A Statewide Scale Up of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Description of the Development of Systems of Support and Analysis of Adoption and Implementation

Support for this project comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1U49CE000728, K01CE001333–01), the Institute of Education Sciences (R324A07118, R305A090307, R324A110107), and the National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH19545–11, R01 MH67948–1A1). The authors acknowledge the PBIS Maryland Management Team for their support of this project, with special thanks to Milton McKenna, Andrea Alexander, Chuck Buckler, and Ann Chafin at the Maryland State Department of Education; Philip Leaf at Johns Hopkins University; and Susan Barrett, Jerry Bloom, and Patricia Hershfeldt at the Sheppard Pratt Health System.

Abstract.

This study describes the process by which a statewide support system was developed in Maryland to promote high-quality implementation of a school-wide prevention model called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS (Sugai & Horner, 2006) aims to prevent disruptive behavior problems and promote a positive school climate through the application of practices and systems consistent with the three-tiered public health prevention framework. We summarize the statewide scale-up process and examine school- and district-level contextual factors that influenced the schools' training, adoption, and implementation quality of PBIS within the scale-up effort. Data come from 810 Maryland elementary schools, of which 316 were trained in PBIS. A series of multilevel analyses indicated that several school- and district-level factors were associated with both receipt of training and program adoption; however, only school-level factors were related to implementation quality. Findings are discussed within the context of statewide efforts to scale up evidence-based programs in schools.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Catherine P. Bradshaw

Catherine Bradshaw, PhD, Med, is an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is the associate director for the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence and the codirector for the Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. Her research focuses on risk and protective factors for youth violence, the prevention of aggressive and problem behavior in children, and the design and evaluation of school-based prevention and intervention programs. She has been working with the Maryland Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) State Leadership Team to support the state-wide implementation and evaluation of PBIS.

Elise T. Pas

Elise T. Pas, PhD, NCSP, is an assistant scientist in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence and conducts research on the Maryland State Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Initiative and a randomized trial of PBIS. Her research examines the effectiveness of programs targeting violence prevention and social competence, the influence of teacher and school contextual factors on student outcomes, and the adoption and implementation of prevention models in schools. She holds a doctorate in school psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park.