Staff and student perspectives and effects of positive behaviour support: a literature review

ABSTRACT

Positive behaviour support (PBS) has been receiving increased attention recently but has not been studied from the perspectives of staff and students in Sweden. This article presents an integrative and systematic literature review focusing on international research concerning staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS . The aim was to describe staff and student perspectives regarding PBS and its effects, between 2000 and 2022. The findings indicate that there is a lack of empirical research involving the combination of staff and student perspectives of the effects of PBS. The existing research is mostly from elementary schools age range 6 to 13. However, the findings suggest that there have been several studies that aim to gain a better understanding of teachers’ and students’ perspectives of how PBS enhances student social relationships, lowers problem behaviour and increases academic performance. According to the current findings, the success of the PBS approach is greatly influenced by the efficacy of execution and the leadership of the school’s support for implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• Effects
• perception
• positive behaviour support (PBS)
• primary school
• staff
• students

Introduction

Any school, wherever in the world it is located, needs a social environment conducive to learning for students, so that they are able to succeed in their studies. Several different programmes or strategies to assist with this have been tested and implemented in schools. One such comprehensive programme is positive behaviour support (PBS), in which the continuum of support consists of three tiers or levels of intervention. These are as follows: primary prevention (often referred to as universal support or Tier I); secondary prevention (targeted interventions, or Tier II); and tertiary prevention (intensive support or Tier III) (Horner et al., 2010). In this review, the terms “level” and “tier” will be used interchangeably as both appear in the literature.

The first level establishes a universal base that encompasses all students and staff across all settings, teachers and other types of educational workers in schools. Therapies at level two are tailored to adolescents who, for a variety of reasons, require more support, are at danger of developing serious behavioural issues but have not yet done so and who do not receive enough support from level one interventions (Talme et al., 2018). Interventions at level three are tailored, frequently resource-intensive and designed for the approximate 1–5% of students with disabilities, emotional and behavioural difficulties and students with no diagnostic label at all who need individualised support to improve their behavioural and academic outcomes.

These interventions should be based on individualised action plans and mapping. Students receiving level three interventions still receive level one and level two interventions (Talme et al., 2018). PBS needs to create a school’s PBS team and the team should benefit from members who understand students holistically. PBS teams often include an administrator, school or educational psychologist, school counsellor and special educators in addition to the grade level teachers (Martens & Andreen, 2013). Counsellors, school psychologists and special educators often have long-term relationships with the families and students in the community they serve: these relationships can translate into a deep understanding of the needs and desires of families and students (Thornton, 2018). For schools using PBS, the school counsellor and school or educational psychologist are essential members of the implementation team; both disciplines focus on strategies to prevent problems and to overcome obstructions to student success (Thornton, 2018). Moreover, PBS corresponds with the school counsellor and school or educational psychologist role in that they have significant training and interactions working with students facing challenges, and they have more flexibility built into their schedules when compared to teachers and administrators (Martens & Andreen, 2013). Numerous experimental investigations conducted since the year 2000 have confirmed the PBS framework’s efficiency at the school-wide level. Improvements in disciplinary behaviour, such as directing the student to work on assignments in another location, school suspension, school atmosphere, organisational health, student bullying behaviour, peer victimisation and academic achievement are supported by this framework (Luiselli et al., 2005). According to numerous studies, PBS implementation can lower referrals for formal disciplinary action, such as suspensions and expulsions (Kelm et al., 2014), as well as reduce problematic behaviour in students, promote efficient learning behaviour and improve study results (Todd et al., 2002). It also raises teachers’ self efficacy. However, sometimes teachers’ perceptions of the PBS programme varied (Ingemarson et al., 2016) and they encouraged more active participation from students (Griffin et al., 2017).

As a result, PBS is regarded as an evidence-based intervention to enhance children’s learning behaviours (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010). According to the Swedish School Act, disciplinary measures are regulated, and expulsion from class, detention, written warning following an investigation, relocation and suspension are all examples of disciplinary actions. Some of the measures call for the parents’ or guardians’ participation and a formal decision from the principal. Discipline measures must be proportionate to their intended purpose, and they cannot be employed as penalties. Special care for the child’s best interests and the school’s consideration of factors, such as like the student’s age and maturity, are significant beginning points in the assessment (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2022). In Sweden, PBS is currently being tested as a way to positively promote the school day for students’ learning and for teachers to better manage teaching situations. This is the reason that a knowledge overview is needed; to understand, above all, how students and teachers perceive interventions using PBS. To this it can be added that no empirical research exists in Sweden regarding staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS.

