Scaling Up Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Costs and Their Distribution Across State, Districts, and Schools

Abstract

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a widely used multitiered prevention framework that embeds a systems approach for establishing behavioral supports for all students, across all levels of need, to achieve social, behavioral, and academic success. A growing body of research has documented the effectiveness of PBIS in schools with regard to a range of student outcomes; however, few studies have rigorously examined the costs to implement PBIS. Further, as many states have scaled up PBIS, consideration of the costs borne by different organizational structures is critical for understanding PBIS implementation fidelity and sustainability. This study utilized an ingredients-based costing approach capitalizing on both qualitative and quantitative data from multiple stakeholders to examine the total societal costs to implement multiple tiers of PBIS. Also examined were the distribution of costs across the school, district, and state levels using the same ingredients-based costing approach. Findings suggest an annual cost of $48.16 per student, the bulk of which occurs at the school level (average cost $27,363 per year).

Keywords:

• cost analysis
• sustainability
• implementation fidelity
• behavioral health

Additional information

Funding

Support for this article comes grants from the Institute of Educational Sciences (R305H150027) and the National Institutes of Justice (2014-CK-BX-0005) awarded to Catherine Bradshaw. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders.

Notes on contributors

Sarah Lindstrom Johnson

Sarah Lindstrom Johnson is an associate professor at Arizona State University in the School of Social and Family Dynamics. Her work focuses on interventions to support positive youth development, including those related to school climate.

Y. Natalia Alfonso

Y. Natalia Alfonso is a research associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is a health economist and health services researcher focused on evaluating the cost of interventions to promote child and maternal health.

Elise T. Pas

Elise Pas is an associate scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her work focuses on the refinement of coaching models as a means of promoting evidence-based interventions.

Katrina J. Debnam

Katrina Debnam is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia in Nursing and Education. Her research focuses on the intersection of health and education with a concentration on conditions that disproportionately affect communities of color.

Catherine P. Bradshaw

Catherine Bradshaw is a professor and the associate dean for research and faculty development at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her primary research interests focus on the development of aggressive behavior and school-based prevention.