The Pyramid Model: Fostering Social-Emotional Competence in Early Childhood

Social and emotional well-being forms the bedrock for the development and learning of infants, toddlers, and young children. The Pyramid Model, an evidence-based framework designed for use at home and in early care and learning settings, emphasizes creating nurturing, inclusive environments, building strong relationships, and employing targeted strategies to promote positive behaviors. This model offers a multi-tiered system of support to enhance the social, emotional, and behavioral skills of children from birth to five years old.

Understanding the Pyramid Model Framework

The Pyramid Model is not a curriculum but rather a conceptual framework of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s social-emotional development. It’s a positive behavioral intervention and support framework, and it is most effective when implemented across an early childhood program.

Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS)

The Pyramid Model aligns seamlessly with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS). An MTSS is a data-based framework ensuring positive academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for all students by matching their individual needs with appropriate resources and interventions. The Pyramid Model serves as a PBIS framework that early educators can utilize to promote children’s social-emotional development while preventing and addressing challenging behavior. Many schools that adopt PBIS use the Pyramid Model to guide the implementation of practices in early childhood classrooms.

Key Components for Successful Implementation

Successful implementation of the Pyramid Model hinges on several classroom components and considerations, including responsive relationships and predictable daily schedules. These materials and environmental considerations are pivotal for child success in a Pyramid Model classroom.

The Three Tiers of the Pyramid Model

The Pyramid Model employs a tiered approach, providing varying levels of support based on the needs of the child.

Universal Promotion: Nurturing Relationships and High-Quality Environments

At the universal level, the Pyramid Model emphasizes providing support for all children through nurturing relationships and high-quality environments. These universal practices benefit all children, and high-fidelity implementation of those practices can prevent many challenging behaviors. This involves creating inclusive and predictable environments to shape social-emotional growth.

Prevention: Targeted Social-Emotional Interventions

Prevention strategies in the Pyramid Model are focused on targeted social-emotional interventions aimed at averting potential issues. The secondary level includes more targeted supports, like teaching specific competencies.

Intervention: Personalized and Intensive Approaches

Intervention within the Pyramid Model involves personalized and intensive approaches for children who require additional support. At the individualized tier of the Pyramid Model, program staff and family members collaborate to conduct a functional behavioral assessment and develop a behavior support plan that is woven into everyday routines and activities. This tier represents individualized interventions for preventing challenging behavior and teaching specific social and emotional skills.

Program-Wide Implementation

Program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model refers to a systematic effort within a program for implementation fidelity. In a program-wide implementation, a leadership team guides the process and develops the support and infrastructure needed to ensure that evidence-based practices promoted by the Pyramid Model are implemented to the degree necessary to ensure the best outcomes for children and families. Evidence-based practices are effective only when implemented with fidelity.

Essential Elements of Program-Wide Implementation

A representative leadership team works to ensure the program has a team to provide individualized behavior support to children, professional development and support to teachers, and a plan for family engagement. Adoption of program-wide expectations provides a shared focus and shared language for describing behavior expectations to children, staff, and families. Expectations are posted in all areas of the program and shared with families. Training and coaching/support are necessary to effectively implement the Pyramid practices. Coaches use observational tools to provide teachers with feedback and guidance. Policies and procedures are developed for providing support to staff to address challenging behavior.

Read also: Impact of the Prussian Model

Assessing Implementation Fidelity

Program-wide implementation sites are first assessed as a whole using the Benchmarks of Quality that guide the leadership team with action steps to full implementation. Then, specific classroom observation tools are used such as the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) and Teaching Pyramid for Infants/Toddlers Observation Scale (TPITOS). The Pyramid Model Implementation Checklist is a tool designed to be used by practitioners to identify training and/or classroom implementation needs in seven areas: Responsive Relationships; Predictable Daily Schedules; Creating Effective Classroom Routines; Teaching Behavior Expectations across Classroom Routines; Teaching Social and Emotional Skills; Systematic Instructional Strategies; and Function-Based Assessment and Intervention Planning. This form is intended to be a coaching tool used following training to help the team be ready for coaching on the Pyramid to begin.

The Importance of an Effective Workforce

At the core of the Pyramid Model lies a strong foundation: an effective workforce. This focuses on the early childhood professionals who are teaching children. Without a strong foundation in our workforce, we can’t ensure that Pyramid Model practices will be implemented consistently and in high-quality ways with all children across all settings. That’s the foundation of the pyramid.

Addressing Trauma and Promoting Inclusion

The model was designed to meet individual child needs, such as for children with disabilities or delays or who have experienced trauma. A checklist is available to guide thinking about how to support the social-emotional development of young children who have experienced trauma. The Pyramid Model is applicable to infants and toddlers from any socioeconomic or cultural background and focuses on equity and inclusion. It is critically important that early childhood programs commit to teaching and supporting each and every child and eliminate the use of suspension and expulsion.

Family Engagement and Collaboration

Pyramid Model practices rely on the participation of families, and a collaboration between school and home about how to promote each child’s social-emotional development. When a child needs more instruction or intervention to address social, emotional, or behavioral needs, teachers partner with families to provide increased opportunities for their child to learn and practice new skills in the context of everyday activities and routines.

Research and Evaluation

Based on over a decade of evaluation data, the Pyramid Model has been shown to be a sound framework for early care and education systems. Research has consistently shown that young children who develop a solid base of social-emotional skills are more likely to achieve positive outcomes inside and outside of school.

Resources and Support

Numerous resources are available to support the implementation of the Pyramid Model. Many resources directly address Pyramid Model practices or are aligned with this evidence-based approach. These resources include monthly newsletters highlighting strategies and tips for providers and families.

Professional Development Networks

To support this work, New York has a Professional Development Network (PDN) of trainers, coaches, and observers. The Pyramid Model Implementation Data System (PIDS) collects data from early childhood programs implementing the Pyramid Model. The Council on Children and Families leads the statewide implementation of the Pyramid Model, with guidance from the Pyramid Model Statewide Leadership Team, composed of cross-sector experts in the early childhood field.

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