Building SWPBIS Capacity in Rural Schools through Building-Based Coaching: Early Findings from a District-Based Model

Abstract

School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a widely used framework for supporting student social and academic behavior. Implementation science indicates that one effective way to implement and scale-up practices, such as SWPBIS, is through coaching; thus, there is a need for efficient, cost-effective methods to develop and support SWPBIS coaches. Using the literature of implementation science and SWPBIS, we developed and implemented a coaching curriculum to increase and support building-based capacity with SWPBIS. In this article, we present a district-based model for training school personnel to become SWPBIS coaches. Data on initial training outcomes and school outcomes are presented. Findings suggest that the training of school-based coaches in rural schools resulted in improved knowledge of SWPBIS and supported fidelity of SWPBIS implementation in local schools. Lessons learned, as well as implications for practice and research, are discussed.

An Examination of Factors that Relate to School Counselors' Knowledge and Skills in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

“…More MTSS training was also associated with more time spent on ASCA-aligned activities. These findings support previous research emphasizing the importance of ongoing training to provide school counselors and other educators with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively implement MTSS (Feuerborn & Tyre, 2012;Freeman et al, 2015), and the benefits of MTSS training on the development of school counselors' MTSS knowledge and skills (Cavanaugh & Swan, 2015;Goodman-Scott et al, 2016). In addition, these findings are potentially significant considering previous research suggesting that MTSS training increases school counselors capacity to meet the needs of all students (Betters-Bubon & Donohue, 2016) and is critical to sustained MTSS implementation over time (Gravois & Rosenfield, 2005;Mathews, McIntosh, Frank, & May, 2014;Pinkelman, McIntosh, Rasplica, Berg, & Strickland-Cohen, 2015).…”

“…Specifically, findings indicate that (a) MTSS training is related to increased MTSS knowledge and skills, and (b) school counselors who reported needing more MTSS training had lower levels of MTSS knowledge and skills. These results add to literature that shows MTSS training benefits school counselors in many ways Cavanaugh & Swan, 2015). However, the extent to which MTSS training is integrated into school counselor training programs is unclear.…”

School-Wide Positive Behavior Support Telecoaching in a Rural District

“…Rural schools may be particularly susceptible to challenges with coaching. Rural communities may not have experts in the district to function as a SWPBIS coach nor have the resources to fully support hiring external consultants (Cavanaugh & Swan, 2015; Steed, Pomerlou, & Muscot, 2013; Yettick, Baker, Wickersham, & Hupfeld, 2014). Following initial training procedures, coaches provide on-site technical assistance (Bastable et al., 2019).…”

All Aboard: Using Positive Behavior Supports on the School Bus

“…Interventions at Tier 3 identify factors that motivate inappropriate student behavior for students with more significant and identified behavioral needs and create plans designed to encourage appropriate behaviors. Although PBIS is applied in various types of schools, rural schools often rely on school personnel to take on the role of PBIS coaches and in-house trainers (Cavanaugh & Swan, 2015).…”