Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an approach to help students improve their difficult behavior. It's based on an understanding that teachers don't control students, but instead seek to support them in their own behavior change process.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports acknowledges that there is always a reason behind most difficult behavior and that students with difficult behavior should be treated with dignity, respect and compassion.
Meet Melodi Patterson. She teaches students labeled "ED" — those designated as emotionally or behaviorally disturbed — at Vista School, a middle school, in Culver City, Calif. In the video below, she talks about how she employs PBIS with her students.
Look For:
Go Deeper:
PBIS Fact Sheet [1] (PDF)
This handout from the Southern Poverty Law Center breaks down the ins-and-outs of PBIS and emphasizes that the approach produces the best results when it's applied throughout a school.
Reflect On:
Ready Resources:
Watch free videos on PBIS [2]
Ask the special education teachers in your school about PBIS. Chances are, they use or have heard about PBIS.
Links:
[1] http://www.tolerance.org/images/teach/activities/PBIS_factsheet_flier_web.pdf
[2] http://www.pbis.org/PBIS_videos.htm
[3] http://www.pbis.org/map.htm