5/9/2012

Implementing the Pyramid Model Community-Wide in Early Childhood Settings Across South

Central Pennsylvania

Presenters: Amy M. Swope, Ph.D.: Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12

Kris Woody: Family-Child Resources

Tyler Hoffman: Early Intervention Specialists, Inc.

Presentation Objectives

• Participants will develop an understanding of the SPEC Community-wide PBS Implementation Model

• Participants will develop an understanding of our SPEC Program development process

• Participants will become familiar with the tools and resources available for Community-wide PBS Implementation

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5/9/2012

And the Survey Says…

Horton Hears A Who: “A person’s a person, no matter how small…”

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SPEC: Implementing the Pyramid Model Community-Wide in our region

SPEC: Supporting Positive Environments for Children

SPEC PROGRAM: Developed to expand Program-wide PBS model in early childhood programs throughout our area.

SPEC Program Format: Based on framework of PA PBS Grant initiative Provision of onsite intensive coaching to support PW-PBS implementation

SPEC

Supporting Positive Environments for Children

Vision: The vision of the SPEC project in York and Adams Counties is to support the early education community in our area to provide positive learning environments for young children.

Mission: The mission of the SPEC project is to partner with the early childhood community to provide an environment which fosters social emotional competence in young learners. The Program-Wide Positive Behavior Support Teaching Pyramid model has been adopted as the overarching framework for the SPEC project.

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CSEFEL: PBS Teaching Pyramid

Increasing evidence suggests that an effective approach to addressing problem behavior is the adoption of a model that focuses on promoting social-emotional development, providing support for children’s appropriate behavior, and preventing challenging behavior (Sugai et al.2000).

Center on Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning's (CSEFEL) Teaching Pyramid

The Teaching Pyramid is an evidence‐based model for "supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children” The pyramid framework includes the following strata, beginning at the base with effective workforce and moving upward: 1) positive relationships with children, families, and colleagues; 2) classroom preventive practices; 3) social and emotional teaching strategies; and 4) intensive individualized interventions. The pyramid is inclusive of early childhood positive behavioral intervention and support strategies.

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Teaching Pyramid: Effective Workforce

• At the base of the pyramid is the needfor an effective workforce in the early childhood field.The need for better‐trained staff is consistent throughout theUnited States.

Teaching Pyramid: Tier 1

At the foundational level of the Center on Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning's TeachingPyramid, we find nurturingand responsiverelationships. Positive,nurturing, and responsiverelationships are a centralcomponent in children'ssocial, emotional, and cognitive development.

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Teaching Pyramid: Tier 1

At the foundational level of the Center on Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning's Teaching Pyramid, we also find high quality supportive environments. The environment includes room arrangement, equipment selection, open ended materials, predictable schedules, and routines.

Teaching Pyramid: Tier 2

The next level of the pyramid is concerned with providing social supports for children. Intentionally teaching and practicing positive behavior in a systematic method is effective for all children.

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Teaching Pyramid: Tier 3

There are a small number of children that need additional help to develop positive social and emotional skills. These children need intensive intervention through a functional behavior support plan.

Implementation of the Model

Implementing PW-PBS typically involves early childhood teams working with state trainers to build local capacity for establishing an effective social culture, with an effective array of behavior supports. The effectiveness of training and team efforts is enhanced by local coaches who work closely with early childhood program teams.

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PBS Coaches

Coaches often are drawn from roles such as school psychologist, social worker, counselor, administrator, behavior specialist, special educator, teacher consultant or reading specialist.

The role of the coach…

"A coach teaches models, inspires, and critiques, and continues in this relentlessly until mastery is achieved -and long after (R. Sprick, et al., 2010, p.5)." Coaches work collaboratively with coachees; model skills; and observe and provide feedback.

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Impact of coaching…

Research shows that coaching increases the likelihood that implementation will happen with fidelity and is critical for the replication of evidence-based practices. Coaching supports and requires skill-based learning and the demonstration of these skills for proficiency

Coaching in the context of the Teaching Pyramid

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The SPEC coaching program has been modeled after the PW-PBS coaching model. The SPEC coaches will:

Work with the early childhood program core team during initial PW-PBS trainings.

Work directly with the early childhood program internal coach to increase coaching skill proficiency and promote sustainability.

Provide ongoing technical assistance and training to core team members.

Meet at least monthly with early childhood program core teams.

Collect and send required data to the SPEC program facilitator.

Assist with data collection and data analysis within early childhood programs.

Assist with PW-PBS 'buy-in' within early childhood programs

Systems change literature indicates that coaching is associated with the following positive outcomes:

Coaching is key to successful systems change and individual improvement

Improved fidelity of implementation

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We decided we wanted to replicate the Pyramid Model across Early Childhood programs throughout our region…

Rationale

A widespread body of literature exists which has accumulated over the past 20 years supporting the implementation of the School-Wide Positive Behavior Support model in school-aged programs. In recent years, researchers have begun to focus on the implementation of PBS model on a program-wide basis in early childhood centers. Research shows that the implementation of PW-PBS with fidelity enhances the social emotional development in young children, thereby promoting more positive long-term outcomes. As early childhood program staff become more proficient at utilizing the strategies embedded in the model, teachers' stress levels decrease and perceived competence increases.