Aim and research question

The aim of the study is to review the studies published on staff and student perspectives, results and attitudes on the effects of PBS between 2000 and 2022 and to gain an understanding of the previous research on staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS, by comparing and contrasting the source relevant literature on the topic and to provide an overview of the key findings and debates.

The research questions are

• What have been the aims, sample sizes, data collection methods and studies results   between 2000 and 2022?

• What are the outcomes of findings in staff experiences and perceptions on the effects of PBS between 2000 and 2022 ?

• What are the outcomes of findings in student experiences and perceptions on the effects of PBS between 2000 and 2022 ?

Previous research

To obtain a conceptual understanding of PBS, first the curriculum framework of PBS is presented, followed by its underlying philosophy. The PBS curriculum (collective vision and goals for intervention, collaboration and team building, gathering of information and data and monitoring and evaluation of intervention outcomes) is very similar to all school curriculums that both must be managed and planned well in advance, with clear goals and expectations set forth. PBS includes the following essential components: (a) setting of clear expectations for the student or the students; (b) teaching these expectations; (c) allowing students to practise these expectations; (d) positively reinforcing desired behaviour; (e) setting clear consequences for problem behaviour; (f) extending school-wide expectations to all classrooms; and (g) gathering and using data for ongoing decision-making (Wienen et al., 2019).

Clear objectives and expectations must be planned and established well in advance and must be controlled. PBS plans are used by some schools in a manner similar to the way that they use curricula in the classroom. These lesson plans must include specific goals and activities to demonstrate the desired behaviours (Boucher, 2011). PBS programmes are frequently used in schools as an implementation for behavioural problems. Some schools have only partially implemented these programmes (one or two tiers of the three tiers); other schools have fully implemented the three tiers of PBS (Boucher, 2011), for example, Sørlie et al. (2018), have examined the differential impacts of the combined three-tiered model, whereas the majority of PBS evaluations have worked with just tier one of PBS, which embraces the majority of students (Sørlie & Ogden, 2015). For example, the components of PBS universal support or tier one are that of expectations, modelling, consistency, acknowledgement and evaluation (Subban et al., 2020).

Expectations: by setting clear expectations eliminates doubt and sets targets. Clear visual cues through posters or pictures and utilising inclusive language help students understand what behaviours are expected of them (Subban et al., 2020). Modelling: by illustrating what the behaviour looks and feels like using discussion, modelling, role-play, skits, examples and practice (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006). Consistency: students need to know what to expect by providing examples of what it looks like to behave as expected in each school setting (Subban et al., 2020). Acknowledgement: developing a school-wide plan for acknowledging positive behaviours of students; frequent and small rewards are most effective. Evaluation: by a long-term data collection and analysis and ongoing evaluation of intervention strategies (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, 2006).

The universal PBS prevention strategy aims to change the school environment by developing better systems (such as discipline, reinforcement, data management) and procedures (such as office referral, training and leadership) that encourage positive change in staff behaviours, which in turn changes student behaviours (Bradshaw et al., 2010). Through the introduction of behaviour expectations that are explicitly taught and reinforced by all teachers across all contexts, positive behaviour support (PBS) focuses on fostering social competence. The positive effects that instructors can have on student outcomes, such as academic achievement, motivation, attachment to school, behaviour and social skills, are demonstrated by a variety of studies (Kelm & McIntosh, 2012). Numerous experimental investigations conducted since the 1980s have confirmed the PBS framework’s efficiency at the school-wide level. Improvements in disciplinary behaviours, such as detentions, a suspension, school atmosphere, organisational health, student bullying behaviour and peer victimisation and academic achievement are supported by this body of research (Boucher, 2011).

The PBS philosophy embraces the idea that humanistic values should inform empiricism and working should be in a fact-based, evidence-based and experience-based manner (Carr, 1996). As a result, the strategy avoids employing techniques that community members consider to be dehumanising or degrading (Burke et al., 2014; Carr et al., 2002). PBS’s life-span perspective is perhaps another crucial aspect to consider. According to Carr et al. (2002), efforts to bring about real change frequently take years. Comprehensive lifestyle changes can be achieved to help an individual change his or her lifestyle to perceive and enjoy an improved quality of life and to render problem behaviour irrelevant, inefficient and ineffective, by helping an individual achieve his or her goals in a socially acceptable manner. A life-span perspective sees intervention as a continuous systemic process that evolves as different challenges arise during different life stages and is necessary for successfully assisting a person to make transitions from preschool to elementary and high school, thence to the workplace and supported living, for example within a social group for people with disabilities.

