PYRAMID MODEL NEWS

The Pyramid Model State Implementation Team (SIT) is dedicated to assisting you every step of the way! We are fully committed to aiding your programs in the installation, implementation, scaling up and sustainability of the Pyramid Model.

This school year, our State Implementation Team has outlined specific goals and corresponding action steps:

Goal 1: Assist programs in the development of behavior guidance policies.

Goal 2: Provide resources to support teams during system changes.

Goal 3: Create support mechanisms for "veteran teams" on integrating other instructional efforts into the Pyramid Model framework.

We invite you to share your ideas with us as a way to contribute to the collaborative effort of establishing support structures that will enhance your Pyramid Model systems and practices. Together, we can make a positive impact!

In Partnership,

Pyramid Model Communications Workgroup

Pyramid Model State Implementation Team

Does your Pyramid Model Site have teaching teams who have reached the Maintaining Phase of Fidelity? If so, we would like to hear about it and recognize their hard work and dedication in reaching the Maintaining phase of fidelity! Here's the simple process:

• Contact your External Coach/PDF to indicate your desire to nominate staff members.

• Your External Coach/PDF will share the link to a Google Survey for your site's Administrator or Data Manager to complete for each teaching team being nominated.

• Nominations will be processed by MNCoE in February and July of each year. (You may submit nominations all year long)!

• Continue to nominate additional teaching team members as they reach the Maintaining phase of fidelity!

• Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

A favorite event of the year is our Implementation Retreats. This year we will again combine our classroom based innovations, CEM and Pyramid Model, for a North and Metro/South Retreats. This day is a time spent celebrating and learning from other sites implementing the Pyramid Model across the state. This year, the innovation retreats will include more time to share and learn from each other’s celebrations in creating the systems supporting program-wide adoption of Pyramid Model practices.

We invite every team attending to share something they are proud of or something going well they

feel other teams may benefit from learning. Please complete this survey by February 29, 2024,

indicating what format and topic your team will share. Reach out to your PDF for more information about formats and potential topic considerations. Also be sure to register soon.

Disclaimer: Due to space our CEM/Pyramid Model Metro/South Retreat

is limited to 4 individuals per implementation site.

As early childhood special education professionals, we often are really great at taking data. However, do we stop to truly look at the data as often as we should? Using the Look-Think-Act method of analyzing data is a great method to dig deeper into data, especially that of the BOQs. The Look-Think-Act method is quite simple, but allows practitioners to look at data in a unique way. In the “LOOK” stage of the model, all the team does is simply look at the data. No trying to make sense of it, no analyzing the reasoning for it, just simply looking and discussing what is observed. Do you see areas that have improved, decreased, stayed stagnate. Do you notice one area that is excelling over others? Are there areas where there isn’t data? Areas where there is a substantial amount of data? Take note and discuss with your team.

During the “THINK” portion, teams take time to analyze why the data reads like it does. Why might certain trends occur the way they do? What is the reasoning for spikes in data, areas that have significant improvement or regression?

Lastly, in the “ACT” portion, teams decide what they are going to do about the data that is observed and the wonderings they came up with. How is the team going to respond to what the data is showing? What can the team do to implement change or ensure consistency remains?

Use the Look-Think-Act worksheet provided by NCPMI to help guide your team through the Look-Think-Act cycle and see what new information you can glean from your latest BOQ!

"Friendsday Wednesday" is a wonderful initiative, but the incorporation of friendship skills doesn't have to be limited to a specific day! Integrating these skills into each routine throughout the day can happen organically in some instances, while it may require more deliberate planning in others. The NCPMI has developed the Embedding Friendship Opportunities chart to guide the breakdown of preschool day routines, ensuring intentional inclusion of various social-emotional skills in every activity.

Additionally, your program's speech language pathologist and/or occupational therapist can be valuable resources for brainstorming social-emotional and social language opportunities or activities. By collaborating with these professionals, you can further enhance the overall social and emotional development within your program.

When working with young children, it is inevitable that challenging behavior is going to occur. It’s hard work for young children to learn how to be members of the family (school or home) without a few bumps along the way!

When addressing challenging behavior, it’s important to think about how you are responding to the behavior. Are there influences to your response, such as time of day, location, type of behavior?

Creating a neutralizing routine is a brief response that helps neutralize the effect of implicit bias on decision making. It helps you respond to behavior in a productive and supportive manner that is aligned with your values.

The new resource from NCPMI provides reflective questions and visuals to remind you to “Pause-Ask-Respond” and to “TRY”. Your team may also want to consider reviewing the Hot Button Activity seen in Tier 1 Pyramid Model training. It’s important as a classroom team to not only identify what your hot buttons are, but to be aware of what others hot buttons are as well so that you can work together to respond to challenging behaviors.

These ideas and resources are also great for parents. Talking with families about how they are responding to challenging behaviors in their home and how they can be reflective about their practices is a great bridge between home and school.

Hot Button Activity

Neutralizing Routine Document

Our Albert Lea Area School (Dist. #241) team of Early Childhood professionals attended all three Positive Solutions webinar workshops this past Fall of 2023. During each of the webinar workshops we learned the basics of how to teach the seven sessions of Positive Solutions of Families. The goal of this evidenced-based parent training is designed to promote positive and effective parenting behaviors.

Our Albert Lea Early Childhood Family Education program decided to incorporate these lessons into our Toddler series Classes, “Buzzy Bees” 2-3-year-old (Tuesdays, 9:45-11:00 am) and Growing Together 1-to-3-year old (Tuesdays, 5:45-6:45 pm) parents. We are currently using these individual lessons each week to provide information to families on how to promote their children’s social and emotional skills. Each week we go over an individual session. So far, we have completed, “Making the Connection,” “Keeping It Positive,” and “Behavior Has Meaning.” We are planning to continue with “The Power of Routines,” “Teach Me What to Do,” and “Responding with Purpose,” and completing “Putting It All Together with A Plan.”

These sessions are planned for 2-hours, but we are including all the information to the parents in a condensed form. This still helps our toddler parents with their child’s problem behaviors and learning how to use positive approaches to help their children learn appropriate behaviors. At the end of the 7-week session, parents will be offered a routine guide that provides them with advice for supporting their children with their family routines.

We will survey the parents at the end of the 7-week session to see if they would like this offered as a night class just for parents, or a longer 2-hour session block of time in order to have sufficient time to go over all the information that these lessons provide.

Mary Jo Volkman, Parent Educator

Albert Lea Area Schools

Early Childhood Family Education

Mary.volkman@alschools.org

The 2023-24 and the 2024-25 Training Calendars are posted on the MNCoE Pyramid Model Share Site. MNCoE continues to offer in-person (north, metro, and south) and virtual statewide training opportunities. Please remember to register in advance to help us best plan for your attendance.

MNCoE values our partnership with every program in Minnesota and looks forward to continued opportunities to work together for the benefit of all children and families.

Check out the new "Understanding the Differences and Similarities between PBIS & PM" Slidedeck added to the PBIS Collaboration tab on our MNCOE Pyramid Model Share SIte. This resource, crafted by our State PM/PBIS workgroup, aims to bridge and enhance support for the implementation of behavior support frameworks. Dive into the presentation to gain insights into the distinctions and commonalities between PBIS and the Pyramid Model, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding.