George Sugai
OSEP Center on PBIS
Center for Behavioral Education & Research
University of Connecticut
June 27 2011 George.sugai@uconn.edu
www.pbis.org
www.scalingup.org
www.cber.org

“We give schools strategies & systems for improving practice & outcomes, but implementation is not accurate, consistent, or durable , & desired outcomes aren’t realized. School personnel & teams need more than exposure, practice,
& enthusiasm .
”

Assessments indicate that
Reiko performs in average to above average range in most academic areas. However, in last 4 weeks her teacher has noticed Reiko’s frequent talking
& asking & answering questions without raising her hand has become an annoying problem to other students & to teacher.

Kiyoshi is a highly competent student, but has long history of antisocial behavior. He is quick to anger, & minor events quickly escalate to major confrontations.
He has few friends, & most of his conflicts occur with peers in hallways & cafeteria & on bus. In last 2 months, he has been given 8 days of in school detention & 6 days of out of school suspension. In a recent event, he broke glasses of another student.

Mitch displays a number of stereotypic (e.g., light filtering with his fingers, head rolling) & self-injurious behaviors (e.g., face slapping, arm biting), & his communications are limited to a verbal vocabulary of about 25 words. When his usual routines are changed or items are not in their usual places, his rates of stereotypic & self-injurious behavior increase quickly.

Rachel dresses in black every day, rarely interacts with teachers or other students,
& writes & distributes poems & stories about witchcraft, alien nations, gundams,
& other science fiction topics. When approached or confronted by teachers, she pulls hood of her black sweatshirt or coat over her head & walks away.
Mystified by Rachel’s behavior, teachers usually shake their heads & let her walk away. Recently, Rachel carefully wrapped a dead squirrel in black cloth & placed it on her desk. Other students became frightened when she began talking to it.

ASSESS these situations
Develop behavior intervention PLANS based on our assessment
MONITOR student progress & make enhancements
All in ways that can be culturally & contextually
APPROPRIATE
Crone & Horner, 2003; Horner, Sugai, & Anderson, 2007

Intermediate/senior high school with 880 students reported over
5,100 office discipline referrals in one academic year. Nearly 2/3 of students have received at least one office discipline referral.

5,100 referrals =
76,500 min @15 min =
1,275 hrs =
159 days @ 8 hrs

During 4 th period, in-school detention room has so many students that the overflow is sent to the counselor’s office. Most students have been assigned for being in the hallways after the late bell.

During Advisory Class, the
“ sportsters ” sit in the back of the room, & “ goths ” sit at the front. Most class activities result in out of seat, yelling arguments between the two groups.

Nonconstructive
Emphasis on punishment
Poor implementation fidelity
Reactive
1980s
SW
Discipline
Problem
Limited effects

“Big Ideas” from Early Years
Teach & recognize behavior directly, school-wide
• Colvin & Sugai ( 1992 )
Focus adult behavior in team-based SW action planning
• Colvin, Kame’enui, & Sugai ( 1993 )
Consider ALL as foundation for some by establishing local behavioral expertise
• Sugai & Horner ( 1994 )
Integrate evidence-based practices in 3-tiered prevention logic
• Walker, Horner, Sugai, Bullis, Sprague, Bricker, & Kaufman (
1996 )

“Early
Triangle”
(p. 201)
Walker, Knitzer,
Reid, et al., CDC

CONTINUUM OF
SCHOOL-WIDE
INSTRUCTIONAL &
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
SUPPORT
Primary Prevention:
School-/Classroom-
Wide Systems for
All Students,
Staff, & Settings
FEW
~5%
~15%
SOME
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized
Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized Group
Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior
ALL
~80% of Students

Biglan, 1995; Mayer, 1995; Walker et al., 1996
Decrease development of new problem behaviors
Prevent worsening & reduce intensity of existing problem behaviors
Eliminate triggers & maintainers of problem behaviors
Teach , monitor, & acknowledge prosocial behavior
Redesign of teaching environments…not students

(aka PBIS/RtI)
Framework for enhancing adoption & implementation of
Continuum of evidencebased interventions to achieve
Academically & behaviorally important outcomes for
All students

Changing Adult Behavior
1.
“Change is slow, difficult, gradual process for teachers
2.
“Teachers need to receive regular feedback on student learning outcomes”
3.
“Continued support & follow-up are necessary after initial training”
Guskey, 1986, p. 59

Supporting Social Competence &
Academic Achievement
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Staff Behavior
Supporting
Decision
Making
PRACTICES
Supporting
Student Behavior

Intensive
Targeted
Few
Some
Continuum of
Support for
ALL
Universal All
Dec 7, 2007

Math
Intensive
Science
Targeted
Continuum of
Support for ALL
“
Theora
”
Spanish
Reading
Universal Soc skills
Soc Studies
Basketball

Anger man.
Intensive
Prob Sol.
Targeted
Continuum of
Support for
ALL:
“Molcom”
Universal
Adult rel.
Self-assess
Ind. play
Attend.
Coop play
Peer interac

Comprehensive screening
Implementation
Fidelity
Support for nonresponders Early & timely decision making
Databased decision making
Need for better
Instructional accountability
& justification
Assessment
-instruction alignment
Resource
& time use

IMPLEMENTATION
W/ FIDELITY
CONTINUUM OF
CONTINUOUS
EVIDENCE-BASED
PROGRESS
INTERVENTIONS
MONITORING
RtI
UNIVERSAL
SCREENING
CONTENT
EXPERTISE &
FLUENCY
DATA-BASED
DECISION MAKING
& PROBLEM
SOLVING
TEAM-BASED
IMPLEMENTATION

