The Impact of Positive Behavior Support to Decrease Discipline Referrals with Elementary Students

The study in this article was designed to examine the outcomes of positive behavior support approaches at a Southeastern suburban elementary school that had been experiencing increased discipline referrals. School-wide initiatives were implemented as well as a support group for targeted students. Post-intervention data indicated that behavioral referrals decreased. Additionally, the positive behavior ratings reported by teachers increased for most of the children who participated in the support group. After participating in the intervention, 60% of those students participating in the support group reduced their discipline referrals to zero.