School Climate and PBIS

Also called education climate, school climate is how the school experience “feels” related to safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and the physical building.

A positive school climate improves academic performance, attendance, social emotional learning, and life skills of children and youth. A positive school environment also has been shown to increase teacher retention, lower dropout rates, decrease incidences of violence, reduce the need for out-of-school suspensions, and increase student achievement.

Learn more here about positive behavior support and how it can be initiated in your local school to alter the ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ into a ‘school-to-opportunity.

Interested in School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) for your Georgia school? See links to resources at right.

Georgia Resources

• Georgia Department of Education – Interested in PBIS Implementation?
• Georgia Department of Education – Overview of PBIS
• PBIS Staff Training Power Point, developed by Muscogee County School District (Georgia) Includes 2 videos: (1) 6-minute video of a teacher demonstrating he can get to class on time in under 5 minutes; he stops at his locker, talks with a teacher, says hi to friends, all while crawling; and (2) Best evidence-based practices for behavioral support (Univ. of Connecticut)

Federal Resources

• Supportive School Discipline Webinar – January 2014
• Guidance on School Discipline
• US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights
• US Department of Justice

Videos on PBIS

Video 1 of 5: Why Positive Learning Climates Matter
Created by Metro Regional Education Service Agency, Bright From the Start:
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), and the Georgia
Department of Education; produced by Georgia Public Broadcasting; and funded by a grant from the David, Helen, and Marian Woodward Fund—Atlanta.