PBS Goes to Preschool: Implementing the Teaching Pyramid Program Wide

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PBS Goes to Preschool Implementing the Teaching
Pyramid Program Wide
Mary Louise Hemmeter ml.hemmeter_at_vanderbilt.edu
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Center for Positive Behavior Interventions and
Supports (2002)
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Evidence Re SW-PBS

• Decreases in Office Discipline Referrals
• 6000 schools nation-wide
• First year decrease averages 66
• Improvements in school culture
• School-wide academic improvements

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Young Children with Challenging Behavior

• It begins early
• Between 10-30 of preschool students are not
  behaviorally and emotionally ready to succeed in
  school
• Early problem behavior is predictive of future
  challenges
• Best predictor of delinquency in adolescence,
  gang membership, incarceration

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• Early educators are challenged
• Preschool teachers report that childrens
  disruptive behavior is the single greatest
  challenge they face
• Preschool children are three times more likely to
  be expelled than children in K-12

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We are talking about babies

• Developmental ages from 6 months to 5 years
• Limited understanding and expression
• Moving from solitary play to social play
• Moving from object exploration to representation
• Implications for guidance, corrective feedback,
  classroom management, instruction

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Its about play

• Instruction is embedded within play and routine
  activities
• Major focus is to facilitate peer social
  interaction and concept development
• Instructional activities are brief and concrete
• How social skills are taught, the concepts of
  rules and expectations

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Meltdown moments are expected

• Crying
• Head Banging
• Biting
• Throwing objects
• Pinching
• Pulling hair
• Hitting
• Spitting food

Topography of behavior is not meaningful, context
is what matters. Formulas for majors/minors
might not be helpful.
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Early Educators

• Often lack formal credentials
• Have very little training in behavior
• Have limited to no experience with teaming
• Intensity and frequency of training and
  technical assistance

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Programs might

• Be minimally staffed
• Have no access to mental health or behavioral
  consultation
• Use exclusion to resolve behavioral issues
• Offer no opportunities for professional
  development or training
• Systems building and community linkages critical
  to success

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The non-system of early childhood

• Early childhood policies and procedures are
  highly fragmented, with complex and confusing
  points of entry that are particularly problematic
  for underserved populations and those with
  special needs. This lack of an integrative early
  childhood infrastructure makes it difficult to
  advance prevention-oriented initiatives for all
  children and to coordinate services for those
  with complex problems.
• (Shonkoff Phillips, 2000, p.11)

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The Teaching Pyramid Promoting Social and
Emotional Competence and Addressing Challenging
Behavior
Treatment/Focused Intervention
Intensive Interventions
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
Prevention
High Quality Supportive Environments
Universal Promotion
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
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The Teaching Pyramid Program-Wide PBS
Program-Wide Commitment
Teacher Training and Technical Assistance
Intensive Interventions
Data-Based Decision Making
Well-Defined Procedures
Targeted Social Emotional Supports
High Quality Supportive Environments
Partnerships with Families
Administrative Support
Nurturing and Responsive Caregiving Relationships
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Program Wide Models

• Kansas SEK-CAP Head Start
• Florida Child Care Head Start
• Iowa Head Start and Pre-K
• Illinois Child Care Public School Pre-K

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Outcomes Across Programs

• Reduced challenging behavior
• Promotion of social development
• Improved staff satisfaction
• Increase in overall classroom quality
• More intentional teaching of social skills and
  emotional competencies
• Support for children with the most intensive
  behavioral needs
• Less reliance on outsideexperts

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What Makes it Work?

• A champion
• Administrative leadership
• Ongoing support for those working directly with
  children and families
• Clearly articulated policies and procedures
  related to behavior
• Commitment to long term process - systems change
• Collaboration between ECE and mental
  health/behavior consultants

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SEK-CAP Story

• Available from www.challengingbehavior.org

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Readiness for Program-Wide PBS

• Behavior is a goal
• Leadership Team is formed and includes
• Administrator
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Person with behavioral expertise
• Teachers
• Program commits to 2-3 year process to achieve
  full implementation

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Readiness (continued)

• Program commits evaluating outcomes in classrooms
• Leadership team commits to meeting monthly,
  monitoring progress, and using data for decision
  making
• Leadership team commits to
• Facilitating ongoing training and TA
• Supporting teachers to implement the pyramid
• Developing and promoting program-wide
  expectations
• Developing plan to provide individualized PBS

