Content area
This mixed-methods dissertation explores the role of leadership in sustaining Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in K-12 schools. Using a combination of surveys, leadership inventories, and Q-methodology, the study investigates how building-level leaders perceive and enact leadership behaviors that contribute to the long-term implementation of PBIS. Participants included administrators from schools with at least two years of sustained PBIS implementation. The findings revealed three distinct viewpoints among leaders, each aligned with different leadership styles, including transformational, servant, and instructional leadership. Common themes included the importance of staff buy-in, ongoing professional development, and alignment with school culture and vision. The study also found that leadership practices are shaped by organizational conditions and support systems, indicating that sustainability is not solely a function of individual leadership traits but also of contextual and systemic factors. Implications for practice include the need for leadership development that fosters shared vision, distributed leadership, and consistent reinforcement of PBIS principles. These insights contribute to the growing literature on implementation science and underscore the pivotal role school leaders play in sustaining systemic behavioral frameworks.