PBS has focused on the idea that consumers are not simply recipients of services but rather work alongside experts as active participants and collaborators in a process of reciprocal information exchange (Carr et al., 2002). There has been some criticism of PBS as one of the behaviour management systems that use elaborate frameworks to punish and reward behaviour making students behave in a way desired by schools and teachers that does not support human rights: also that PBS is not supported by quality evidence and is quite costly in terms of both time and effort, as some believe (Thoutenhoofd, 2019).

Method

The current study is based on an integrative and systematic literature review carried out according to a flowchart influenced by Polit and Beck’s (2007) methodology. Based on the review-specified categories of data, the systematic literature review identifies, selects and evaluates research. Systematic literature reviews are designed to be targeted, extensive database searches. The purpose is to update the reader on the state of the field’s literature and provide motivation for additional study (Polit & Beck, 2007). A strategy that enables the inclusion of several approaches is the integrative review method; it is a technique that condenses earlier empirical or theoretical work in order to offer a more thorough grasp of a specific topic (Cooper, 1998). Scientifically executed integrative reviews have practical and direct applicability to practice and that is precisely the aim of the current research (Whittemore & Knafl, 2005).

Search strategy

The aim of the literature review was to describe and evaluate published studies regarding staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS, between 2000 and 2022. ERIC, Education database, ProQuests and SWEpub were consulted for relevant references by checking the reference lists of the published articles.

The keyword searches included the following terms: positive behaviour support, staff, students, effects. Both British English and American English spellings were used. The following wildcards were also used: school*, behavio*r*, teach* and the filters (scholarly Journals, peer reviewed, English) (see Table 1).

Table 1. Information regarding databases searched.

Database	Search area	Coverage	Keywords	Hits
ERIC	Title, abstract, keywords	2000–2022	tiabsu ((pbs OR “positive behavio* support” OR swpbis OR PBIS OR IBIS)) AND tiabsu (“primary education” OR “elementary education” OR “primary school” OR “elementary school”)	206
Education database	Title, abstract, keywords	2000–2022	tiabsu ((pbs OR “positive behavio* support” OR swpbis OR PBIS OR IBIS)) AND tiabsu (“primary education” OR “elementary education” OR “primary school” OR “elementary school”)	273
ProQuest	Title, abstract, keywords	2000–2022	tiabsu ((pbs OR “positive behavio* support” OR swpbis OR PBIS OR IBIS)) AND tiabsu (“primary education” OR “elementary education” OR “primary school” OR “elementary school”)	366
SWEpub	Title, abstract, keywords	2000–2022	tiabsu ((pbs OR “positive behavio* support” OR swpbis OR PBIS OR IBIS)) AND tiabsu (“primary education” OR “elementary education” OR “primary school” OR “elementary school”)	7

A total of 852 studies were identified, which, after duplicate detection by the Zotero data system, became a final total of 266 studies. After the first round, specific searching was used for additional search terms; the keyword searches in this round included the following terms: effects, experiences, perceptions and results, and the total become 41 studies.

Another selection round was conducted to determine which studies met the inclusion criteria. In this phase of the selection process, these 41 texts were thoroughly read in full. A further 25 texts were excluded, so n = 16 texts remained (see Figure 1). The researcher selected the programmes that focused on the entire school (Tier 1) and the effects as outcome measures (staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS). The studies had to meet the following criteria to be eligible for inclusion: (a) The focus of the study was on staff and student perspectives, experiences and perceptions on the effects of PBS; (b) The interventions needed to focus on (basically) all students in the primary school (Tier 1); and (c) The outcome variable had to include measures of academic outcomes, behavioural outcomes, social emotional outcomes, motivational outcomes, or other relevant student and staff outcomes.

Figure 1. Search strategy.

Limitations of the search strategy

The study has been limited to texts published in the years 2000–2022, either written in English or translated into English. The review has also been limited to PBS programmes that focused on the entire school (Tier 1) and the outcome measures in staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS.

