Date of Conferral

2014

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Don Jones

Abstract

Students are often removed from classrooms due to behavioral concerns, which has led to an increase in student drop-out rates. Positive behavior support (PBS), a proactive approach to student discipline, was implemented at a local school in order to address the influx of students being sent to the office. Constructivism was the framework for this mixed method study on teachers' assessments of the current behavior support approach in their school and teachers' perceptions of school-wide PBS training and implementation. Data from the Effective Behavior Support (EBS) Survey were used in a descriptive statistical analysis of 162 teachers' assessments of behavior support. Interview data, including transcripts from 15 semi-structured teacher interviews, were analyzed using open coding and thematic analysis. The EBS survey results indicated that teachers desired more assistance with PBS through strategies, recommendations, and district support. Interview data indicated a need for a staff development project to assist instructors with understanding the systematic process of PBS through the use of the Response to Intervention model and to gain access to district support staff as behaviors increased in the classroom. The resulting project was a 3-day teacher training to address this need. This study has the potential to evoke positive social change through developing best practices across districts and providing staff with the tools for positive behavior support in the learning community to decrease the dropout rate.

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