Date of Award

Spring 5-2012

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Chair

Ronald Styron

Committee Chair Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 2

James T. Johnson

Committee Member 3

Rose McNeese

Committee Member 3 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Committee Member 4

David Lee

Committee Member 4 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Abstract

Almost every school uses positive behavior intervention support (PBIS) to not only increase students’ academic achievements but also their behavioral and social/emotional needs. The participants in the study were a random sample of K-12 public school teachers in the state of Mississippi; the instrumentation was a 32-question teacher perception survey.

For this study, teacher perceptions regarding PBIS were linked to five research questions. Following are the research questions with their findings with the level of significance set at the .05 level:

RQ1 Is there a relationship between the perception of PBIS and the number of years of teaching experience at the school? There was no statistically significant relationship. RQ2 Is there a relationship between the perception of PBIS and the number of years the teacher has experience with PBIS at the school? There was a negative, statistically significant relationship (the questions for this section were written in the negative). RQ3 Is there a relationship between the perception of PBIS and the highest degree earned by the teacher? There was no statistically significant relationship. RQ4 Is there a relationship between the perception of PBIS and the socioeconomic status of the students at the school? There was no statistically significant relationship. RQ5 On which factor (the number of years of teaching experience at the school, the number of years PBIS had been at the school, the highest degree earned by the teacher, and the socioeconomic status of the students at the school) does the perception of PBIS have the greatest amount of influence? The number of years PBIS had been at the school had the greatest influence for the Teachers’ Overall/General Feelings about PBIS.

While the study indicated mostly non-significant results, it did find teachers’ overall/general feelings about PBIS was positive. This finding seemed to suggest teachers believed PBIS had a positive impact on students. The number of years PBIS had been at the school had the greatest impact when correlated with teachers’ overall perception. It would seem this finding suggested the longer PBIS had been at the school, the greater impact the program had on students’ outcomes.

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