Our

Mission

Collaborate with adults to create a safe, equitable, consistent, and positive learning environment for all youth

All youth achieve social-emotional-behavioral and academic success

Our

Vision

The Midwest PBIS Network (MWPBIS) is a national research, grant, and direct-funded organization housed at West 40 ISC #2 in Illinois. Our primary charge is to function as a hub of the Center on PBIS, a national technical assistance partnership funded from the U.S. Department of Education. The Center's model of capacity building emphasizes a cascade of implementation (figure 1) to assist state departments of education in the installation, fidelity, outcomes, and sustainability of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and integrated social-emotional-behavioral initiatives (SEB learning). We encourage you to access the local technical assistance from your state and region.

The Midwest PBIS Network supports state level teams, who in turn support their regions and districts, who in turn support their schools

Formerly known as the Illinois PBIS Network prior to 2014, MWPBIS offers statewide, regional, and local training and technical assistance activities for more than 1,100 implementing Illinois PBIS schools. Funding from the Center on PBIS supports three priorities from the U.S. Department of Education:

  • Priority 1 is building capacity of SEAs and LEAs to establish, scale-up, and sustain the PBIS framework.

  • Priority 2 is providing technical assistance for School Climate Transformation Grant SEA (State Education Agencies) and LEA (Local Education Agencies) awardees.

  • Priority 3 involves integrating mental health, wellness, and community agency partnerships in PBIS through the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF).

A map showing the states supported by the Midwest PBIS Network

Therefore, in addition to supporting Illinois, MWPBIS supports seven other states through Priority 1 (Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), three states through Priority 2 (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Kentucky), and partners with other Center hubs to coordinate Priority 3 demonstrations in Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

PBIS is the one of the longest funded technical assistance initiatives out of the U.S. Department of Education. Over 21 years of empirical evidence demonstrates how the multi-tiered framework establishes the social, emotional, and behavioral supports needed to reduce the use of ineffective discipline strategies while increasing academic achievement and attendance. This framework builds capacity of schools to prevent problem behaviors, promote positive school culture, and to evaluate the impact on both social and academic success of all youth, including those with the highest level of need.

The Midwest PBIS Network is also widely recognized for its research involvement. Our team of national content experts have been sought out to support PBIS and ISF by other state departments of education, such as New Hampshire, Vermont, and Iowa. We have been involved in research across the country, studying the effectiveness of PBIS on school systems and outcomes. This includes randomized control trial research on: the effectiveness of MTSS-B, effectiveness of ISF, implementation of restorative practices within PBIS, impact of PBIS/ISF on vulnerable populations, Tier 3 interventions for at-risk high school students (RENEW), and research on populations who are disproportionately represented in restrictive discipline practices.

Page links updated 7-13-22 plb