Over the 2025–26 season of Expert Instruction, we explored how data help schools make better decisions for students. In this year-end reflection episode, Megan Cave and Danielle Triplett look back on the conversations, lessons, and stories that shaped the season. Together, they revisit favorite moments from guests across the PBIS community and reflect on what they learned about prevention, relationships, systems, and data-based decision making.

We're coming to you LIVE from the NWPBIS Conference in Tacoma, WA to explore another PBIS myth. Joining us today are Becky Gawenit and Charisse Elliott.

• Becky is from Battle Ground Public School District in Battle Ground, WA. She's been a part of that district for the last 18 years as either a school psychologist or as a district MTSS coach.
• Charisse is a behavior program associate with Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem, OR. In her role, she works as an advocate for what teachers, students, and families need by focusing on systems to create supportive, inclusive learning environments.

In this installment of our Mythbusters series, we discuss whether districts use the data you submit as a gotcha. We talk about how data work best when they inform the decisions you make, but when you submit those same data to the district, they seem work as a punishment. Charisse and Becky help us understand that finding the middle ground involves trusting relationships, honest coaching, and a culture prioritizing improvement over accountability.

We continue our exploration of Tier 3 support by focusing on an important and often misunderstood part of behavior support plans: measuring fidelity. Joining us today is Rose Iovannone.

• Rose is a research professor at the University of South Florida and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She also serves as director of the University of South Florida Interdisciplinary Center for Evaluation and Intervention, where she supports individuals with complex needs from early childhood through young adulthood. In addition to her research, Rose works closely with educators through training and professional development to support practical, real-world implementation of behavior support systems.

In this episode, Rose helps us reframe fidelity as a way to evaluate whether a behavior support plan is actually feasible, effective, and aligned with classroom realities, rather than a measure of teacher performance.

She also gives us actionable ideas for how teams can build buy-in, start small, and integrate fidelity into their ongoing problem-solving process.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• Expert Instruction Ep. 58: Tier 3 Supports in General Education Classrooms

• Teach by Design: The Fit Check Your Behavior Plan Needs

• Prevent–Teach–Reinforce (PTR) Model

• Technical Adequacy Tool for Evaluation (TATE)

Some of the most important systems and practices you can implement are the proactive things you do to prevent behavior from escalating. This episode is part of a special Crisis Prevention Series produced in partnership with the Center on PBIS Crisis Prevention Workgroup, where we explore how PBIS systems can support schools in preventing, preparing for, and responding to crises.

When we talk about preventing crises, we’re talking about:

• Your response to the needs in your schoolwide community
• How you ensure physical and emotional safety in your building
• The interventions you implement to support student outcomes
• How you help everyone know how to respond if a crisis occurs

All of this starts by considering the culture you foster schoolwide. In this episode, we’re talking about how creating a culture of belonging can play a foundational role in your school’s crisis prevention strategies. Joining us today is our special co-host from the Center on PBIS’ Crisis Prevention workgroup, Janelle Hughes and our guests, Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims, Dr. Becky Millspaugh, and Kelly Perales.

• Nikole is an educational leader, consultant, and speaker known for her expertise in equitable practices, systems transformation, and leadership coaching.
• Kelly is the co-executive director of the Midwest PBIS Network and an implementer partner with the Center on PBIS. She provides professional development and technical assistance for state and local leaders on PBIS implementation.
• Becky is a project consultant for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit and a school improvement facilitator for Montgomery County Schools in Pennsylvania. She provides professional learning and data analyses strategies for complex mental health support planning for teams across the Commonwealth.

We continue our exploration of Tier 3 support by focusing on the way systems make it possible to get students the level of support they really need. Joining us today are Mara Lynaugh and Jess Olson.

• Mara is a member of our PBISApps training team. She brings to the team over 25 years of experience in public education as a special education teacher and a Student Services coach where she supported schools to implement multi-tiered systems and practices focused on meeting students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health needs. Her passion for helping educators, students, families, and community partners create learning environments where every student achieves their goals.

• Jess is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and doctoral student in Special Education at the University of Utah. Her work centers on helping schools implement function-based, individualized behavior support with strong alignment to PBIS and a clear focus on teacher implementation fidelity. Before this, Jess spent several years as a district BCBA, partnering with educators and school teams across general and special education to design behavior support plans, coach implementation, and build sustainable routines that fit the realities of busy classrooms.

Tune in to hear Jess tell the story about how she and her colleagues implemented a system of support that allowed the three of them to manage their work in a district of 60,000 students spread across 92 schools. It’s an approach that resulted in fewer students referred to special education for their behavior and more students getting the support they needed right within their general education classrooms.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• Expert Instruction Ep. 57: Mythbusters — Functional Behavioral Assessment is Only for Special Education

• Additional resources from Jess’ story including powepoint presentations, meeting templates, data review questions, and more

• Basic FBA Training

When targeted interventions don't improve the behavior you hope to see, what's the next step? Today's guest might tell you to check the function of that behavior. Today, we're talking with Dr. Chris Borgmeier and exploring the myth: Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process only meant for special education.

Chris is a Professor and the Doctoral Program Director in the College of Education at Portland State University. He is co-author of the Basic FBA to BIP training series and developed the Basic FBA to BIP e-learning series. His research focuses on using multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to support students with challenging behavior. He has been a trainer and consultant for MTSS for Behavior implementation across the North America and internationally.

