TPC _Journal-Vol6_Issue_3-MTSS-Full_Issue

263 Jennifer Betters-Bubon is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Todd Brunner is the Principal and Avery Kansteiner is a School Counselor at Sugar Creek Elementary School in Verona, WI. Correspondence can be addressed to Jennifer Betters-Bubon, 6039 Winther Hall, Whitewater, WI 53190, bettersj@uww.edu. Jennifer Betters-Bubon, Todd Brunner, Avery Kansteiner Success For All? The Role of the School Counselor in Creating and Sustaining Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Programs Successful implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) programs should include culturally responsive practices to reduce disproportionality in school discipline referrals and create effective learning environments for all students. Sustaining culturally responsive PBIS programs requires attention to student demographics and the cultural context of a particular school. Recent PBIS research has lacked focus on sustainability and cultural responsiveness within implementation. This case study examines how one school team (principal, school counselors, school psychologist and teachers) infused culturally responsive practices within the PBIS program to meet student social, behavioral and emotional needs in a diverse elementary school. The examination of sustaining the PBIS program over a 5-year period focuses on data sources and interventions that build socially just practices and supports, as well as the role the school counselor plays in the process. Suggestions for school counseling practice also are provided. Keywords: school counselor, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), culturally responsive practices, case study, in-school discipline In 1957, Horace Mann stated, “Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of conditions of men” (p. 87). Public education was designed to bridge the inequali- ties of society such that experiences in schools could ensure all individuals have the opportunity to excel in school and in life. This tenet has been challenged in recent years as the achievement and op- portunity gaps in our schools continue to grow. A disproportionate number of youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are not succeeding and may be excluded from public school (Gregory, Skiba, & Noguera, 2010). In 2012, for example, African American students were 3.5 times more likely than their Caucasian peers to be suspended (U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2014). African American, Latino, and Native American students receive harsher punishments for more subjective reasons such as disrespect, insubordination or excessive noise (Losen & Gillespie, 2012). Further, data from the National Center on Educational Statistics show that while the gap is narrowing slightly, African American youth lag behind their Caucasian peers an average of 23–26 points in math and 21–26 points in reading assessments (Vanneman, Hamilton, Baldwin Anderson, & Rahman, 2009). To close these achievement gaps and disparities in discipline practices, important research has linked schoolwide behavior programs and student achievement and engagement outcomes (Las- sen, Steele, & Sailor, 2006; Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005). A recent focus has included schoolwide behavior programs that are multi-tiered in nature, including Positive Behavior Inter- ventions and Supports (PBIS) programs. PBIS programs integrate research-based practice within a three-tier approach, including those at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention and intervention. This multi-tiered system of supports has been supported by the American School Coun- The Professional Counselor Volume 6, Issue 3, Pages 263–277 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2016 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/jbb.6.3.263