Exploring SWPBIS Implementation Outcomes in Rural and Urban Schools in Florida

Abstract

Rural schools experience unique challenges, including teacher quality and teacher retention, limited resources, and availability of funding. Furthermore, access to professional development and, subsequently, implementation of evidence-based practices may also be limited in rural settings. One evidence-based framework for implementing evidence-based practices, School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS), has been widely implemented, including in rural and urban schools. Yet, very little research has explicitly compared rural and urban schools implementing SWPBIS with regard to implementation and discipline. Therefore, we examined statewide data to evaluate differences between rural and urban schools implementing SWPBIS in Florida. We found that both rural and urban schools were equally likely to implement all the components of SWPBIS. When comparing schools, we found that rural schools implementing SWPBIS had more out-of-school suspensions than nonimplementing rural schools, while the opposite was true for urban schools. Limitations and future research are discussed.

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in Rural and Urban California Schools: Effects on Fidelity of Implementation and Suspension Outcomes

“…These results are different from those found by McIntosh et al (2016) and Gage et al (2022), who found no differences between rural and urban schools’ Tier 1 fidelity in Florida. We hypothesize that the different findings may be due to different measurement approaches or geographic differences.…”

“…These results suggest that urban schools may need more training and support than rural schools overall, but particularly for advanced tiers. These results are different from those found by and Gage et al (2022), who found no differences between rural and urban schools' Tier 1 fidelity in Florida. We hypothesize that the different findings may be due to different measurement approaches or geographic differences.…”

“…We then explored urban locale as a contextual moderator of intervention effectiveness. Similar, to Gage et al (2022), we found that schools implementing all three SWPBIS tiers in rural settings used significantly more OSS, but for students with disabilities, not all students, while urban schools used fewer OSS for students with disabilities. When comparing only schools trained to use SWPBIS, we found that schools implementing all three tiers in rural schools used significantly more OSS for all students.…”

“…Only one study has explicitly examined differences in intervention effectiveness among urban and rural schools implementing SWPBIS. Gage et al (2022) compared the effects of SWPBIS on school suspensions in urban and rural settings in Florida. The authors compared schools implementing SWPBIS with fidelity as measured by the BoQ to schools never trained to use SWPBIS, finding schools implementing SWPBIS in rural settings use significantly more OSS than rural schools not implementing SWPBIS, while urban schools implementing SWPBIS use significantly fewer OSS than urban schools not implementing SWPBIS.…”