Precision
Teaching
CBM
Early
Screening &
Intervention
Applied
Behavior
Analysis
Prereferral
Interventions
Behavioral &
Instructional
Consultation
Diagnostic
Prescriptive
Teaching
Teacher
Assistance
Teaming

40
30
20
10
0
90
80
70
60
50
44
36 сен.06
2006-2008 K-1 (same):
Phonemic Segmentation Fluency
90
19
57
30
13
65
26 фев.07
Month сен.07
9 9 фев.08
1
LR
SR
AR

Responsiveness to
Intervention
Etc.
Social
Sciences
Specials
Literacy &
Writing
SWPBS
Numeracy
&
Sciences

RCT & Group Design PBIS Studies
Bradshaw, C.P., Koth, C.W., Thornton, L.A., & Leaf, P.J. (2009). Altering school climate through school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Findings from a group-randomized effectiveness trial.
Prevention Science, 10 (2), 100-115
Bradshaw , C.P., Koth, C.W., Bevans, K.B., Ialongo, N., & Leaf, P.J. (2008). The impact of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) on the organizational health of elementary schools.
School Psychology Quarterly, 23 (4), 462-
473.
Bradshaw, C. P., Mitchell, M. M., & Leaf, P. J. (2010). Examining the effects of School-Wide
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on student outcomes: Results from a randomized controlled effectiveness trial in elementary schools.
Journal of Positive
Behavior Interventions, 12, 133-148.
Bradshaw, C.P., Reinke, W. M., Brown, L. D., Bevans, K.B., & Leaf, P.J. (2008).
Implementation of school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in elementary schools: Observations from a randomized trial.
Education & Treatment of
Children, 31, 1-26.
Horner, R., Sugai, G., Smolkowski, K., Eber, L., Nakasato, J., Todd, A., & Esperanza, J.,
(2009). A randomized, wait-list controlled effectiveness trial assessing school-wide positive behavior support in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior
Interventions, 11, 133-145.
Horner, R. H., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C. M. (2010). Examining the evidence base for school-wide positive behavior support. Focus on Exceptionality, 42 (8), 1-14.

“Making a turn”
Effective
IMPLEMENTATION
Effective Not Effective
Maximum
Student
Benefits
Not
Effective
Fixsen & Blase, 2009

Start w/
What
Works
Focus on
Fidelity
Detrich, Keyworth, & States (2007). J. Evid.-based Prac. in Sch .

Funding Visibility
Political
Support
SWPBS
Implementation
Blueprint
LEADERSHIP TEAM
(Coordination) www.pbis.org
Training Coaching Evaluation
Policy
Behavioral
Expertise
Local School/District Implementation
Demonstrations

Supporting Social Competence &
Academic Achievement
OUTCOMES
Supporting
Staff Behavior
Supporting
Decision
Making
PRACTICES
Supporting
Student Behavior

SWPBS
Practices
Classroom
Non-classroom
Family
• Smallest #
• Evidence-based
• Biggest, durable effect
Student

SCHOOL-WIDE
1.1. Leadership team
2.Behavior purpose statement
3.Set of positive expectations & behaviors
4.Procedures for teaching SW & classroom-wide expected behavior
5.Continuum of procedures for encouraging expected behavior
6.Continuum of procedures for discouraging rule violations
7.Procedures for on-going data-based monitoring & evaluation
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT
1.Behavioral competence at school & district levels
2.Function-based behavior support planning
3.Team- & data-based decision making
4.Comprehensive person-centered planning & wraparound processes
5.Targeted social skills & self-management instruction
6. Individualized instructional & curricular accommodations
CLASSROOM
EVIDENCE-
BASED
INTERVENTION
PRACTICES
1.All school-wide
2.Maximum structure & predictability in routines & environment
3.Positively stated expectations posted, taught, reviewed, prompted, & supervised.
4.Maximum engagement through high rates of opportunities to respond, delivery of evidencebased instructional curriculum & practices
5.Continuum of strategies to acknowledge displays of appropriate behavior.
6.Continuum of strategies for responding to inappropriate behavior.
NONCLASSROOM
FAMILY ENGAGEMENT
1.Positive expectations & routines taught & encouraged
1.Continuum of positive behavior support for all families
2.Active supervision by all staff (Scan, move, interact)
3.Precorrections & reminders
2.Frequent, regular positive contacts, communications, & acknowledgements
3.Formal & active participation & involvement as equal partner
4.Positive reinforcement 4.Access to system of integrated school & community resources

Responsiveness to Intervention
Academic Systems
Intensive, Individual Interventions
•Individual Students
•Assessment-based
•High Intensity
Targeted Group Interventions
•Some students (at-risk)
•High efficiency
•Rapid response
5-10%
1-5% 1-5%
Behavioral Systems
5-10%
Intensive, Individual Interventions
•Individual Students
•Assessment-based
•Intense, durable procedures
Targeted Group Interventions
•Some students (at-risk)
•High efficiency
•Rapid response
Universal Interventions
•All students
•Preventive, proactive
80-90%
80-90%
Universal Interventions
•All settings, all students
•Preventive, proactive
Circa 1996

ESTABLISHING CONTINUUM of SWPBS
~5%
~15%
•
• •
•
•
•
• •
• Function-based support
Wraparound
• Person-centered planning
•
• •
• Check in/out
Targeted social skills instruction
• Peer-based supports
•
• •
•
• Social skills club
~80% of Students
•
• •
•
• •
• Teach SW expectations
Proactive SW discipline
• Positive reinforcement •
• • Effective instruction
• Parent engagement