2. PBIS Sustainability
Emily Robb
erobb@burnville.k12.mn.us
Adapted from John Beach
Kent McIntosh

3. Top 10 Reasons
PBIS Implementation gets Bogged Down Pam Hallvik
1. Lack of continuous administrative support & involvement.
2. Lack of awareness and understanding that staff set and change culture in
schools.
3. Lack of understanding commitment and “buy-in” from staff.
4. Lack of understanding that academic success is driven by school culture.
5. Not working through the PBIS processes on a consistent basis as a team.
6. Taking on too much too fast (generally with positive intentions).
7. Inconsistency of implementation by staff.
8. Looking for the negative vs. looking for positives in student behavior.
9. Focusing only on the high risk students.
10. Not tracking, reporting out, and responding to school behavior data.

4. Sustainability Survey 2010
 Most Important Factors Concerning
Sustainability:
 Staff and administrative buy-in
 Systematic collection and use of data
 Leadership
 Significant Barriers:
 Time (for team meetings, data review, training)
 Lack of staff buy-in
 Funding/resources

5. Most important features for sustainability
1. School administrators actively support PBIS.
2. School administrators describes PBIS as a top
priority for the school.
3. A school administrator regularly attends and
participates in PBIS team meetings.
4. The PBIS school team is well organized and
operates efficiently.
5. The school administrators ensure that the
PBIS team has regularly scheduled time to
meet.

6. More important to sustainability
than initial implementation
• Parents are actively involved in the PBIS effort
(e.g., as part of team or district committee).
• PBIS is viewed as a part of systems already in
use (as opposed to being an “add-on”
system).
• PBIS has been integrated into new school or
district initiatives.
• A vast majority of school personnel (80% or
more) support PBIS.

7. Four Principles for Enhancing
Sustainability of PBIS
 Promote priority
 Ensure effectiveness
 Increase efficiency
 Use data for continuous regeneration

8. Promoting priority
 Maximize visibility.
 Present data to people with resources.
 Describe effects of abandoning support for
the practice.
 Get into written policy.
 Braid project with other initiatives.
 Show how practice can lead to outcomes of
new initiatives.

9. Ensuring effectiveness
 Focus on fidelity of implementation.
 Implement in all settings.
 Implement all tiers of support.
 Consider family trainings.
 Share data showing how fidelity is related to
effects.

10. Increasing efficiency
 Get it down on paper
 Lesson plans
 Schedules
 Agendas
 Focus on efficient team meetings

11. Make SW-PBS Easier to do
 Handbook
 Description of SW-PBS core ideas
 School-wide Behavioral Expectations
 Teaching matrix
 Teaching plans and teaching schedule
 Reward system and strategies
 Major/minor definitions
 Policies
 Office referral form
 Data collection and system review

12. Make SW-PBS Easier to do
 Teaming System
 Regular meeting schedule and process
 Regular schedule for annual planning/training
 Annual Calendar of Activities
 Timeline
 On-going coaching support

13. Using data for continuous regeneration
 Adjust practices for a changing environment
while keeping critical features intact.

14. Cautions for continuous regeneration
 When you keep it fresh…
 Consider the critical features of what makes PBIS
effective
 Reward systems – recognition of success
 Not a scrap of paper without recognition
 Not insincere praise
 Not the same for everyone!

15. Create a plan to sustain

16. 1. Start with the end
• Let the desired outcomes drive the selection
of practices.
• Identify the valued outcomes for everyone.
• Remember that no one has ever been bullied
or nagged into long-term sustainability.
• Measure and use data in decision making.

17. 2. Positions not people
 If the fidelity drops, the effects stop.
 Plan for your champions to move on/up.
 Focus on POSITIONS, not PERSONS.
 Create positions tied to the practice:
 Titles
 Job Descriptions
 FTEs

18. 3. If you keep doing what you’re
doing, you may not keep getting what you’re getting
 Environments change.
 Adjust to those changes.
 New ideas, keep the practice novel.
 Spread the practice…
 To new settings
 To new systems