The Sustainability of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

A summary of the available literature on sustainability is provided and recommended sustainability features are applied to implementation of schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS). One hundred and seventeen schools from 6 states completed the sustainability survey, which determined the presence of 8 sustainability features as they related to sustaining schoolwide positive behavior supports. Results from a logistic regression analysis demonstrate that together the sustainability features of administrative support combined with communication and data-based decision making create the best-fitting model of sustainability for SWPBIS. The results suggest that an educational innovation is more likely to be implemented and sustained with fidelity if it (a) has support from an administrator who encourages communication about the core features of the innovation and (b) uses data to plan and make changes. Implications for large-scale, sustained implementation of evidence-based practices are provided.