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OCDEL’s role…

Beginning in 2009, in conjunction with a nationwide trend, OCDEL issued a Request for Proposals to Intermediate Units throughout the state for participation in a statewide PW-PBS grant initiative. Due to a widespread need, LIU 12 submitted a proposal to participate in the PW-PBS grant project. This was based on a high volume of requests for consultation on the implementation of the pyramid model. The early childhood programs were seeking assistance on implementing strategies across the 3 tiers of the pyramid model, including classroom environment; social skills teaching strategies; and intensive individualized behavioral support. York/Adams Early Intervention and LIU 12 partnered to provide the external, onsite, intensive coaching support to early childhood programs involved in the grant initiative from 2009 to present.

PW-PBS expansion…

As part of our plan for sustainability, in anticipation of the eventual end of the PBS grant initiative, the SPEC team members convened to ensure comprehensive expansion of the PW-PBS model in early childhood centers throughout our region. One of the goals of the SPEC leadership team was to increase self-sufficiency in early childhood programs. Accomplishing this goal would thereby foster competence in staff and parents; reduce referrals to outside agencies for behavior consultation; and reduce the early childhood program expulsion rate.

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First steps…

The SPEC team consulted with Sue Z., Pattan consultant who shared resources for Community Wide Pyramid Model implementation, including the Community-wide Benchmarks of Quality. We used the Community-wide Benchmarks

of Quality as a blueprint for developing our Supporting Positive Environments for Children (SPEC) program.

SPEC Timeline

It has taken approximately 2 years to develop a solid foundation, including a leadership team, a vision/mission statement, goals and objectives; and to identify possible funding sources. Beginning in the next fiscal year, we will be ready to begin providing SPEC Coaching to selected Early Childcare centers.

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SPEC Community-wide Blueprint

Leadership Team

Coordination

Funding

Communication and Visibility

Administrative Support

Demonstrations

Family Involvement

Professional Development

Ongoing Support and Technical Assistance

Evaluation

Leadership Team

Stakeholders from across our region: LIU 12 York/Adams Early Intervention Local Early Childhood Centers Local Education Agencies (LEAs)

Developed: Mission and Vision Statements Goals and Objectives

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SPEC Goals and Objectives: 1 - 4

SPEC Goals and Objectives: 4 - 5

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Coordination

Regional Facilitator: Amy M. Swope, Ph.D. Responsible for coordination efforts

pertaining to the PaPBS Network within our region/community

Funding

Brainstormed to identify potential funding sources

Stakeholders agreed to cover start-up costs associated with planning until other funding sources could be secured

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Communication and Visibility

November 5, 2010: community-wide kick-off event held for 300+ participants In attendance were: early interventionists, therapists,

psychologists, teachers and various administrative staff from child care centers throughout South Central PA.

Leadership Meetings: provide continued opportunity for sharing updates and brainstorming.

Administrative Support

Mission Statement endorses the PW-PBS Pyramid Model

Leadership Team identified SE-Behavior as a priority

SPEC progress news shared at Local Community Engagement Groups: Mental Health/ Health Advisory Committee & Early Childhood Mental Health Advisory Committee

Development of policies and procedures, guidelines for participation, curriculum and contractual roles and responsibilities

Application process for Early Childhood programs to apply for intensive SPEC coaching

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Demonstrations

Request for Proposals (RFPs) establish recruitment and acceptance criteria Identification of two programs York Day

Nursery and Crispus Attucks Early LearningCenter to: Demonstrate the successful usage of the pyramid model as

a showcase Serve as a resource to new SPEC participants

RFPs will be offered to identified possible candidates

Family Involvement

SPEC leadership team is affiliated with family systems representation SAM, Health Choices, CCBH, MH/MR and Social Workers

Multiple methods of communicating with families about the SPEC initiative are currently being developed, including: Parent surveys, Flyers, Newsletters and PBS bulletin boards in early learning centers

SPEC Goal 5 states: Educate and empower parents and guardians to nurture young children and provide positive structured home environments. The SPEC program will provide the following supports to families; Develop parent support group Community outreach methods (flyers, newsletter, etc Parent workshops on positive behavior support

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Professional Development

Trainers identified as SPEC Coaches Early Childhood Centers develop a

sustainability plan to include continued opportunities for trainings Coaches will provide early childhood

centers with the trainings as per the SPEC coaching curriculum

SPEC Curriculum: Weeks 1 - 3

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SPEC Curriculum: Weeks 4 - 8

SPEC Curriculum: Weeks 9 - 13

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SPEC Curriculum: Weeks 14 - 18

Ongoing Support and Technical Assistance

Early Childhood Centers develop a sustainability plan to include continued opportunities for trainings

Internal program coaches will be identified

Behavior Specialists will be identified and trained within the program

Regularly scheduled meetings with SPEC coaches PA-PBS network facilitator will be available for

consultation

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Evaluation

Data Reporting requirements include: Benchmarks of Quality (BofQ), TPOT/TPITOS and

Inventory of Practices (IOP) Social Skills Screener (ASQ-SE) and Behavior Incident

Reports (BIRs) Annual Review of Implementation Plan

Required to report to SPEC coach as outlined in thecurriculum SPEC Team will use data to update and revise

implementation plan as needed

Tools and Resources

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/

Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention (TACSEI) http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/

Implementing the Pyramid Model Community-wide: Benchmarks of Quality Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support Network www.papbs.org

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