AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE QUALITY OF POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION AND SUPPORT (PBIS) CLASSROOM SYSTEMS AND TEACHER BURNOUT

Abstract

The positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS) framework was made to help schools and teachers deal with student behavior challenges. Many studies focus on the relationship between PBIS and student outcomes (Aloe et al., 2014; Belcastro & Gold, 1983; Goddard & Goddard, 2006; Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Sugai & Horner, 2006); however, there has been little attention given to the PBIS’s relationships with teacher outcomes such as teacher burnout (Hence, 2016; Ross et al., 2012). This study’s purpose is to examine the direct and indirect relationship between PBIS classroom systems (CS) and teacher burnout (TB) through the mediating variable student behavior problems (SB), controlling for other important variables. The researcher collected data from 363 educators within at least 95 K-12 schools in New York and New Jersey. The study design used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the relationships among the three factors (PBIS CS, TB, and SB). The main findings indicate that teachers who implemented PBIS CS with high fidelity had significantly less burnout. Teachers who had more student behavior problems had significantly higher burnout. Teachers who implemented PBIS CS with high fidelity had significantly fewer student behavior problems. The study found that student characteristics can limit the effect of PBIS CS on student behavior problems.