Many types of have been searched to tackle the behaviour, attention, emotional problems in schools.  The most effective models have found to be those that involve the whole school and include several types of interventions that vary in terms of intensity (Sørlie, 2000; Sørlie & Ogden, 2007). Meta studies also provide support for the idea of school-wide models since they produce considerably better results than narrow, individual interventions (Wilson, Gottfredson & Najaka, 2001) These models of school wide posive behaviour support have originally been developed in the United States (Horner ym. 2010) and later they have been adapted to Nordic context especially in Norway (Sørlie & Ogden, 2007).

This paper provides a comprehensive description of a large four-year project which started in January 2013.  The aim of this project, that is funded by the Finnish Ministry of  Education and Culture, is to develop, implement, and test a model for school-wide positive behaviour support in Finnish context. The effectiveness of the developed model will be tested tested in a large randomized controlled trial in both primary and lower secondary schools. During and after the project, the developed model will be disseminated to comprehensive schools across country.

Sørlie, M-A.( 2000). Alvorlige atferdsproblemer og lovende tiltak i skolen [Serious behaviour problems and promising interventions in school; in Norwegian]. Oslo: Praxis Forlag. Sørlie, M-A. & Ogden, T. (2007). Immediate impacts of PALS: A school-wide multi-level programme targeting behavior problems in elementary school. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 51(5), 471-492. Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C.M. (2010). Examining the evidence base for school-wide positive behavior support. Focus on Exeptional Children 42(8), 1-13. Wilson, D.B., Gottfredson, D.C., & Najaka, S.S. (2001). School-based prevention of problem behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 17(3), 247–272.