The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports of Arizona group (formerly the Arizona Behavioral Initiative) was developed to address the issue of safe schools, and is a collaborative effort between the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University, and is supported by the Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at the University of Oregon, The primary purpose of PBISAz is to establish a comprehensive and focused statewide effort to improve the capacity of educators, administrators and education professionals to address their specific school discipline needs and enable the development of positive teaching and learning environments.

If you would like to look over some of the research that has been published about PBIS, please free free to look over this pdf document summarizing some of the findings found in recent literature.

You can also review our recent newslettesr to get an idea of ongoing projects and upcoming events.

Why should schools participate?

The foundation of PBISAz is grounded in research on successful school change and School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS). Further, in contrast to most top-down professional development approaches, PBISAz uses an ongoing strategic planning process (Arizona School Evaluation Tool: AzSET 2002) to identify professional development needs specific to the context of each school.

What does PBISAz provide to schools?

The PBISAz is not a one-shot workshop. Rather, PBISAz provides direct support to school-based leadership teams as they engage in the process of self-evaluation, implementation of systems change, and selection of interventions to best fit their school and community needs. Specific professional development experiences include:

• Access to a comprehensive web site enables access to resources, and direct communication with project and field experts online.
• A two day day conference school-based leadership teams to engage in the strategic planning process utilizing the AzSET
• Conferences focused on school-wide discipline procedures, functional behavioral assessment, and the coaching model approach where leadership teams are trained how to facilitate others in the AzSET and SWPBIS.
• Online, distance education, and Interactive Instructional Television courses for credit specific to school-wide discipline issues, data collection and analysis, efficient systems, best-practices, functional behavioral assessment, individual behavior management, and academic interventions.
• Ongoing professional development opportunities to facilitate the implementation and maintenance of each school's strategic safe school plan via both face-to-face and online consultations.

How do schools participate in the PBISAz group?

There is support available to participate in PBISAz through the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). The ADE supports the Creating Disciplined Schools Grant, which provides school districts with monies to participate in PBISAz. However, you can be a part of PBISAz regardless of grant support! All you need to do is contact PBISAz main office to take the first step toward creating the positive teaching and learning environment you want at your school!

Join the PBISAz group now and learn how to create positive teaching and learning environments in your K-12 school! To do so, call 480-884-1653 , or email pbis@asu.edu.

*All workshops, conferences and courses may be taken for graduate or continuing education credit. Certificates of completion are provided for those who attend the workshops or conferences.