentially dropping out.
Academic Services, Supports, and
Modifications for Students with EBD
(Wagner et al., 2006)
Supports
Percentage of Students
Elementary
Middle
High
More time to take tests
72.8
72.6
75.6
Tests read to students
45.6
40.0
26.5
Modified tests
43.7
46.3
24.2
More time to complete assignments
66.5
67.3
54.2
Modified assignments
47.9
41.4
20.8
Modified grading standards
37.3
27.3
14.5
Slower-paced instruction
51.0
46.5
19.0
Peer tutoring
17.0
10.5
8.2
Adult tutoring
15.3
8.4
7.6
Learning strategies/study skills
33.0
36.5
27.5
Accommodations vs. Modifications
• Changes to how academic content is presented or
assessed
– Accommodations do not change what the student is
expected to master
– Modifications change what the student is expected to
master
Purpose of Guide
• Facilitate selection of one or more
accommodations that are matched to the
student’s specific academic or behavioral
needs
– Increase the match between a particular student’s
difficulty and an appropriate accommodation.
– Match testing accommodations to instructional
accommodations
Accommodations Guide Model
CASE STUDY
Participant Description
• Externalizing behaviors
• Low academic abilities
– 3rd Grade academic functioning
• General education co-taught History class
• Teacher selected interventions (based on feasibility)
– Accommodations
– Positive Teacher/Student Interactions
Model Implementation
Step #1:
• Collect three samples of student work
demonstrating frequent errors or low grades.
• Identify accommodations provided in IEP
•
•
Student IEP Accommodations
• Testing:
– Alternative setting
– Extended time for completion
– Read test to student (if requested)
• Assignments and Instruction:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Lower difficulty level-shorten assignments
Provided structured time to organize materials
Frequent reminders of rules
Check often for understanding/review
Extended time for oral responses
Extended time for written responses
Maintain assignment notebook
Bathroom break first 5 mins. of class, unless emergency
Use lined paper for written assignments
Assist or provide notes and study guides
Extended to create assignments (1 ½ weeks or as agreed upon w/ teacher)
Step #2:
• Identify general indicators of concern
– Writing, specifically difficulty organizing writing
• “Couldn’t complete short answer”
– Attention to detail
• “Chose wrong answers on multiple choice and selected
obviously wrong answers”
– Planning and time management
• “Ran out of time to complete the test even when given
multiple class periods”
Step # 3
• Identify accommodations matched to
student’s needs
– Writing: Difficulty Organizing Writing
• Graphic Organizers
– Attention to Detail
• Assign a Peer Partner
• Use Graphic Organizers
• Chunk Large Assignments into Smaller Tasks
– Planning and Time Management
• Chunk Large Assignments into Smaller Tasks
• Graphic Organizers
Step # 4: Coordinate accommodations
Model Accommodations
IEP Accommodations
• Testing– Alternative Setting
– Extended time for completion
– Read test to student (if requested)
Writing: Difficulty Organizing Writing
– Graphic Organizers
Attention to Detail
– Assign a Peer Partner
– Use Graphic Organizers
– Chunk Large Assignments into Smaller
Tasks
Planning and Time Management
– Chunk Large Assignments into Smaller
Tasks
– Graphic Organizers
•
Assignments and Instruction– Lower Difficulty Level-Shorten Assignments
– Provided Structured Time to Organize
Materials
– Frequent Reminders of Rules
– Check often for understanding/review
– Extended time for Oral Responses
– Extended time for Written Responses
– Maintain Assignment Notebook
– Bathroom Break first 5 mins. Of class, unless
emergency
– Use lined paper for written assignments
– Assist or Provide Notes and Study Guides
– Extended to create assignments (1 ½ weeks or
as agreed upon w/ Teacher)
Step #5:
• Meet with the student for input and preferences
– Student agreed with teachers concerns.
– Student agreed to all suggested accommodations.
– Student requested:
• A different seat with less distractions during independent
work.
• Materials if he forgot to bring them.
Step #6:
• List accommodations to be implemented and
evaluated.
• Prioritize
• Determine instruction or testing
• Define and describe conditions:
1) Use graphic organizers (I/T) All in class work, Teacher-created or pre-made organizers.
1) Change seat to reduce distractions (I/T) Student and teacher will meet to
discuss alternative seat, can be changed if student does demonstrate classroom expectations.
1) Materials be given to student if forgotten (e.g. pencil) (I/T)
Student must request material at the start of the class and give teacher collateral for the return of material at the end
of the class period.
2) Assign a peer partner (I) All in-class work with a teacher chosen partner.
3) Chunk large assignments into smaller tasks (I) All in class assignments
spanning multiple class periods with a teacher-created checklist of completed tasks.
Step #7:
• Teach the accommodations
– Assign a peer partner
• What are the appropriate behaviors of working with a peer?
• What noise level can you work with a peer?
• What does helping vs. doing look like?
– Use graphic organizers
• How do I use graphic organizers (5 paragraph outline, flow chart, venn
diagram, checklist, etc.)?
– Chunk large assignments into smaller tasks
• How do I use a checklist?
• How do I manage my time?
– Change seat to reduce distractions
• How do I transition?
• When is it appropriate to move?
– Materials given to student if forgotten (e.g. pencil)
• How do I know what materials I need?
• What is appropriate collateral?
Step #8:
• Examine at least three samples of student
work/tests to determine if there is a change in
the performance trend
– Class Grade Increased from a 24% to a 77%
– Highest class grade he had received since
beginning high school!
Active Engagement
100
Baseline
Graphic Organizers
Change Seat
Materials Given
Peer Partner
Chunking Assignments
90
Reversal
Graphic Organizers
Change Seat outside classroom
Materials Given
Peer Partner
Chunking Assignments
Percentage of Time
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Data Observation Periods
7
8
9
10
11