Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS)

The acronym PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports. It's a program supported by the New York City Department of Education as well as the New York State Education Department. The program supports mitigating the following practices that serve to prohibit the development of environments that are conducive to learning.

• High rates of problematic behaviors that interfere with learning
• Ineffective and inefficient disciplinary practices
• Reliance on crisis/reactive management
• Lack of general and specialized behavior interventions
• A negative school climate

In short, reactive management strategies fail to promote, develop and ensure environments where students are able to focus on their learning. PBIS programs proactively focus on rewarding positive behavior and adjusting the environment and practices that minimize negative behavior.