The Relationships Among Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Implementation Fidelity, Teacher Perceptions, and Teacher Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationships among teacher self-efficacy, teachers' perceptions of Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) implementation, and school-level implementation fidelity in middle schools within a school division in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Teacher self-efficacy was measured using the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), teacher perceptions of SWPBIS implementation were measured using the Self-Assessment Survey (SAS), and implementation fidelity was measured using archival Tiered Fidelity Inventory (TFI) scores. Participants included 238 teachers across eight middle school campuses. Simple linear regression examined teacher-level relationships, and Spearman's rank-order correlation examined TFI and TSES scores. Results indicated significant positive relationships between teacher self-efficacy and perceptions of SWPBIS implementation at the classroom level, F(1, 236) = 19.9, p < .001, R² = .08, and schoolwide level, F(1, 236) = 10.5, p = .001, R² = .04. Teachers with higher self-efficacy reported stronger perceptions that SWPBIS practices were in place. In contrast, the relationship between school-level fidelity and teacher self-efficacy was positive but not significant, likely due to limited variability in fidelity scores. These findings support combining teacher perception data with fidelity measures when evaluating SWPBIS implementation, as stronger teacher self-efficacy was associated with more favorable perceptions of schoolwide behavior systems and may inform sustained implementation efforts.