Staff buy-in has been implicated as an important factor in the implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS). However, most evidence related to buy-in is indirect and does not involve systematic measurement of buy-in. The purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate a six-item measure of staff commitment to implement SW-PBIS. Responses were gathered from 1,218 teachers and staff working in schools at various stages of SW-PBIS implementation. Results showed strong evidence of internal consistency, construct validity, and content validity for the buy-in measure. There was a strong bias toward positive responding on the measure, but there were statistically significant differences that aligned with previous research (e.g., grade level of the school, role of respondents). In terms of concurrent validity, the relation between commitment and fidelity of implementation was as hypothesized, but the low number of schools and limited variability made the findings tentative.
AdelmanH. S.TaylorL. (1997). Toward a scale-up and replicating new approaches to schooling. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 8, 197–230.
2.
AjzenI. (1985). From intentions to actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior. In KuhlJ.BeckmanJ. (Eds.), Action-control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11–39). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
BeckerK. D.DomitrovichC. E. (2011). The conceptualization, integration, and support of evidence-based interventions in the schools. School Psychology Review, 40, 582–589.
5.
BohanonH.FlanneryK. B.MalloyJ.FenningP. (2009). Utilizing positive behavior supports in high school settings to improve school completion rates for students with high incidence conditions. Exceptionality, 17, 30–44.
6.
BradshawC. P.DebnamK.KothC. W.LeafP. (2009). Preliminary validation of the Implementation Phases Inventory for assessing fidelity of schoolwide positive behavioral supports. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 11, 145–160.
7.
CappellaE.ReinkeW. M.HoagwoodK. E. (2011). Advancing intervention research in school psychology: Finding the balance between process and outcome for social and behavioral interventions. School Psychology Review, 40, 455–464.
8.
CarrE. G.DunlapG.HornerR. H.KoegelR. L.TurnbullA. P.SailorW.. . . FoxL. (2002). Positive behavior support: Evolution of an applied science. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 4, 4–16.
9.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
10.
CollinsD. (2003). Pretesting survey instruments: An overview of cognitive methods. Quality of Life Research, 12, 229–238.
11.
ColvinG.KameenuiE. J.SugaiG. (1993). Reconceptualizing behavior management and school-wide discipline in general education. Education & Treatment of Children, 16, 361–382.
12.
DillmanD. A. (1983). Mail and other self-administered questionnaires. In RossiP.WrightJ. D.AndersonA. B. (Eds.), The handbook of survey research (pp. 359–377). New York, NY: Academic Press.
13.
FilterK. J.SytsmaM. R. (2013, February). Staff buy-in to SW-PBIS. In FilterK. J. (Chair), Teacher factors in PBIS implementation. Symposium conducted at the Annual Convention for the National Association of School Psychologists, Seattle, WA.
14.
FixsenD. L.NaoomS. F.BlaseK. A.FriedmanR. M.WallaceF. (2005). Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature (FMHI Publication No. 231). Tampa: The National Implementation Research Network, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida.
15.
FlanneryK. B.FenningP.KatoM. M.McIntoshK. (2014). Effects of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports and fidelity of implementation on problem behavior in high schools. School Psychology Quarterly, 29, 111–124.
16.
FlanneryK. B.FrankJ. L.DorenB.KatoM. M.FenningP. (2013). Reconceptualizing behavior management and school-wide discipline in general education. The High School Journal, 96, 267–282.
17.
FreyA.FaithT.ElliotA.RoyerB. (2006). A pilot study examining the social validity and effectiveness of a positive behavior support model in Head Start. School Social Work Journal, 30, 22–44.
18.
GeorgeH. P.KincaidD.Pollard-SageJ. (2009). Primary tier interventions and supports. In GeorgeH. P.KincaidD.Pollard-SageJ. (Eds.), Handbook of positive behavior support (pp. 375-394). New York, NY: Springer.
19.
HalseyL. G.Curran-EverettD.VowlerS. L.DrummondG. B. (2015). The fickle P value generates irreproducible results. Nature Methods, 12, 179–185.
20.
HornerR. H.SugaiG.SmolkowskiK.EberL.NakasatoJ.ToddA. W.EsperanzaJ. (2009). A randomized, wait-list controlled effectiveness trial assessing school-wide positive behavior support in elementary schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 11, 133–144.
21.
HornerR. H.ToddA. W.Lewis-PalmerT.IrvinL. K.SugaiG.BolandJ. B. (2004). The School-Wide Evaluation Tool (SET): A research instrument for assessing school-wide positive behavior support. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 6, 3–12.
22.
HuL.BentlerP. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55.
23.
KincaidD.ChildsC.BlaséK. A.WallaceF. (2007). Identifying barriers and facilitators in implementing schoolwide positive behavior support. Journal of Positive Behavior Support, 9, 174–184.
24.
KlineR. B. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
25.
LohrmanS.MartinS. D.PatilS. (2013). Internal and external coaches’ perspectives about overcoming barriers to universal interventions. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 15, 26–38.
26.
ManfredaK. L.BosnjakM.BerzelakJ.HaasI.VehovarV. (2008). Web surveys versus other survey modes. International Journal of Market Research, 50, 79–104.
27.
McIntoshK.FilterK. J.BennettJ. L.RyanC.SugaiG. (2010). Principles of sustainable prevention: Designing scale-up of school-wide positive behavior support to promote durable systems. Psychology in the Schools, 47, 5–21.
28.
McIntoshK.HornerR. H.SugaiG. (2009). Sustainability of systems-level evidence-based practices in schools: Current knowledge and future directions. In SailorW.DunlapG.SugaiG.HornerR. H. (Eds.), Handbook of positive behavior support (pp. 327–352). New York, NY: Springer.
29.
MolloyL. E.MooreJ. E.TrailJ.Van EppsJ. J.HopferS. (2013). Understanding real-world implementation quality and “active ingredients” of PBIS. Prevention Science, 14, 593–605.
30.
RubioD. M.Berg-WagnerM.TebbS. S.LeeE. S.RauchS. (2003). Objectifying content validity: Conducting a content validity study in social work research. Social Work Research, 27, 94–104.
31.
SugaiG.HornerR. H. (2002). The evolution of discipline practices: School-wide positive behavior supports. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 24(1–2), 23–50.
32.
SugaiG.Lewis-PalmerT.ToddA.HornerR. H. (2001). School-Wide Evaluation Tool. Eugene: University of Oregon.
33.
TurnbullB. (2002). Teacher participation and buy-in: Implications for school reform initiatives. Learning Environments Research, 5, 235–252.
VincentC.SpauldingS.TobinT. J. (2010). A reexamination of the psychometric properties of the School-Wide Evaluation Tool (SET). Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 12, 161–178.
36.
ZumboB. D.HubleyA. M. (1998). A note on misconceptions concerning prospective and retrospective power. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series D: The Statistician, 47, 385–388.