Analysis

The content was analysed inductively and thematically (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Codes and categories, which finally formed themes, were analysed from the material (Seuring & Gold, 2012). Content analyses broadly include the following three steps: selection of focus texts, coding of the texts and interpretation of the results. These three steps were followed in this study to answer our research questions. In accordance with the study’s goal, the content also underwent contextual and substantive analysis.

Findings

To obtain understanding of the findings, the distribution of sources reviewed by country of research and year is presented first, and then the research questions are answered. In conclusion, it can be said that the bulk of texts are new publications, written in English and located mostly in the United States (see Table 2).

Table 2. Distribution of sources, reviewed by research country.

Country of research	Sources N=16	%
USA	11	68.75
Canada	3	18.75
The Netherlands	1	6.25
Sweden	1	6.25

This section outlines the studies’ aims, samples sizes, data collection methods, findings and the outcomes of the review. Only 16 articles remained for analysis. Most of the studies were conducted in the United States (n = 11); the others were in Canada (n = 3), the Netherlands (n = 1) and Sweden (n = 1). Furthermore, most of the studies were between 2011 and 2015, with five between 2016 and 2022 (see Table 3).

Table 3. Distribution of sources, reviewed by year.

Years	Sources N=16	%
2000–2005	3	18.75
2006–2010	3	18.75
2011–2015	5	31.25
2016–2020	4	25
2021–2022	1	6.25

Differences in the aims, samples sizes, data collection methods and results of the studies between 2000 and 2022 

Data collection method

The studies reviewed used a variety of data collection strategies, from self-assessment reports to students’ opinions. Only one study relied on the opinions of external observers. Two studies relied on the students’ perspectives on the effects of PBS. A 2014 study by Gietz & McIntosh relied on student responses to a provincial academic achievement measure and a student satisfaction survey (Gietz & McIntosh, 2014). In their 2017 study, Griffin et al. relied on an anonymous post-intervention social validity survey, which was intended to gauge how the students felt about PBS (Griffin et al., 2017). Most of the studies relied only on the staff or teachers’ perspectives of the effects of PBS.

In their 2012 study, Bradshaw et al. evaluated staff self-reports using the checklist for classroom Observation by Teachers (Bradshaw et al., 2012). In studies by Kelm et al. (2014) and Luiselli et al. (2005) the opinions and satisfaction of teachers with policies such as: ensuring that children know what is required of them; teaching a small number of positively stated expectations that are applied to all areas of the school; develop a staff whose efficiency, loyalty and teamwork; and consistency in teaching the expectations. Performance expectations, aspects of the physical environment, and other topics were sampled in a multiple-item questionnaire (Kelm et al., 2014; Luiselli et al., 2005). In a 2002 intervention research study conducted by Todd et al., at Guy Lee Elementary School in Springfield, Oregon, the impact of the survey was assessed by combining office discipline referrals with staff satisfaction questionnaires (Todd et al., 2002). To gauge teachers’ satisfaction with the PBS project, Nelson et al. used a three-item survey (Nelson et al., 2002). In (McIntosh et al., 2011) study, data were collected at the systems level, including interviews with teachers and students as well as informal observations (McIntosh et al., 2011). In 2016, Ingemarson et al. conducted interviews with teachers employed at seven schools as the basis for their study. The ideological perspectives of the teachers had an impact on how they perceived the programme (Gage et al., 2019; Ingemarson et al., 2016). In their 2015 study, Feuerborn et al. gathered data using an online survey delivered in an email to every staff member who regularly interacted with students in the participating schools. The survey was made available to staff across all settings, teachers and other types of educational workers in schools. Identifying information was not gathered from respondents in order to promote frank responses (Feuerborn et al., 2015). Dutton Tillery et al. (2010) conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with volunteer general education teachers in kindergarten and first grade (Age 6–7) to determine how they perceived student behaviour (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010).

Only (Franzen & Kamps, 2008) study relied on the opinions of external observers. Each incident’s student and/or instructor behaviour was noted, with a tally in the cell designated with the appropriate targeted behaviour on a data sheet (Franzen & Kamps, 2008).

