Monitoring Process and Outcomes for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in Residential Settings: Better Uses of Data

The success of multitiered systems of support for students in public school settings, and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), in particular, has led to implementation of this framework in other settings, including secure care juvenile correctional facilities. Although all essential components of the framework translate well to other settings, some adaptations are necessary to accommodate different structures, goals, and operational procedures of nonpublic school settings. Secure care settings historically have gathered multiple types of data for evaluation and monitoring purposes. Some forms of those traditional data serve PBIS purposes well, but other certain new data, other forms of data, and different analyses of existing data may be needed to accurately monitor progress and impact of PBIS. In this article, we describe purposes for data as part of the PBIS framework, and discuss adaptations to typical data sources and analyses that may be needed in secure care settings.