Inclusive Positive Behaviour Supports

Plain-language summary

Background: While positive school climate is important for students' well-being and mental health, school personnel may experience challenges in creating a nurturing school climate. School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SW-PBIS) have shown positive effects on school climate, but fewer studies have been conducted in the European context. Aim: The present project aims to investigate the effectiveness of SW-PBIS programs for students' social-emotional skills and academic achievement as well as teachers' and students' perceptions of the learning environment. Furthermore, the study intends to evaluate how school-level factors mediate or moderate the effects of the intervention. In addition, the study includes a qualitative evaluation of the dynamic interaction processes that occur during program implementation in local school contexts. Methods: Data on school- and individual-level measures are collected in intervention and control schools. With regard to challenges in retaining control groups over extended time periods, two waves of recruitment are used. In the first wave, an active control group is used, and data are collected during three time points. In the second wave, a wait-list control group is used, and data are collected during two time points during one school year. Hierarchical regression analyses will be conducted to explore the effects of SW-PBIS on the outcomes of the study. An ethnomethodological approach will be applied to provide a detailed examination of the social interactional and meaning-making practices of different school implementation teams, and the negotiation of normative expectations and rules of conduct in peer-teacher-student interactions in different classrooms. Discussion: The study is expected to contribute knowledge on the effects of the SWPBIS program and how these effects may be mediated or moderated by school-level factors. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the significance of school contexts in the implementation of the SWPBIS program constitutes the strength of the study. The challenge in the study is the extended period of implementation of SWPBIS, which entails difficulties in retaining a control group over the required time period. Therefore, two waves of recruitment are used, encompassing different procedures of allocation to intervention or control groups.

Who can participate

What they're measuring

Trial details