Positive Behavior Support (PBS) involves a proactive, comprehensive, systemic, and individualized continuum of support designed to provide opportunities to all students, including students with disabilities, to achieve social and learning success. This is accomplished by examining the factors that impact behavior, as well as the relationships between environment and behavior. PBS is not a model or a curriculum, but rather a systems approach to enhance the capacity of schools and districts to adopt and sustain the use of effective practices for all students. PBS also works to improve the overall school climate, maximize academic achievement for all students, and address the specific needs of students with severe emotional and behavior concerns.

The main focus of school-wide PBS is to provide proactive and effective support regarding student behavior at the universal level. This is accomplished when the whole system (i.e., the whole school community) can establish and maintain universal procedures that contain clear and consistent expectations. There are greater opportunities for student success when students have clearly defined expectations that are taught and reinforced. The necessary elements of school-wide PBS include methods to: examine needs through data; develop school-wide expectations; teach school-wide expectations; encourage school-wide expectations; discourage problem behaviors; and monitor implementation and progress.

School-wide PBS has been implemented in over 2,500 schools nationwide. PBS schools develop positive approaches to behavior, increase prevention of problem behavior, and establish rational discipline procedures that are clear to all families, students, and school personnel. School-wide PBS increases collaboration and communication among school personnel, families, and the community, thus improving the quality of life for all students, including students with disabilities.

Research indicates that office referrals for discipline decrease on average 40-60% (Sugai, 2001) when schools implement PBS effectively. Students with behavioral concerns receive increased positive support through behavior interventions, which focus on the teaching and reinforcement of appropriate behaviors and social skills development and thus the prevention of behaviors of concern. These students have greater opportunities for success and are less likely to be removed from the school environment. PBS improves the overall climate of the school community, while improving student academic success, thus closing the achievement gap.

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