Even in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, schoolwide approaches such as positive behavior support (PBS) are very useful for students and staff. They were developed based on a framework for public health, which focuses on prevention and intervention. Even though many schools and districts are implementing schoolwide efforts, some teachers and staff may not have a sense of how PBS might be useful for them.
Lorna Hepburn, Positive Behavior Learning State Coordinator for Queensland, Australia, developed a wonderful blog that helps the reader connect their experiences with COVID-19 to ways PBS can support schools (link to the blog). It’s a short and very useful read for anyone not familiar with PBS.
We also created an infographic based on Lorna’s blog that you might find useful as well. (Link to PDF version)
Lorna also published a wonderful blog for the School Social Work Network on the importance of providing universal, schoolwide interventions when developing intensive supports. Her blog post titled, Looking for strong Tier 3? We have to start at Tier 1! is a great read for anyone who is thinking about how to create supportive environments for all students. Both resources are geared for people who want to learn more about PBS.
I hope these resources are as helpful to you as they are to me. Thanks to Lorna for all of her wonderful work! I would love to know about other tools for helping staff to think about positive schoolwide strategies for prevention and intervention. Please take a moment to leave a comment below!