One of the foremost advances in creating a positive school culture is the emphasis on multi-tiered systems of support that include proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviors to create positive school environments.

Instead of using a piecemeal approach of individual behavioral management plans, a continuum of support for all students within a school is implemented in areas including the classroom and nonclassroom settings (such as hallways, buses, and restrooms).

Attention is focused on creating and sustaining primary (school-wide), secondary (classroom), and tertiary (individual) systems of support that improve lifestyle results (personal, health, social, family, work, recreation) for all children and youth by making targeted behaviors less effective, efficient, and relevant, and desired behavior more functional.