During our conversation, we talk about where this myth comes from and how schools can use the elements of FBA to make function-based thinking a schoolwide practice.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• ABC Tracker
• Practice Brief: When to Use Functional Behavioral Assessment? Best Practice vs. Legal Guidance

When we talk about Tier 2 support, we usually talk about the support we offer students. Today, we're talking about the ways we support the adults in our building to implement Tier 2 with fidelity...and maybe even a little enthusiasm. Back with us again are our colleagues Dr. Billie Jo Rodriguez and Noah Van Horn.

• Billie Jo is an Associate Teaching Professor and the School Psychology director of clinical training at the University of Oregon, a nationally certified school psychologist, and a doctoral board-certified behavior analyst. She has over 20 years of experience supporting students with diverse needs and helping schools implement increasingly intensive function-based supports.
• Noah is a nationally certified school psychologist and PBIS coach for Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, OR. He is also a trainer and PBIS coach for the NWPBIS Network. In addition to his work leading district initiatives to support PBIS, he is a lead trainer for district professional development on topics ranging from Tier 1 practices to more intensive, individualized support.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• Expert Instruction - Ep. 54: Mythbusters - Student Behavior is More Significant Now Than Ever
• Tiered Fidelity Inventory
• Overview of Tier 2 Support
• Cooking with Fidelity: How Smart Adaptations Improve Tier 2 Outcomes
• Tier 2: A District-Level Systems Guide

In this episode, we're sharing some of our favorite things from past lists...including one of our favorite episodes. This month, we're revisiting a conversation from 2021 with Drs. Erin Chaparro and Ginny Joseph about Tier 2 teams and the foundations of decision making at the Tier 2 level.

Dr. Chaparro is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Oregon and the Principal Investigator for the TIPS project. For more than a decade, Erin has worked with districts and schools to implement multi-tiered systems of support for literacy as well as PBIS. She is also the co-author of the book Assessment in Special and Inclusive Education.

Dr. Ginny Joseph is the Coordinator of PBIS and Mental Health at Orange County Department of Education. She trains and supports school teams implementing a multi-tiered framework for behavior supports. Her experience ranges from function-based support planning, to using data to drive decisions, to planning behavioral support for small groups of students.

For more information about some of the resources mentioned in this episode, check out these links:

• Favorite Things 2025
• PBISApps Community
• Ep. 16: Adding Student Voice to Leadership Teams
• Ep. 43: Mythbusters - Rewards Don't Work to Improve Student Outcomes
• An overview of the TIPS model
• TIPS Meeting Minutes Template
• Tiered Fidelity Inventory

We're continuing our year-long series exploring the way data play a crucial role in our PBIS implementation. In this episode, we’re going to put those data to use as we look to address the myth that student behavior is more significant now than ever before. Joining us are Dr. Billie Jo Rodriguez and Noah Van Horn.

• Billie Jo is an Associate Teaching Professor and the School Psychology director of clinical training at the University of Oregon, a nationally certified school psychologist, and a doctoral board-certified behavior analyst. She has over 20 years of experience supporting students with diverse needs and helping schools implement increasingly intensive function-based supports.
• Noah is a nationally certified school psychologist and PBIS coach for Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, OR. He is also a trainer and PBIS coach for the NWPBIS Network. In addition to his work leading district initiatives to support PBIS, he is a lead trainer for district professional development on topics ranging from Tier1 practices to more intensive, individualized support.

This episode doesn't start the same way our other mythbuster episodes start. Where we typically look to bust the myth, this myth isn't so easily busted. If student behavior truly is on the rise, we ought to look for ways we can reverse the trend. One way is to lean into our multi-tiered systems and start layering on Tier 2 support for groups of students who might benefit. Listen in as we hear from these coaches how their schools have started small, implementing efficient, practical strategies, to improve student outcomes and make every classrooms feel just a little calmer.

For more information about the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• Schoolwide Information System (SWIS)
• Check-In Check-Out SWIS (CICO-SWIS)
• SWIS Data Summary 2024-25
• PBISApps Community
• Your Data Story Doesn't End Here: Tier 2 Can Flip the Script
• Webinar: CICO in Practice: A Proven Tier 2 Behavior Intervention That Builds Connections

All this month we’re looking at the ways we can use data to guide our decisions on how to get students the additional support they need sooner. There are some common decision rules your team can follow, but what does that look like in practice? Our guests today will share their experience.

Joining us in conversation are Dr. Lisa Friesen from North Kansas City Schools and Jamie Ferguson from Oak Park High School, both in Kansas City, MO.

• Lisa has been with North Kansas City Schools for 22 years. She is a former elementary and high school special education teacher and currently serves as a District Instructional Coordinator for MTSS, organizing and supporting academic and behavior interventions and systems K-12.
• Jamie has been part of the North Kansas City School District for the past 16 years. She spent 11 years at Linden West Elementary co-leading Tier 1 interventions and served on the Tier 2 and Tier 3 support teams. At Oak Park High School, Jamie focuses her time on academic intervention and student success through programs like Missouri Options and Check-In/Check-Out.

Listen in as they share how they learned the value of Tier 1 systems to support their efforts at the Tier 2 level and how getting students the support they need involves both personal relationships and consistent data.

For more information on the resources shared in this episode, check out the following links:

• Missouri PBIS
• CICO in Practice: A Proven Tier 2 Behavior Intervention That Builds Connections (Free PBISApps Webinar)
• An Overview of Targeted Interventions