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Abstract:
School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been implemented in more than 4,000 schools as a means of addressing problem behavior in a systemic fashion. Preliminary outcomes (e.g., office discipline referrals, suspensions) indicate the effectiveness of SWPBS in decreasing school-wide behavior problems and creating a positive school climate. Although the results of a majority of the program evaluations yielded significant findings, there has been a lack of measurement of treatment fidelity, possibly due to the absence of expedient, effective assessment tools. This article describes the theoretical background and development, including a qualitative pilot study and psychometric properties, of the School-wide Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ; Kincaid, Childs, & George, 2005), a tool intended to measure the implementation of SWPBS. Descriptive data on the instrument, including internal consistency, test-retest reliability, interrater reliability, and concurrent validity, were collected and analyzed. Results indicate that the BoQ for SWPBS is a reliable, valid, efficient, and useful instrument for measuring the fidelity of implementation of the primary or universal level of PBS application in individual schools. Future considerations for evaluating the psychometric properties of the BoQ include extending the data collection and analysis to many more schools across multiple states.
School violence has been rated by the public as the top problem or concern in schools (Rose & Gallup, 2004; Mayer & Leone, 1999). A survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 teachers and 1,180 students in Grades 3 through 12 found that most teachers felt safe at schools but 11% had been the victims of violence on school property (Leitman & Binns, 1993). The same survey found that 50% of students felt safe but 23% reported being victims of violence and 22% were somewhat or very worried about being hurt at school. The presence of severe behavior problems in schools also is evidenced by a significant number of office discipline referrals (ODRs), suspensions, and expulsions for violating school rules, as well as staff member reports that indicate a desire to improve school discipline systems (Sugai et al, 1999; Taylor-Greene et al., 1997).
Many efforts to remediate system-wide discipline problems have been reactive in nature (University of Oregon, 2004). Such reactive or aversive strategies may result in an immediate reduction in problem behaviors, but such reductions are temporary, and...