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Positive Behavior Support

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) refers to a broad approach for resolving problem behaviors that is based on person-centered values and empirically valid interventions (Carr et al., 2002). PBS is described as an evolving applied science that “uses educational methods to expand an individual’s behavior repertoire and systems change methods to redesign an individual’s quality of life and, second, to minimize his or her behavior” (Carr et al., 2002, p. 4).

The Florida Center for Inclusive Communities is providing leadership in a variety of local and national research, training, and program development efforts. The following faculty leaders provide contributions to the field of education and positive behavior support: Don Kincaid, Heather George, Karen Childs, Rose Iovannone, and Carie English.

FCIC offers a large array of resources to inform education and positive behavior support in the adoption of evidence-based practices. These resources include:

Florida’s Positive Behavior Support Project provides training and technical assistance to increase the capacity of Florida school districts to implement evidence-based practices for supporting students with and without disabilities who are exhibiting problem behaviors. The FLPBS Project provides training to district and school personnel in school-wide, targeted group, classroom, and individual levels of PBS. Technical assistance activities include the dissemination of data, newsletters, effective practices and web-based resources.

The Technical Assistance Center for Positive Behavior Interventions and Support is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs. The overall goals of the TA Center on PBIS are to:

• Identify and enhance knowledge about, and practical demonstration of, school-wide PBS practices, systems and outcomes along the three-tiered continuum (primary, secondary, tertiary); and
• Develop, conduct, and evaluate technical assistance and dissemination efforts that allow evidence-based practices to be implemented on a large-scale with high durability and effectiveness.

The PBIS Center activities include:

• Expanding school-wide PBS technical assistance to allow large-scale implementation;
• Emphasizing effective education and support for students with more intense and individualized support needs;
• Expanding school-wide PBS to urban schools and high schools;
• Increasing accessibility to the concepts, outcomes, and research associated with school-wide PBS;
• Establishing a network of resource agents to build local capacity; and
• Utilizing state-to-state communities of practice to facilitate PBS implementation.

To accomplish these goals, the Center operates as a consortium of researchers, advocates, family members, teacher educators, professional association leaders, and model developers, and receives guidance from an external evaluation team. A network of researchers has been established to provide feedback on Center-related products and activities, receive and disseminate Center-related products and information, and participate in Center-sponsored events. Center-affiliated collaborators include:

• University of Kansas (Rachel Freeman, Wayne Sailor)
• University of Missouri Columbia (Tim Lewis, Lori Newcomer)
• University of Oregon (Terry Scott)
• University of South Florida (Glen Dunlap, Don Kincaid)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Bob Algozzine)
• May Institute (Bob Putnam)
• Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (Carol Massanari)
• Sheppard-Pratt Health Systems (Susan Barrett, Burt Lohns)
• Illinois State Board of Education (Lucille Eber)

The Prevent-Teach-Reinforce Project is funded by the Institute for Education Science with the research goal of investigating the impact of PBS interventions for students with severe behavior problems. Over 200 students at two sites (Denver and Tampa) will be randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. The research study will investigate the impact of a standardized assessment, intervention, coaching and fidelity process on the competence of teachers and the outcomes for targeted students. The contact for more information is Rose Iovannone at riovannone@fmhi.usf.edu.

The Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs to raise the awareness and implementation of positive, evidence-based practices and to build an enhanced and more accessible database to support those practices. Visit the Center web site to find research summaries, presentations, fact sheets, recommended practices, and comprehensive guidance on the application of positive behavior support to young children and their families.

The Positive Beginnings training modules provide higher education faculty and professional development personnel with material that can be used to teach early educators, interventionists, and related service personnel about the use of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) with young children and their families. The content of the modules provides a comprehensive curriculum in Positive Behavior Support in 6, three-hour modules. These modules are available for purchase at minimal cost ($15). Faculty members with the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities are available to provide “train the trainers workshops” on the adoption of the materials. For more information, contact Lise Fox at fox@fmhi.usf.edu.

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning is a national center focused on strengthening the capacity of childcare and Head Start programs to improve the social and emotional outcomes of young children. The Center provides a wealth of materials including training modules, a DVD overview on the teaching pyramid, what works briefs, and an array of practical strategies.

The Program-Wide PBS project is funded by the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County to support the program-wide adoption of the teaching pyramid model for supporting the development of young children’s social competence and addressing challenging behavior. This project provides training and support to selected early childhood programs in Hillsborough County and monthly workshops open to the community. For information on the program, contact Rochelle Lentini at lentini@fmhi.usf.edu.

Family Involvement in Functional Assessment provides information on promoting family involvement in the functional assessment and behavior support process. A manual that school can use may be downloaded for free at http://fifa.fmhi.usf.edu/manual.htm.

Citations:

Carr, E. G., Horner, R. H., Turnbull, A. P., Marquis, J. G., McLaughlin, D. M., McAtee, M. L., Smith, C. E., Ryan, K. A., Ruef, M. B., Doolabh, A., & Braddock, D. (1999). Positive behavior support as an approach for dealing with problem behavior in people with developmental disabilities: A research synthesis. Washington, DC: AAMR.

Carr, E. G., Dunlap, G., Horner, R. H., Koegel, R. L., Turnbull, A. P., Sailor, W., Anderson, J. L., Albin, R. W., Koegel, L. K., & Fox, L. (2002). Positive behavior support: Evolution of an applied science. Journal of Positive Behavior Intervention, 4, 4-16. 009.