Sustained Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Implementation: School Leaders Discuss Their Processes and Practices

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the leadership practices that elementary school administrators and leadership teams utilize to promote effective, successful, and sustainable schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS). The study focused on the practices, processes, and challenges that administrators and school leaders indicated led to the successful implementation of the SWPBIS framework. Twenty-four school leaders (six administrators; 18 leadership team members) from five elementary schools with platinum recognition for their high-quality SWPBIS implementation participated. School administrators participated in an in-person interview, and leadership team members participated in focus group interviews. Results revealed that successful SWPBIS framework implementation was promoted by establishing a distributed leadership approach that leveraged teachers as leaders while shaping their buildings’ systems of practices and processes, providing training and professional development to staff, establishing buy-in by stakeholders, and engaging stakeholders in their PBIS efforts.