School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (PBIS)    
    Free training and technical support offered to participating schools    
    The School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support initiative is yet another example of how school psychologists can expand their roles in the school settings.    
         
    The PBIS initiative is the result of a nine million dollar grant awarded to the RI Department of Youth Children and their Families.  The initiative is being implemented in RI schools through a collaborative effort from The National Technical Assistance Project (RITAP), The Dept. of Youth Children & Their Families (DCYF), The Sherlock Disability Center, RI Department of Education, RICASSP and Systems of Care Initiative.    
    "PBIS” (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) is a systems approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to educate all students, especially students with challenging social behaviors, by establishing (a) clearly defined outcomes that relate to academic and social behavior, (b) systems that support staff efforts, (c) practices that support student success, (d) data utilization that guide decision making.    
   

PBIS is a broad range of systemic and individualized strategies for achieving important social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behavior.  PBIS is an integration of valued outcomes, science of human behavior, validated procedures, and systems change.  PBIS enhances the capacity of schools, families, communities and the environments in which teaching and learning occurs.

    
    School environments that are positive, preventive, predictable, & effective (a) are safer, healthier, and more caring; (b) have enhanced learning & teaching outcomes; (c) can provide continuum of behavior support for all students.    
    Rhode Island currently has two cohorts participating in PBIS.  Cohort I consist of 16 schools who began training in November 2005.  Cohort 2 consists of 26 schools that began training in May 2006.  PBIS is present in 19 school districts; the goal is to have PBIS implemented in school systems district-wide and eventually statewide over the next several years    
    If you are interested in learning more about PBIS and becoming a PBIS school please contact Lavonne Nkomo, PBIS Coordinator at 401-456-2763, lnkomo@ric.edu.  Websites you can visit are www.ripbis.org and www.pbis.org.”