Student behavioral issues, especially in pre-teen and teen years, pose a hurdle to academic progress, teachers’ administration of duties, and safety for students and staff, even in the best-administered schools. Resources, especially time spent dealing with disciplinary cases, disruptive behavior, and physical and psychological impacts, erode efforts otherwise meant to involve the students in academic and extracurricular activities. While traditional punishments such as detentions and suspensions may be effective, such measures often exacerbate the situation and may radicalize the student further.
Alternative approaches like Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) exist, and consist of a proactive way to treat disruptive behavior. PBIS consists of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework to serve the students academically and behaviorally. The three primary tiers are Tier 1 (universal), Tier 2 (targeted but selected), and Tier 3 (targeted and intensive intervention and support).
The first level, Tier 1, targets all students in the school in all settings and covers an average of 85 percent of the student population throughout a school year. The intervention and support focus on behavioral expectations like kindness and empathy and lessons on socio-emotional skills. It leans on the adults to provide an avenue for students to develop and succeed, and includes skill-building opportunities.
The tier requires a coach, a school administrator, teachers, a representative for parents, and a representative for the students. For this tier, the team sets expectations and conducts the intervention and support through visual aids like timers, schedules, reminders, and deadlines. Also, the intervention team integrates positive home contact by engaging the student’s family, underscoring gratitude for the positive activities the student has undertaken, and appreciation for the good behavior. It may also involve recognition and behavior-specific praise for students who exhibit good behavior, and sometimes small tokens and prizes for the students who meet the expectations.
Tier 2 comprises extra and targeted intervention and support for struggling students who need additional assistance to develop positive behaviors. In a typical school setting, Tier 2 consists of approximately 10 to 20 percent of the student population, with the group consisting of the students whose intervention needs were not met by Tier 1.
The routine for Tier 2 includes daily check-ins, meetings with the coach in an individual or social group setting, structured breaks incorporating physical activity, and classroom behavior interventions. The team may also include a home behavior plan to ensure behavior and skill development outside the school. It requires a more specialized team for efficacy and includes counselors, youth service center coordinators, behavior or mental health specialists, social workers, and a member of the school administration.
Tier 2 intervention aims to determine the source of motivation for the behavior and the purpose the behavior serves in the student's daily life. Unlike Tier 1, Tier 2 is usually temporary and short-term, with the efforts directed to ensure the targeted intervention does not interfere with classroom management practices and regular staff routines.
Finally, Tier 3, the most intensive of the MTSS framework, involves individualized intervention for high-risk behavior. The routine comprises all Tier 2 team members but includes a more intense approach that often requires external services and specialists. The intervention meetings, which also include the parents, typically start with an individualized behavior plan that defines the student’s specific behavior, its causes or triggers, and the desired change.
The team also delegates different facets of the intervention and support among themselves where the designee attends to the student based on specialization or responsibility. For example, the parent is tasked with ensuring academic and behavioral intervention and monitoring continuity at home. Other intervention techniques include counseling and a modified schedule. The latter involves the teachers and includes the timing of breaks, transition between classes, and location of the classes throughout the day.
