Washington Middle School

Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports

Mission Statement:

As a PBIS team we are committed to supporting a positive, student-centered behavioral framework that will enrich students functioning within the school, family and community network.

What is PBIS?

School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) is a proactive, team- based framework for creating and sustaining safe and effective schools. Emphasis is placed on prevention of problem behavior, development of pro-social skills, and the use of data-based problem solving for addressing existing behavior concerns. School- wide PBIS increases the capacity of schools to educate all students utilizing research-based school-wide, classroom, and individualized interventions.

PBIS at Washington Middle School

A term you will be hearing is Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, or PBIS. PBIS is an approach in behavior management on a school-wide level, in a specific setting such as the bus, hallways, classrooms, cafeteria, restrooms, outside, and assemblies, or with an individual student.

PBIS methods are research-based and have been proven to significantly reduce the occurrence of problem behaviors. One of the keys is to focus on prevention. It is based on the idea that when students are taught clearly defined behavioral expectations and provided with predictable responses to their behavior, both positive and corrective, 80-85% of students will meet these expectations. The 15-20% of the students not responding to universal interventions will receive additional support through group and individual interventions.

Another key element is an analysis of discipline referral data. This team-based approach to data analysis allows Washington’s PBIS Team to identify problem areas, brainstorm interventions, acknowledge students exhibiting positive behavior, and communicate the findings to staff, students, and parents.