Date of Award

Summer 8-2015

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Chair

David E. Lee

Committee Chair Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 2

Myron Labat

Committee Member 2 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 3

Stanley Benigno

Committee Member 3 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 4

James T. Johnson

Abstract

Each day students throughout the world are exposed to bullying in many different ways and on many different occasions. Bullying has received such a great amount of attention through the media, that it leaves parents and community members with the belief that bullying has become a bigger problem today than it ever has before Austin, Reynolds, & Barnes, 2012; Carrera, DePalma, & Lameiras, 2011; Packman et al., 2005; Rigby & Smith, 2011). Nearly every state in the nation has passed laws regarding bullying and increasing the responsibility of schools and districts to implement programs to prevent and/or address bullying on their campuses (US Department of Education, 2011). Many schools and districts have not only developed policies to place them in compliance with the passed legislation, but the have begun to implement programs, such as School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) as a method to help improve the overall school environment (Pugh & Chitiyo, 2012; Reinke, Herman, & Stormont, 2012; Simonsen & Sugai, 2013). While it has shown to help improve the overall school climate, researchers suggest that this may also be utilized to reduce the presence of bullying in schools (Good, McIntosh, & Gietz, 2011; Packman, Lepkowski; Overton; & Smaby, 2005; Pugh & Chitiyo, 2012.

This study examined the perceptions of middle school teachers concerningthe use of SWPBIS in their schools, along with their perceptions of its effectiveness at reducing the presence of negative student behaviors, such as bullying. Research was conducted using quantitative data to determine teacher perceptions of the questions being presented in this study. While the outcomes to nearly all of the research questions reported very little significance, these results showed that teacher’s perceived that SWPBIS is effective at reducing the presence of negative student behaviors within the school when it has been implemented with fidelity.

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