How Do Different Types of High School Students Respond to Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Programs?

In this article, the authors examined (a) the accuracy of teacher nominations in identifying ( N = 178) high school students with externalizing, internalizing, comorbid, and typical behavior patterns, as well as students who were receiving special education services for high-incidence disabilities, (b) the level of treatment fidelity and access to reinforcement for the different student groups, and (c) the degree to which these different types of students responded to a schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS) intervention program. Results indicated that despite receiving equal access to reinforcement, there were subtle differences regarding how different types of high school students responded to the SW-PBS. It appears that students with internalizing behavior problems were the most responsive, whereas students with comorbid concerns were the least responsive. Limitations and directions for future research are offered.