From fidelity to sustainability – school-wide PBIS in Finland

A comprehensive change in school culture toward preventive behavioral policies is a complex and time-consuming process. This study examined the implementation of Tier 1 fidelity and sustainability of systemic-level behavior support in the Finnish school context using the ProSchool framework, a Finnish adaption of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support. The implementation of the ProSchool framework was studied in 63 schools between 2013 and 2016 (Study 1). The results indicate that schools reached good average implementation fidelity (>80%) after 2–3 years of implementation. Variations in school size and collaboration among staff seem to be related to implementation fidelity. For Study 2, we measured fidelity in a non-random convenience sample of 25 schools 5–10 years after the implementation start (Study 2). Results from the later fidelity measurement implicates that the PBS framework can be adapted and sustained as we found examples of relatively high fidelity in the Finnish school context.