Data and statistical issues

Data quality is a crucial aspect of any research, especially in education. Researchers often face difficulties in selecting appropriate statistical methods. Only some of the studies the researcher reviewed have referred to the statistical issues; often the small sample size precluded the use of statistical analyses. In the Gietz and McIntosh (2014) study, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the amount of variance in student achievement explained by student perceptions of the school environment when controlling for school-level poverty and accounting for nesting by district (Gietz & McIntosh, 2014). Semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis were used in the Ingemarson et al. (2016) study. Exploratory factor analysis of the survey items was conducted after the survey was revised and used in the Feuerborn et al. (2015) study to determine how the survey items might best be grouped into subscales.

Samples sizes

Most volume samples are from many elementary schools in the age range 6 to 13, teachers and students, with some studies relying on samples from only one or two schools. The largest samples came from Gietz and McIntosh’s (2014) study, which included information from 969 elementary schools and 73 middle schools across all 60 public school districts in British Columbia, representing 93% of the province’s public elementary and middle schools. One of the largest samples was in Gage et al. (2019) study of 593 Florida schools. Nelen et al.’s study included 14,256 pupils in 66 elementary schools, conducted between 2015 and 2018 (Nelen et al., 2021), and Bradshaw et al. (2012) study had a sample size of 12,344 students from 37 elementary schools.

Some studies had less than n = 50, such as Feuerborn et al. (2015) study, which featured 36 schools from nine districts in Western Washington, Ingemarson et al. (2016) study with 13 teachers in 23 schools in the Stockholm area, Nelson et al. (2002) study with seven primary schools examined over 2 years and Dutton et al.’s study of all the kindergarten and first-grade teachers at five schools (n = 50) (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010).

The studies with small sample sizes relied on one or two schools. These include a study by Franzen and Kamps (2008) with 180 students from two schools in an urban US Midwestern metropolis, along with 10 teachers (Franzen & Kamps, 2008; Griffin et al., 2017) study of students in Grades 1 to 6 in two primary schools (Griffin et al., 2017); McIntosh et al.’s study of a medium-sized school district in British Columbia (McIntosh et al., 2011); Todd et al.’s study (Todd et al., 2002) at Guy Lee Elementary School in Springfield, Oregon (Todd et al., 2002); and McDaniel et al.’s case study of a school district in the southeastern United States (McDaniel et al., 2017). In the current systematic literature review, it is possible to observe a lack of empirical research involving the combination of staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS.

Critical appraisal/limitations of the studies

Most of the studies the researcher reviewed have pointed to the limitations; several limitations are worth noting.

The small sample size (McIntosh et al., 2011) is a limitation, and some of the studies took place at elementary schools with a large percentage of minority students (Griffin et al., 2017) or with a lack of cultural diversity in participants, which may hinder the generalisability of the findings (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010; Kelm et al., 2014; McIntosh et al., 2011; Nelson et al., 2002).

Another limitation might be changes in student and staff population from year to year (Luiselli et al., 2005; Nelson et al., 2002). The selection of participants can be another limitation that the selection of participants was made among teachers who had been active in the PBS steering groups, and those teachers tended to be more positively oriented towards the programme (Ingemarson et al., 2016). Some teachers may have been affected, or biased, through an interest in the topic of behaviour management (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010), and urban areas may have access to greater resources and training for their teachers (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010). In some studies, the consistent data before implementation were not available for pre-post comparisons (McIntosh et al., 2011), and a comparative control group was not used (Nelson et al., 2002).

The student and staff perceptions were measured in some studies with single items, providing less assurance of reliability and validity than if multiple-item measures were used (McIntosh et al., 2011). The use of a pre-defined framework might have led to narrower statements from the participants (Ingemarson et al., 2016), and the manner in which students and staff respond to the questions may be subjective and may not be an accurate reflection of the implementation (Franzen & Kamps, 2008; Gietz & McIntosh, 2014).

General orientation questions

In examining staff and students’ perceptions, different general orientation questions were used in some of the studies reviewed. The study by Gietz and McIntosh (2014) relied on the following items ”Do you know how your school expects students to behave? At school, are you bullied, teased, or picked on? Do you feel safe at school? Do you feel welcome at your school?”. The Kelm et al. (2014) study used students’ responses to the following three questions: ”Do you feel safe at school? At school, are you bullied, teased, or picked on? and Do you know how your school expects students to behave?”. To examine staff perceptions in some general orientation questions, Todd et al. (2002), the responses to the following questions were used: “Were the recess workshops a good use of instructional time? Have you seen a positive change in student recess behaviour? Have you used the written recess guidelines for teaching and giving feedback to students? Do you think the recess workshops should be conducted yearly at the beginning of the school year and winter season?”.

