In today’s educational landscape, the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework has emerged as a powerful tool for fostering a positive school culture and supporting student success. PBIS is a proactive approach that establishes clear behavioral expectations, reinforces positive behaviors, and provides targeted support for students who need additional assistance. Traditionally implemented through a three-tiered system, PBIS offers increasingly intensive interventions at each level.
Innovative educators are discovering that integrating career services into this framework can yield remarkable results across all tiers, particularly for students facing the most significant challenges.
This blog explores how a robust career services program can complement and enhance PBIS interventions, creating a more comprehensive and effective support system for all students.
Understanding PBIS Tiers
The PBIS framework consists of three tiers:
- Universal (Tier 1): Supports all students and typically meets the needs of about 80% of the school population.
- Targeted (Tier 2): Provides additional support for 10-15% of students who need more focused interventions.
- Intensive (Tier 3): Offers highly individualized support for 3–5% of students with the most significant behavioral challenges.
While these tiers provide a structure for support, it’s important to recognize that all students can benefit from the interventions offered at each level. The key is to tailor the approach to meet individual needs effectively.
Career Services: A Targeted Approach to PBIS Implementation
Let’s explore how career services can be tailored to each tier to significantly enhance PBIS interventions and provide targeted support that meets students where they are.
Tier 3: Intensive Support Through Real-World Engagement
Tier 3 students often struggle for a variety of complex reasons, including behavioral, emotional, or learning challenges. Career services can play a crucial role in supporting these students by:
- Developing individualized work-based learning plans that align with the student’s Behavior Support Plan and Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) results.
- Implementing highly structured internships or work experiences with close supervision and frequent check-ins, designed to support the student’s specific needs and goals.
- Collaborating with mental health professionals to create work environments that address and support the student’s emotional and behavioral needs.
- Partnering with special education teams to ensure that work experiences complement and reinforce Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals.
- Offering intensive, one-on-one career counseling that helps students connect their current struggles with future aspirations and tangible career paths.
- Creating modified work environments that gradually expose students to real-world expectations while providing necessary support and accommodations.
- Implementing progress-monitoring tools specific to work-based learning that allow for data-driven adjustments to the student’s program.
Tier 2: Targeted Interventions Through Structured Career Exploration
For Tier 2 students, career services can provide more focused support by:
- Designing small-group career exploration workshops that also address specific behavioral or social-emotional skills identified as areas of need.
- Implementing a career-focused Check-In/Check-Out system where students set daily work readiness goals and receive feedback.
- Creating short-term job shadowing or work experience opportunities that are closely monitored and structured to reinforce positive behaviors.
- Offering targeted parent-student workshops on career planning and the connection between school success and future employment.
- Developing peer mentoring programs where students with similar career interests support each other in both academic and career-related goals.
Tier 1: Universal Career Awareness and Skill Development
At the universal level, career services can support all students by:
- Integrating career readiness skills into the core curriculum, emphasizing the connection between academic success and future career opportunities.
- Implementing a school-wide career exploration program that exposes all students to a variety of career paths and the skills required for each.
- Organizing grade-level-appropriate career fairs and an industry speaker series that reinforce school-wide behavioral expectations in a professional context.
- Developing a comprehensive career portfolio system for all students, encouraging self-reflection on personal strengths, interests, and areas for growth.
- Offering universal assessments of career interests and aptitudes, using results to inform individualized learning plans.
The Power of Integration
By tailoring career services to each PBIS tier, schools can create a more responsive and effective support system. This targeted approach ensures that all students, regardless of their current level of need, receive appropriate career guidance and support. For Tier 3 students in particular, this integration can be transformative, providing real-world contexts that both guide and support learning while in the classroom.
This strategic alignment of PBIS and career services recognizes that behavioral, academic, and career readiness skills are deeply interconnected. By addressing these areas in tandem, schools can create more meaningful and engaging learning experiences for all students, ultimately leading to improved outcomes both in school and beyond.
Moreover, this integrated approach helps create a more inclusive and equitable educational environment. It recognizes that success can take many forms and provides multiple pathways for students to achieve their goals, regardless of their academic or behavioral challenges.
The marriage of PBIS and career services represents a powerful strategy for supporting student success. By leveraging the strengths of both programs and tailoring interventions to meet individual needs, schools can create a holistic system that not only manages behavior but also prepares students for successful futures beyond the classroom. This comprehensive approach ensures that all students—especially those facing the greatest challenges—have the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary for long-term success in both their personal and professional lives.
