Positive Behavior Support focuses on preventing problems and promoting good outcomes. It's all about setting clear expectations, teaching good behaviors, and giving lots of positive reinforcement. The key is figuring out why kids act up and making a plan to meet their needs.

This approach fits right into creating a positive classroom environment. By being proactive and using strategies like well-designed spaces, engaging lessons, and strong relationships, teachers can prevent most behavior issues before they start. When problems do pop up, the focus is on addressing the underlying need.

Positive Behavior Support Principles

Proactive Approach and Key Principles

• Positive behavior support is a proactive approach that focuses on preventing problem behaviors and promoting positive social and learning outcomes
• Key principles include setting clear expectations, directly teaching appropriate behaviors, providing frequent positive reinforcement, and using consistent consequences for problem behaviors

Functional Behavior Assessment and Individualized Support Plans

• A critical aspect is conducting a functional behavior assessment to identify the underlying purpose or function the behavior serves for the student (attention, escape, sensory stimulation, access to tangibles)
• Based on the functional assessment, an individualized behavior support plan is developed to proactively meet the student's needs and teach replacement behaviors
• Implementation involves collaboration between educators, mental health professionals, families and the student to ensure consistency across settings
• Data collection and progress monitoring are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the support plan and make adjustments as needed

Proactive Behavior Management Strategies

Environmental Strategies for Preventing Problem Behaviors

• Proactive strategies aim to change the learning environment to reduce the likelihood of problem behaviors occurring in the first place
• This includes having a well-designed physical space, posting and regularly reviewing positively stated expectations and routines, and providing engaging instruction at the appropriate level of difficulty
• Offering choices, building in opportunities for movement, using pre-corrections and non-contingent reinforcement, and developing strong positive relationships with students are all proactive strategies

Responding to Challenging Behaviors

• When challenging behaviors do occur, staff should focus first on ensuring safety, then aim to identify and address the underlying need or purpose
• Specific strategies include presenting clear choices, providing frequent positive feedback during calm times, maintaining instructional control through brief, specific redirections, and avoiding power struggles
• For chronic behaviors, a team-based problem-solving process is used to analyze patterns, develop hypotheses, and create individualized plans with specific prevention steps, replacement behaviors to teach, and consequence procedures

Systems for Reinforcing Positive Behaviors

Principles of Reinforcement and Types of Reinforcers

• Reinforcement is a key principle of behavior - behaviors that are reinforced (rewarded) are more likely to be repeated. Schools must develop systems to frequently reinforce expected positive behaviors
• A menu of reinforcers should be developed based on student input, and include a mix of social (praise, special privileges), activity (extra computer time, homework pass), and tangible (stickers, prizes) options
• The goal is to notice and reinforce approximations of target behaviors to shape students towards success. The reinforcement should be specific, immediate, and match the level of effort required from the student

Implementing Reinforcement Systems

• Token economies or point systems can be used to allow students to earn tokens throughout the day and cash them in for backup reinforcers. This stretches out the reinforcement schedule
• Staff must intentionally teach students about the reinforcement systems, provide ample opportunities to earn, and implement them consistently. Reinforcers are faded over time as positive behaviors become self-initiating

Analyzing Behavior Management Techniques

Evaluating Schoolwide and Classroom Systems

• Effectiveness of a behavior management system must be evaluated by looking at student outcome data - both behavioral and academic
• Techniques that reduce problem behavior frequency and intensity, increase prosocial behaviors and skills, and improve measures of academic engagement and achievement can be considered effective
• Analyzing discipline referral, suspension, attendance, grades and standardized test score data before and after implementation can show overall impact

Monitoring Individual Student Progress

• Effectiveness for individual students is determined by collecting direct observation data on their specific problem and replacement behaviors and analyzing the trend over time
• If a technique is not producing the desired outcomes for a student within a reasonable timeframe (6-8 weeks), components of the plan must be modified based on a renewed functional behavior assessment
• Techniques that are effective for one student, classroom or school may not be equally effective in another setting with different variables at play. Ongoing, data-based adjustments are essential for an effective schoolwide behavior system