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Critical Elements Leadership Team

• Establish a Team
• Broad representation
• Administrative support
• Regular meetings
• Implementation plan (use critical elements)
• Review and revise plan at-least annually

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Team Roles

• Team Leader starts meetings, prepares agendas,
  keeps team focused
• Recorder takes minutes, disseminates minutes,
  records discussions, maintains team records
• Evaluation Coordinator synthesizes data and
  prepares data presentations for review
• Behavior Coach provides leadership in behavior
  support strategies and tertiary systems
  development

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Team Responsibilities

• Develop your programs implementation plan on
  Critical Elements Form
• Monitor implementation, Use data for
  decision-making
• Hold regular meetings
• Plan and implement professional development
  activities
• Create system of support for addressing behavior
  issues
• Maintain communication with staff
• Evaluate progress

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Critical Elements Staff Buy-In

• Staff Buy-In
• Staff poll establishes buy-in
• Leadership team maintains buy-in by inviting
  input and feedback
• See Critical Elements

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Please take a moment to give us input on how you
feel about starting Program-Wide PBS ? I feel
very confident about adopting program-wide PBS.
Lets commit to doing this. ? I like the idea of
program-wide PBS, but believe that I need more
training around this topic before feeling like I
can be on board with this. ? I like the idea of
program-wide PBS, but do not feel I can make a
commitment to it at this time. ? I dont feel
that program-wide PBS will be beneficial and
would rather not participate in this process.
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Maintaining Staff Buy-In

• Do program staff have concerns about PWPBS?
• How will you establish buy-in?
• How can you nurture buy-in over time?

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Critical Elements Program-Wide Expectations

• Program-wide Expectations
• Small number (3 to 5)
• Apply to staff and children
• Developmentally appropriate
• Staff are involved in the process
• Posted in classroom and common areas

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Program-Wide Expectations

• Creates a shared focus and continuity for
  program, school, classrooms
• Gives school/program a shared language
• Communicates positively what is desired

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Program-wide Expectations

• Behaviors expected of all children in all
  settings
• 3 to 5 behaviors
• Stated in positive terms
• General enough for all settings, but specific
  enough to lead to the generation of rules for
  targeted settings.

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Sample Expectations
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Expectations vs. Rules

• Expectations are
• General
• Broadly stated
• Applicable to all people in all settings

• Rules are
• Specific
• May apply to limited settings
• Clarify behaviors for settings
• Observable and Measurable

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Expectation vs Rules

• I am a Problem Solver
• Go up the ladder and down the slide
• Be a Superfriend
• Walking feet
• Respect myself and others
• Stay with my group
• Feet on the floor
• Safety First

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Expectation/Rules Matrix
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Program-Wide Rules Be a Friend in Centers

• Gentle hands and feet
• Share toys
• Quiet voices
• Kind words
• Help your friends

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Infant Room

• Be Safe
• Have safe toys, no broken toys
• Divide room for differing ages/stages
• Implement poison control measures
• Use seat fasteners
• Provide constant supervision
• Disinfect objects/areas
• Use good hand washing techniques

• Be a Friend (nurture)
• Role model, set good examples
• Interact through play, song, reading, talking
• Hold and cuddle
• Use positive phrases
• Praise desired behaviors
• Respond to children in a timely manner

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Promoting Expectations

• Bulletin Boards
• T-shirts
• Photo Displays
• Classroom books
• Plays
• Songs
• Roll Out Rally

• Classroom celebrations
• Family lesson plans
• Playground party
• Video production
• Family newsletter
• Staff acknowledgement
• Invite the Mayor!

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Together We CanSupport Positive Behavior at
Valeska Hinton
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Together We Can!

• We can do it together we can
• Help each other with our plan
• Showing respect and taking turns
• Being good listeners is how we learn.
• CHORUS
• Sound off, We can
• Sound off, Do it
• Sound off, We can
• (Clap, clap) Do it!
• We have to be safe and follow the rules
• Take care of each other and our school.
• No need to be sad or to shout,
• Together we can work it out!
• CHORUS

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• Sharing ideas and being good readers
• Will help us to become great leaders.
• We can do it together we can.
• We have a mission and a plan.
• CHORUS
• Sound off, We can
• Sound off, Do it
• Sound off, We can
• (Clap, clap) Do it!

