About Educational and Community Supports

ECS, a research unit within the College of Education at the University of Oregon, focuses on the development and implementation of practices that result in positive, durable, and scientifically validated change in the lives of students from kindergarten through high school and of individuals with disabilities and their families. ECS faculty and staff secure federal and state funding that targets research, training, and practice to create new knowledge, guarantee evidence-based practices, and provide technical assistance to benefit individuals and organizations at the local, state, and national levels.

PBS Research Agenda

Our primary PBS research effort, the Research and Demonstration Center on School-Wide Behavior Support, addresses two questions:

1. Does team-based training in school-wide positive behavior support (Effective Behavior Support (EBS) Curriculum) affect the behavior support systems used in schools?
2. If a school adopts School-wide PBS systems, are there changes in (a) rates of reported problem behaviors, (b) suspensions and expulsions, and (c) academic performance?

Secondary research foci will examine (a) the extent to which changes in systems and student behavior endure across time, (b) the cost of problem behavior and behavior change efforts, and (c) specific behavioral practices that improve the efficiency or effectiveness of School-wide PBS efforts.

The Research and Demonstration Center involves a 90 school randomized, control-group research design with schools from Illinois, Hawaii, Oregon, Missouri and Florida. All participating schools will include grades K-3. Approximately 30 schools will be selected from Oregon, Hawaii and Illinois who already use School-wide Positive Behavior Support (PBS) and have a School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) mean score of at least 78%. Approximately 60 schools will be selected from Illinois and Hawaii and randomly assigned into two groups (Cohort 1 and Cohort 2). The schools in Cohort 1 will receive School-wide PBS training during the 2001-2002 academic year, and initiate procedures in the Spring or Fall of 2002. Schools in Cohort 2 will receive training in School-wide PBS during the 2002-2003 academic year and initiate procedures in the Spring or Fall of 2003. Data for all 90+ schools will be collected across a five-year period to assess the impact of initial implementation and on-going maintenance. An additional group of schools in Missouri (at least 9) and Florida (at least 9) will be randomly assigned, and will implement School-wide PBS.

Current PBS Projects

Several of our current projects examine the contributions positive behavior supports (PBS) can make to educational improvement. PBS emphasizes the establishment and maintenance of proactive, school-wide systems of support that define, teach, and encourage appropriate behaviors in a way that fosters a culture of competence within schools. PBS systems reduce the disciplinany burden on teachers and administrators and create an environment conducive to learning.

Technical Assistance Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

The goal of the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (CPBIS) is to increase the capacity of schools, families, and communities to support and educate children and youth with significant problem behaviors by (a) enhancing both awareness and knowledge of positive behavioral interventions and support as part of these systems and (b) emphasizing the features of a comprehensive systems approach to sustain these interventions and supports.

Funded by The Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. H326S980003-00A.

Research and Demonstration Center on School-Wide Behavior Support

This Center will demonstrate with approximately 90 schools from representative school districts and states across the nation over a five-year period through experimental and programmatic research methods the effectiveness, efficiency, durability, and relevance of school-wide behavior support. School-wide behavior support is defined as the broad range of systemic and individualized strategies designed to achieve important social and learning outcomes while preventing problem behavior for all students. Although researchers throughout the nation have established demonstrations of school-wide positive behavior support in over 600 schools over the past 10 years, critical questions still exist. Within and across schools, the Center will address three primary research questions: Does a functional relationship exist between school-wide behavior support and (a) change in the discipline systems within schools, (b) reduction in problem behavior (e.g., rates of office discipline referrals, observed problem behavior, suspensions and expulsions, referrals to special education), (c) academic achievement (e.g., rates of engagement, state-wide test scores, grades, reading rates), and (d) school climate (e.g., staff, student, and parent knowledge and perceptions; quality of school environment)? If school-wide behavior support is implemented, does a positive correlation exist between the level and features of a "system" implementation and the durability of school-wide practices and outcomes"? What are the comparative benefits compared with the costs of implementing school-wide behavior support?

Funded by The Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. H324X010015.

Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Positive Behavior Support

While the field of behavior support has advanced tremendously in the past 10 years, considerable need remains for (a) understanding the foundation mechanisms that lead to problem behavior; (b) designing prevention and intervention procedures that produce durable, lifelong effects; and (c) embedding existing technical knowledge in typical educational, social, and work environments. The RRTC is uniquely designed to build the needed scientific knowledge base, extend knowledge to the support of a more diverse group of people with disabilities, and dissemiate accurate information to families, schools, community agencies and employment support organizations. Its five research projects will address (a) comprehensive applications of positive behavior support, (b) prevention of severe problem behavior, (c) maintenance of intervention effects, (d) self-management, and (e) functional assessment. In addition, three training projects focus on (a) inservice and preservice training, (b) dissemination of knowledge and technology, and (c) technical assistance to families, schools, and community support agencies.

Funded by The Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. 5830-357-LO-A.

High School Positive Behavior Support: Increasing Success for All Students

Elementary and middle school educators have shown that it is possible to create and sustain learning and teaching environments that are safe, secure, positive, inclusive, competent, and accommodating. Unfortunately, the same level of school-wide PBS implementation has not been demonstrated and validated at the high school level. What makes the high school culture and context so different? This research project has two main purposes:

1. identify and study the factors that contribute and/or inhibit comprehensive school-wide systems of PBS for all students and
2. establish and study intensive demonstrations of high school level implementations of school-wide PBS.

Funded by The Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, Grant No. H324D020031.

For more information about these and other ECS projects, please visit our Projects page.

PBS Surveys Personnel

Co-coordinators: Rob Horner and George Sugai.

PBS Surveys Account Manager: Mona Woods, (541) 346-3728.

PBS Surveys Technical Assistance: Katie Conley, (541) 346-2248.

PBS Surveys Technical Assistance: Celeste Rossetto Dickey, (541) 346-1642.