A systematic review of the facilitators and barriers to the sustained implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports

School-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is an effective and widely adopted school-wide framework for promoting positive behavioral, social, and academic outcomes for students. However, over the past decade, the degree to which schools were able to implement specific SWPBIS practices with fidelity has emerged as a critical issue, with varying levels of SWPBIS abandonment reported in the literature. Authors have used the term facilitators to describe specific variables that appear to support the sustained implementation of SWPBIS, and the term barriers to describe specific variables that appear to hinder the sustained implementation of SWPBIS (Kincaid et al., 2007). The purpose of the present review was to identify, summarize, and appraise the extant literature on variables reported to function as facilitators and barriers to the sustained implementation of SWPBIS. We identified 22 unique variables that may function as facilitators or barriers. The provision of resources, high fidelity of implementation, and effective SWPBIS team function were the most commonly described facilitators, whereas a conflict in personal beliefs, an ineffective SWPBIS team, and a lack of resources were the most commonly identified barriers. The implications of these findings, along with areas for future research, are discussed.