Qualitative or open-ended items used in the Feuerborn et al. (2015) study to understand staff concerns, needs and existing capacities were “When you think about PBS, what concerns do you have? Please be frank and answer in complete sentences. When it comes to behaviour and discipline, what is working well in this school? What is needed to make it better?”. Data collection in the Dutton Tillery et al. (2010) study was accomplished through in-depth, individual, semi-structured interviews designed to engage each teacher in conversation about behaviour management and intervention by orientation questions, such as “How would you define behaviour? What are some things that cause the development of positive behaviour in school? What are some things that cause the development of negative behaviour in school? How do you support positive behaviour in the classroom? How do you interrupt negative behaviour in the classroom?”.

Outcomes of findings in staff experiences and perceptions of the effects of PBS

Most of the studies the researcher reviewed aimed to gain a better understanding of teachers’ perspectives of how PBS enhances student social relationships (Griffin et al., 2017), lowers problem behaviour (Todd et al., 2002), addresses emotional and behavioural issues (Scott et al., 2009), boosts academic performance (Kelm et al., 2014; Luiselli et al., 2005), reduces incidences of inappropriate behaviour (Franzen & Kamps, 2008; Nelen et al., 2021) and promotes a happy learning environment (Kelm et al., 2014; Nelen et al., 2021).

Teachers observed a decrease in the proportion of students who said there were unsafe places in and around school, using repeated measures analysis of variances. According to regression analysis, there were less incidences of inappropriate behaviour and more happy students (Nelen et al., 2021), and this intervention strategy appeared to raise pupils’ academic performance. Teachers considered that the intervention was successful and improved classroom learning (Luiselli et al., 2005). Findings suggested that pupils would benefit academically and behaviourally and that they would perceive safety and expectations at school more clearly and perceive bullying as less prominent (Franzen & Kamps, 2008; Kelm et al., 2014; McIntosh et al., 2011; Scott et al., 2009). Furthermore, behavioural incidents that occurred during recess and in the playground were lowered by data collection and evaluation, defining and teaching behavioural expectations, regular practice and monitoring of appropriate behaviours and routines, a demonstration of appropriate behaviour, a verbal agreement from the students (Todd et al., 2002) and benefits for the target students’ social development and academic success were revealed (Nelson et al., 2002).

Some teachers considered the programme theory to be in sharp contradiction to their beliefs. The behaviouristic method was criticised in one school for contradicting the teachers’ “ideas of mankind” and for ignoring “people’s natural goodness” during the early phases of implementation, “There was a behaviouristic approach behind it. Rewards should be given to get the students to follow the rules. At this school it is a fundamental stand-point that we believe that people are good by nature (teacher 11)” (Ingemarson et al., 2016, p. 7). One participant, nevertheless, believed that this criticism misunderstood the nature of the programme. They concluded that PBS needs to be enhanced further due to the type of implementation difficulties “In some sense, there is too much theory […] I am puzzled […] some things are so difficult to apply in practice (teacher 6)” (Ingemarson et al., 2016, p. 8) and the students’ lack of perception of change (Ingemarson et al., 2016). Moreover, sometimes teachers focus more on the behaviour of individual students than on that of groups or the behaviour of the entire school (Dutton Tillery et al., 2010). Finally, some teachers described PBS as employing constructive methods, “has truly been a positive initiative for our terrific kids!” (Kelm et al., 2014, p. 8), and felt that it had a significant impact on how students behaved (Feuerborn et al., 2015; Franzen & Kamps, 2008; McIntosh et al., 2011; Scott et al., 2009).

Outcomes of findings in students’ experiences and perceptions of the effects of PBS

Only two studies of n = 16 relied on the students’ perspectives of the effects of PBS; the majority of students (73.26%) agreed in Griffin et al. (2017) study that the intervention helped them make more friends and was a good idea for their playground, indicating that their perceptions of the intervention were primarily positive (68.80%) and that they wanted the intervention used at their school again next year (60.88%). However, less than half (41.94%) said they liked using Buddy Bench in the playground; when responses were compared across playgrounds, results indicated higher approval from younger students. The results also show that the daily average of students engaged in solitary behaviour immediately decreased at recess because of the intervention (Griffin et al., 2017). The results of (Gietz & McIntosh’s, 2014) study showed that the way in which students perceive their school environment is related to academic success and that the most effective behaviour interventions for indirectly enhancing academic outcomes focus on teaching expectations, reducing bullying and increasing safety (Gietz & McIntosh, 2014).

