Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in High Schools: A Case Study from New Hampshire

The quality of a school’s social environment is critically related to student outcomes, including academic performance, attendance, student behavior, and high school completion rates. New Hampshire engaged in a dropout prevention initiative between 2006 and 2012 that focused on implementation of the multi-tiered Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework combined with an intensive, student-driven school-to-adult life transition intervention for the highest-need youth. This paper presents a case study of how one high school in the New Hampshire dropout prevention project implemented PBIS at all three tiers of support: school-wide, targeted, and intensive. The case study includes a description of practices implemented by the school, school and student level outcomes pre- and post-implementation, and successes and challenges experienced by the school staff. The discussion ends with recommendations for practice and research of PBIS implementation in high schools.