SESA provides consultation and training to support the unique educational needs of individuals and the Alaskan communities that serve them.

PBIS FAQs

PBIS Frequently Asked Questions
What is school-wide positive behavioral interventions and support? School-wide positive behavioral support (SW-PBIS) is an effective, evidence-based way to deal with behavior problems that happen at school. SW-PBIS is focused on strategies to prevent behavior problems from happening and ways to teach students appropriate behavior.

How does SW-PBIS help prevent problem behavior?
Using SW-PBIS we look at ways to teach correct behavior to all students, create school-wide expectations for appropriate behavior, and arrange the learning and physical environments to prevent problem behavior. SW-PBIS also includes strategies to help those children who have significant difficulty managing their behavior, even with school-wide supports in place.

How will SW-PBIS benefit our school?
SW-PBIS can benefit your school in three main ways:

  • Decrease the number of office discipline referral and the amount of time administrators spend addressing disciple issues.
  • Decrease the amount of time teachers spend managing behavior issues, thus giving them more time to teach.
  • Increase connections to the local community. SW-PBIS strategies are culturally appropriate for the local community because they can be based on the local culture, can use the local language, and can continue to be used over time. They can also be used at home and in the community.

    Is SW-PBIS a curriculum?
    No. SW-PBIS is a group of prevention-based strategies to help students understand what they are expected to do and how to do it. This helps decrease problem behaviors. The behavioral expectations, rules, rewards, and consequences used in the program are chosen by each school to meet their individual needs.

How does SW-PBIS fit in with what we are already doing in our school?
SW-PBIS can easily fit in with what you are already doing. SW-PBIS strategies can be used alongside any social skills or positive behavior curriculum that you are using (i.e. Responsive Classroom, Second Step) and can help to generalize what is being taught to different environments and people. One of the first strategies when implementing a school-wide PBIS plan is, "If it's working, keep doing it!"