Examining Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in Rural Schools

School-wide PBIS implementation is associated with positive academic and behavioral outcomes. Research supports the importance of school context in implementation and sustainment, but more work is needed to explore the role of community locale, particularly for rural communities that experience context-specific strengths and challenges in accessing resources. The purpose of this study was to examine variables that may influence PBIS implementation fidelity, sustained fidelity, training, and assessment and how these variables vary across geographic locales. Nine years of statewide PBIS implementation and school-level data were drawn from a longitudinal statewide dataset for the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Results of generalized linear models, MANOVA, and discriminant analysis indicated (a) consistent assessment and sustained fidelity in rural and town schools were positively associated with district size and enrollment of minoritized students, but they were negatively associated with enrollment of ELL students (with grade level also having an association with sustained fidelity); (b) locale had an effect on fidelity, assessment, and training; and (c) rural and city locales had the greatest differences from each other in training, assessment, and fidelity. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.