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Defining and Describing Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support

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Handbook of Positive Behavior Support

Part of the book series: Issues in Clinical Child Psychology ((ICCP))

Abstract

Schools have two important goals: maximize the academic achievement and social competence of all learners. To achieve these goals, schools must focus on the specific skills of individual students, but increasingly we are learning that they must also focus on the overall social culture of a school. The social culture of a school can vary from highly controlled and rule governed to loosely structured and spontaneous. However, successful learning environments most often are characterized as preventive, predictable, positive, instructional, safe, and responsive for all students and staff across all school settings and activities.

The purpose of this chapter is to describe those characteristics of schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) practices and systems that establish and maintain an effective, efficient, and relevant social culture in which teaching and learning are maximized. This chapter leads this section of the handbook because SW-PBS serves as the foundation or basis for successful implementation of a full continuum of academic and social behavior supports occurring school- and classroomwide, for example, individual behavior supports (e.g., function-based supports, wraparound), academic programming, data-based decision making and evaluation, discipline, family and community participation, and early intervention.

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Authors
  1. George Sugai
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  2. Robert H. Horner
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Special Education, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside Ave., Lawrence, KS, 66045-7534, USA

    Wayne Sailor

  2. Florida Mental Health Institute Div. Applied Research, University of South Florida, 2778 Mayberry Drive, Reno, NV, 89509, USA

    Glen Dunlap

  3. Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, 249 Glenbrook Road, Storrs, CT, 06269-2064, USA

    George Sugai

  4. Dept. Special Education, University of Oregon, 1235 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1235, USA

    Rob Horner

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Sugai, G., Horner, R.H. (2009). Defining and Describing Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support. In: Sailor, W., Dunlap, G., Sugai, G., Horner, R. (eds) Handbook of Positive Behavior Support. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09632-2_13

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