14 PBIS Team Coaching Activities that Matter
Coaching plays a vital role in supporting Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) school teams. However, there's limited understanding of which coaching activities contribute most to the continued implementation of this framework in schools.
To address this gap, Dr. Bastable and colleagues (2020) created a research survey to evaluate the extent to which PBIS school teams received and valued coaching activities. The survey involved 264 PBIS team members who had been implementing Tier 1 PBIS for at least three years across 138 districts spanning nine states. Fidelity to PBIS implementation was assessed using the Benchmarks of Quality (BoQ) tool to determine how coaching activities correlated with implementation fidelity.
The findings revealed that certain coaching activities were perceived as particularly crucial for sustaining PBIS. Moreover, when examining the correlation between coaching activities and PBIS implementation fidelity, two activities stood out as statistically significant and positively associated with higher fidelity: "Running Data Reports for the Team" and "Modeling PBIS Implementation."
Data from Bastable et al. (2020): Table 1, p.54
Most Important:
Assisted with team action planning
Shared knowledge of SWPBIS systems
Modeled SWPBIS implementation
Ran data reports for school team
Assisted with data collection
Assisted in problem-solving issues or challenges with implementation
Supported individual teachers with class-wide SWPBIS practices
Assisted with data analysis
Least Important
Attended SWPBIS meetings
Provided emotional or personal support to team or individuals
Provided support or consultation on individual student behavior support
Provided prompts for completion of key SWPBIS practices
Provided positive feedback
Provided corrective feedback
These results underscore the importance of assessing and tailoring coaching support to schools based on their specific needs and priorities in PBIS implementation. Identifying and emphasizing a Continuum of Coaching Support activities that have a substantial impact on implementation fidelity can contribute to more effective coaching.
Continuum of Coaching Support
Coaching involves a Continuum of Coaching Support. As a coach, it’s important to assess need and match the type of coaching to the current situation. Different situations require different types of coaching. Effective coaches move up and down the Coaching Continuum as they work with teams or individuals.
Direct - Give the answer: “I suggest doing X.”
Evaluate - Share your opinion: “I agree, that is correct/incorrect, yes/no, it’s missing X, Y, Z.”
Consult - Offer a choice: “Consider doing X or Y.”
Collaborate - Work together: “Which part do you want me to help with, X or Y?”
Coach - Build their skill: use questioning, paraphrasing and probing to empower and build skills, independence and sustainability of practices
PBIS Coaching Skills Course
Join Debi Neat, M.Ed, a Certified PBIS Trainer | Leader | Coach with more than 30 years experience in schools leading staff in school safety and intervention programs, counseling students, and coaching PBIS teams. Debi explains in detail the many roles of the PBIS coach, the coaching continuum that we need to fluently use when delivering services to teams, along with the skills and requirements critical for success as a school/district or consultant PBIS coach.
Objectives:
Identify Coaching Roles and Responsibilities
Identify Coaching Standards and Practices
Self-Assess Coaching Readiness
Only 60 minutes - CEU Certificate provided.
