Program-Wide Implementation

Components

  • Leadership Team
    The leadership team meets monthly and guides the implementation of the program-wide approach. The team is comprised of a program administrator, representation from the teaching staff, an individual who can provide coaching and support to teachers, the individual who serves as a behavior specialist (some individuals might fill more than one of these roles), and a family member. The team ensures that a system is developed to provide individualized behavior supports to children with challenges, professional development and support to teachers, a plan for family engagement, and uses data to make decisions as they guide implementation.
  • Staff Buy-In
    All staff become involved in the model (e.g., cook, teaching assistant, and teachers) and must agree that they are willing to participate. The leadership team monitors and supports staff buy-in on an ongoing basis.
  • Family Engagement
    A variety of mechanisms are used to establish partnerships with families in the implementation of the model by establishing collaborative partnerships with families, sharing information, providing families with information and support in guiding children’s development of social and emotional skills, and collaboratively teaming to support individual children. 
  • Program-Wide Expectations
    The adoption of program-wide expectations provides a shared focus and shared language for describing behavior expectations to children, staff, and families. Program-wide expectations are posted in the program and classrooms and are provided to families. Staff acknowledge engagement in the expectations by providing developmentally appropriate feedback and reinforcement to children.
  • Classroom Implementation of the Pyramid Model
    Teachers are individually assessed using a fidelity observation tool and then action planning occurs to identify goals for supporting teachers in reaching fidelity criteria.
  • Staff Professional Development and Support Plans
    All staff must have the training and coaching/support needed to effectively implement the Pyramid practices. The leadership team also develops strategies to provide ongoing support to staff as they implement the model.
  • Behavior Support Procedures
    The leadership team develops policies and procedures for providing support to staff to address challenging behavior. This includes providing a mechanism for support in crisis situations, developing a problem solving process for children with emerging challenges, and providing a system for identifying children who need a behavior support plan developed through a team driven process.
  • Data-Based Decision-Making
    Data-based decision-making is a pivotal component of the program-wide approach. The team will gather and review data on implementation and outcomes using tools provided by the Center.