Behavior Intervention Training (BITS)

The Behavior Intervention Training and Teacher Support Act, enacted by the Nebraska Legislature, ensures that educators are prepared to respond to student behavior in ways that are safe, informed, and supportive.

The law establishes a statewide expectation for recurring behavioral training for school administrators, teachers, counselors, nurses, and paraprofessionals, while outlining the core topics that must be addressed. All identified staff must complete an initial training within a three-year window beginning July 1, 2024, and participate in a review training every three years thereafter.

While these expectations are consistent across Nebraska public schools, districts retain flexibility in how training is delivered and implemented locally. Districts may use ESU-provided training or other qualifying programs, as long as they meet the criteria defined in the law.

Beginning with the 2024–25 school year, the ESU Coordinating Council (ESUCC), in partnership with Nebraska’s ESU network, ensures that compliant training options and statewide reporting supports are available to all districts.

Under the statute, the following roles are required to receive behavioral awareness training:

• Teachers
• Administrators
• Paraprofessionals
• School counselors
• School nurses

Each individual in these roles must complete qualifying training at least once every three years, including participation in a required review cycle following initial training.

While these roles are explicitly named in the law, districts may choose to include additional staff members, such as SLPs or school psychologists, based on local needs.

Districts are responsible for determining how training is delivered, maintaining local records of participation, and ensuring that all required staff are included in the reporting cycle. If staff have already completed comprehensive programs such as MANDT or CPI, those trainings may satisfy the requirement, provided they align with the criteria outlined in the statute.

Both BITS 101 and BITS 102 meet the requirements set forth by the Nebraska Legislature, and neither is a prerequisite for the other.

• BITS 101 is an awareness-level training, aligned to the expectation established in statute, and is designed to introduce key concepts, expectations, and a foundational understanding of behavior intervention practices.

• BITS 102 is a more practice-oriented training that continues to build awareness (as called for in the legislation) while placing greater emphasis on real-world strategies, examples, and best practices educators can apply immediately.

Both BITS training options typically take about one hour to complete and are available in multiple formats, including in-person presentations facilitated by ESU personnel, whole-group video, and asynchronous Canvas courses. This flexibility allows districts to select the approach that best fits their staff. For educators with prior experience or background in this area, BITS 102 may be the more appropriate entry point, and districts may choose to offer one or both options based on staff experience levels.

BITS training is provided at no cost to Nebraska school districts through the ESU network.

To schedule an in-person training or explore options, districts should contact their local ESU, which will help coordinate delivery and identify the best format for their staff.

To access the BITS 101 and/or BITS 102 video content for whole-staff training, send a message to Andrew Easton (see contact info at the bottom of this page).

The online, asynchronous version of the course can be accessed via the Nebraska Learning Network, where you will find both the BITS 101 and BITS 102 versions of the training.

Note: Your local ESU might have alternative options available depending upon their system for delivering professional learning courses. 

The following optional resources are provided to support school leaders, ESU trainers, and others facilitating BITS 101 or BITS 102 training. These materials are shared in Make a Copy format so they can be adapted for local use. Trainers are encouraged to edit, revise, and remix these resources to fit their training format, audience, and local procedures.

Learning Companions

These learning companions are designed to support participant engagement during the training while also giving educators a resource they can revisit afterward.

Make a Copy: BITS 101 Learning Companion

Make a Copy: BITS 102 Elementary Learning Companion

Make a Copy: BITS 102 Secondary Learning Companion

Training Participation Form Template

This Google Form template can be used by school leaders or ESU personnel who help keep a local record of who participated in a BITS training. To use the template, make a copy of the form, modify it as needed, and then share your copied version with participants. This ensures that the resulting response data and Google Sheet belong to your school, district, or ESU.

Make a Copy: BITS Training Participation Form Template

BIRT Bulk Upload CSV Template

For larger districts who are reporting participation across multiple buildings, the Behavior Intervention Reporting Tool (birt.esucc.org) includes a bulk upload option. Use the CSV template provided under the Bulk Upload Training Events tab in BIRT to organize building-level participation data for upload into the system.

BITS establishes clear expectations for who must receive training, how often training is required, and what topic areas must be addressed, while preserving local flexibility in how districts meet those expectations.

Who must participate: 
Teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, school counselors, and school nurses.

How often training is required:
At least once every three years for staff in the roles identified above.

What the training must address:
The statutory topic areas include awareness of the signs and symptoms of trauma, positive behavioral supports, and de-escalation strategies.

Flexibility in delivery:
Districts determine the training format that best fits their local context, provided statutory requirements are met. 

District Responsibility for Training Selection:
The BITS training content developed by the ESUCC has been intentionally designed to address the statutory requirements established in Nebraska law. Whether accessed through a self-paced course (offered through Canvas or Vector), viewed through the theatre-style video designed for whole-staff training, or delivered by ESU personnel using BITS training materials, each delivery method is built from the same vetted core content and addresses the required participant groups, training frequency, and statutory topic areas.

Districts may choose to use alternative training programs, including commonly used options such as CPI, Mandt, or other locally selected trainings. When doing so, the responsibility rests with the district to determine that its selected training fulfills all applicable statutory requirements. If an alternative training does not independently address every required component, it is the district’s responsibility to supplement that training accordingly.

The ESUCC’s role is to develop and support high-quality BITS training resources that align with statutory requirements, not to approve, certify, or determine compliance for training programs selected by individual districts.

In addition to ensuring required staff complete behavioral awareness training, districts are responsible for tracking participation and reporting completion totals annually.

District responsibilities include:

• Local record-keeping: Maintaining records of individual staff participation in behavioral awareness training
• Annual reporting through BIRT: Reporting aggregate completion totals by role (e.g., teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals) through the Behavior Intervention Reporting Tool (BIRT), maintained by the ESU Coordinating Council (ESUCC)
• Role-based, non-identifiable reporting: Submitting totals only; no individual names or identifying information are collected or reported

This reporting is compliance-focused, intended to meet statutory requirements and support statewide accountability. It's not meant to evaluate individual educators or districts.

The ESUCC compiles district-reported data to fulfill its responsibility to provide a statewide report to the Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee each year.