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CARE roll out
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Promoting the Expectations
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Acknowledging the Expectations
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Critical Elements Expectations

• Teaching and Acknowledging the Expectations
• Strategies developed for embedded instruction
• Variety of teaching strategies
• Strategies for acknowledging use of expectations

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Teaching Strategies

• Adult Modeling
• Modeling with Puppets
• Songs
• Fingerplays
• Flannel Board Activities
• Role Play

• Prompts
• Priming
• Reinforcement
• Incidental Teaching
• Use of Games
• Use of Childrens Literature
• Social Stories

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Critical Elements Family Involvement

• Family Involvement
• Input at the beginning
• Multiple mechanisms for sharing the initiative
• Multiple mechanisms for home implementation
• Family partnerships in developing and
  implementing individualized support

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Announcing to Families

• Letter written in the childs voice
• Brochure to send home
• Include in parent manual, review with parents
  during conferences
• Create a family friendly storybook that explains
  the initiative
• Create parent posters to send home --- or fridge
  magnets, chore charts, etc.
• Put a banner up that announces the effort (e.g.,
  Together We Can) in the center.
• Make buttons that say Ask me about PBS. Have
  staff wear the buttons and be ready to explain
  the new initiative
• Adopt a symbol (e.g., star, heart, hands). Send a
  symbol home and describe the initiative on the
  back.

• Take a photo of the child and include on a
  handout that explains the initiative. For
  example, the handout could be titled Learning to
  Be a Friend and include the childs picture and
  some ways that will be worked on in preschool.
• Have a party where refreshments are served (e.g.,
  cookies in the shape of your symbol!)
• Childrens performance related to expectations
• Host an open house where parents are encouraged
  to drop in set up an activity where the child
  can introduce the parent to the initiative.
• Create anticipation about the initiative (Burma
  shave signs)

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Maintaining Family Involvement

• look at me notes with photo of child engaging
  in expectations
• newsletter that is related to the initiative
• Provide childrens books that teach social
  skills.
• Homework assignments to practice social skills
  with family members (e.g., give each person in
  your family 3 compliments).
• Host classroom and program celebrations of
  success and invite parents
• Display the expectations in your entryway and put
  up photos of the children and program staff
  engaging in expectations. Encourage families to
  submit pictures of families and children

• Have families submit stories about their child
  using the expectations at home. Put in a jar for
  a drawing
• Collect stories and create a newsletter to share
  with all or create a collage and post.
• At every parent/teacher conference, share
  information on the initiative and the progress of
  the child
• Have children make books about the skills they
  are learning to take home. Include photos of the
  child in the book
• Send home tip sheets on how to promote the
  expectations at home
• Personal notes that comment on the parents
  strengths and efforts in supporting their childs
  development
• Provide teachers with a list of sample notes to
  make it easier for them to do

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Critical Elements Teaching Pyramid

• Classrooms are implementing the Teaching Pyramid
• Positive relationships
• Supportive environments
• Teaching social emotional skills
• Initiate the development of individualized
  supports for children with persistent challenging
  behavior

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Implementation Issues Associated with the
Teaching Pyramid

• Belief that the bottom three levels are already
  in place
• Lack of understanding about the relationship
  between environment and social development and
  problem behavior
• Tendency to want to jump to the top of the
  pyramid
• Desire for a quick fix

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Using the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT)

• Baseline on implementation
• Focus your professional development efforts
• Identify where teachers may need assistance
  (coaching, ideas, support)
• Shows teacher growth in implementation

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TPOT structure

• Environment questions
• Observable items
• Questions to determine practices
• Red Flags
• Address these immediately!
• See TPOT instrument

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Critical ElementsProfessional Development and
Staff Support

• Staff Support Plan
• Ongoing technical assistance
• Behavior support facilitators are trained
• Needs assessment for pyramid implementation
• Individualized professional development plans
• Group and individualized training strategies
• Incentives and acknowledgment

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Coaching Impact
Joyce and Showers, 2002
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Stages of Implementation

• Implementation is not an event
• A mission-oriented process involving multiple
  decisions, actions, and corrections
• Implementing an evidence-based program takes 2 to
  4 years

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Professional Development

• Implementation Fidelity is the Goal!
• Ongoing Process
• Include All Staff
• Avoid Train and Hope!