Discussion, including limitations

As the aim of the study was to review the studies published on staff and student perspectives, results and attitudes on the effects of PBS between 2000 and 2022, this study reviewed the texts that focused on the entire school (Tier 1) and the outcome measures in staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS. By comparing and contrasting the source relevant literature on the topic, the findings indicate that the bulk of texts are located mostly in the United States and most of the studies were between 2011 and 2015. The studies reviewed used various data collection strategies, from self-assessment reports to students’ opinions. Most volume samples are from many elementary schools, and most of the studies the researcher reviewed found that PBS lowers problem behaviour and boosts academic performance and promotes a happy learning environment. Furthermore, the data suggest that little is known about the outcomes of findings regarding staff and students’ experiences and perceptions of the effects of PBS in Sweden.

Some limitations of these studies should be considered when analysing the findings. It is possible that teachers with higher levels of self-efficacy are more likely to choose to work in schools that emphasise PBS, or that differences in outcomes may be the product of another unrelated cause. Also, it is possible that teachers at non-PBS schools had previous experience of working in PBS institutions, which might have affected how they viewed their own effectiveness (Kelm & McIntosh, 2012). It would therefore be interesting to compare the number of effective classroom management strategies used in schools that implement PBS with those that do not. According to studies, the success of the PBS approach is greatly influenced by the level of execution and the support of school leadership for its implementation (Wienen et al., 2019).

When teachers are not taught to see the behaviour as functional, they are less likely to use the right strategies (Street, 2020). To ensure the validity of the findings, re-applying the research to larger samples and in schools located in different environments is suggested. Furthermore, a qualitative replication of this study could provide additional details on how teachers and students view PBS (Street, 2020).

There is a need to ascertain more details about the research designs and samples; it was not always obvious whether a control group was employed or how the randomisation or matching between the intervention and control groups was carried out. Several studies lacked information on the gender, social standing, age, or ethnicity of the teachers and students sampled. Mean scores, standard deviations and sample sizes for the intervention and control groups should be included in the results report for both the pre-test and post-test measures so that impact sizes can be determined correctly. Also, more information about the credibility and reliability of research tools should be included.

The majority of PBS research is qualitative research, depending on the researcher in observations and interviews. Thus, there are concerns such as bias (Bruce, 2021). The recommendation is for future researchers to conduct similar studies using a larger sample size of schools from a larger area or region in order to confirm or refute their findings. Deciding on the appropriate course of action for adopting PBS, long-term implementation of PBS and long-term data analysis is advised.

Future research

One of the most important criticisms of evidence-based practice is that it ignores students’ values and preferences. This concern will need to be addressed as objectively as possible by further research on staff and student perspectives on the effects of PBS in Sweden. It is suggested that PBS not only reduces challenging behaviour in the classroom but also equips students with life skills beyond the school. It is therefore desirable to use PBS at work environments, homes, hospitals and in community contexts (Horner et al., 2010). Further research is needed to identify potential factors, such as occupational health (for example, job stress, occupational burnout, self-efficacy) and how it linked to PBS (Bradshaw et al., 2010).

Implications for educational psychology practice and for educational professionals

Self-regulated learning has become an important area of research in education and educational psychology (Brandmo et al., 2020; Kim et al., 2023), and this review has identified the importance of factors such as the nature of learning tasks, instructional contexts and interaction for students (Patrick & Middleton, 2002). Using this article as a foundation, the researcher synthesised evidence about PBS and how it supports the student learning opportunities and staff’s ability to lead the classroom. Although school-wide PBS has been implemented in many countries thus far, many professionals in education and in psychology remain mostly unfamiliar with it (Warren et al., 2006) the findings of this current review therefore indicate that, although the role of educational psychology involves a wide range of activities, including assisting schools in supporting learning and designing and implementing educational programmes that promote learning, behaviour and development, there was not enough explanation of the role of educational psychology practice in PBS. Therefore, future research in this area needs to describe clearly the role of the professionals in educational psychology and related fields.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).