PBIS Fidelity Impacts Suspensions in Middle Schools

Post date: Mar 25, 2014 7:58:38 PM

Implementation of PBIS has been shown to reduce discipline problems in schools, including office discipline referrals (ODRs) and out of school suspensions (OSS).  For middle schools in particular, fidelity at Tier 1 has an impact on suspensions.  For example, 133 Illinois middle schools with an assessment of Tier 1 fidelity and OSS data show a lower rate of OSS per 100 students per day.  Over the last two years, these middle schools at Tier 1 fidelity had a 9% decrease in OSS per 100 students per day, while middle schools not at fidelity actually experienced an increase in suspensions.