Positive Behavior Intervention

What is a positive behavioral intervention?

A positive behavioral intervention is when a staff member proactively acknowledges a student for exhibiting good, expected behaviors. There are many ways to acknowledge students for good behavior. For example, rather than negatively correcting a behavior while students walk down a hallway (“Get back in line!”), hall monitors would proactively praise those who are following directions (“Joshua, you’re doing a great job walking down the hall in a straight line while keeping your hands to yourself.”).

Another way we acknowledge our students is by linking our outings and field trips to our monthly PBIS school-wide goal. For example, if we’re working on the school goal of “be responsible,” we would link that goal with a trip into the community during which our students would need to demonstrate safe, respectful, and responsible, helping to emphasize why it’s important to be learning and using these skills.

Many of our schools also hold monthly award ceremonies to publicly acknowledge students who have made specific improvements in the school’s chosen expectations, such as “be safe.” We hold these monthly award ceremonies so we can provide an opportunity for all of our students to earn recognition, and truly meet the individual needs of our students.