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Critical ElementsResponding to Challenging
Behavior

• Responding to problem behavior
• Developmentally appropriate, classroom strategies
• Crisis responses
• Problem solving and support
• Team assessment-based process for tertiary level
• Partnerships with families

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PBS Problem Solving Process Part II Obtaining
Behavioral Support for an Individual Child
Persons Responsible
Tools to Use
Ages Stages, Denver, Informal Observations
Concerns Identified
Teaching Staff, Parents, Caregivers, Partners
Team Meeting Minutes
Team meeting
Center Team
Observation card, Incident Reports
Classroom observations
Center Team
Teams decides on need for Request for assistance
from Behavior Support Facilitator
Team Meeting Minutes Request for Assistance Form
Center Team /copy minutes leave in notebooks
Observation cards, ABC chart
Behavior Support Facilitator Observes
Behavior Support Facilitator
TEAM Meeting
Team Recommends classroom/staff behavioral
support plan or, TTYC Used
Team Recommends individual behavioral support
plan
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Behavior Support Process
Tools to Use
Person Responsible
Team meeting minutes
Convene Behavior Support Team
Behavior Support Facilitator
Behavior Support Facilitator and Team
PCP Template
Complete Person Centered Planning Meeting
compile PCP Summary
FBA Assessment tools
Conduct Functional Behavioral Assessment
Compile FBA Summary
Behavior Support Facilitator and Team
Review PCP FBA Summaries to identify hypothesis
and develop
FBA Template, data
Behavior Support Facilitator and Team
Review intervention effectiveness and Specify
data needed to evaluate plans
Support Plan template
Behavior Support Facilitator and Team
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Team Activity - Responding to Challenging Behavior

• Consider the following
• What processes do you have in place in your
  program for
• Responding to crisis situations
• Problem solving with teachers around challenging
  behavior
• Developing individualized plans for children with
  ongoing challenging behavior
• How are they working?
• What resources, activities, training do you need
  in order to ensure these processes are in place?
• DEVELOP BEHAVIOR FLOW CHART

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Critical Elements Monitoring Implementation
Outcomes

• Monitoring implementation and outcomes
• Measurement of Implementation
• Measure outcomes
• Data collected and summarized
• Data shared with staff and families
• Data used for ongoing monitoring and problem
  solving
• Plan is updated, revised based on data

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Evaluation Plan

• Levels of Data Collection
• Implementation
• Benchmarks of Quality
• Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool
• Program
• Program Incidents (calls to families, dismissals,
  transfer, requests for assistance, family
  conferences)
• Behavior Incidents
• Child
• Social Skills Rating System or other measure
  (social skills problem behavior)

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Data-Based Decision Making Implementation

• Benchmarks of Quality
• Next steps for program
• Growth in implementation (will collect pre/post
  each year)

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Ybors Benchmarks of Quality
43 total benchmarks
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Mangos Benchmarks of Quality
43 total benchmarks
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Achieves Benchmarks of Quality
43 total benchmarks
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Outcome 4Benchmarks Across Centers
43 total benchmarks
Outcome 4 All 3 centers had more that 90 of
the benchmarks in place or partially in place.
The average across all centers was 95.
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Data-Based Decision Making Implementation

• Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT)
• Teacher implementation of the pyramid
• Teachers training and coaching needs
• Change in teacher practice (will collect pre and
  post each year)

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Pyramid Implementation Across 2007/08 Three Pre-K
Programs
Averages across 3 child care programs/8 classrooms
Key Red Flag Range is 0-16 (0 good, 2-6 at
risk, 7-15 significant) Environment Range is
0-7 (0-4 poor quality, 5-6 average quality,
7 high quality) Anchor Range is 0-5 ( 0-1.0
poor, 1.1-3.4 average 3.5-5.0 exemplary)
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Program Incidents

• Monitor program incidents monthly
• Information on calls to families, need for
  external assistance, dismissal from program
• Provides leadership team with an indicator that
  program is becoming more able to manage children
  with challenges

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Monthly Program Incident Tracking

• One person complete
• Make tally marks
• Only capture issues relating to challenging
  behavior
• May not be able to capture every one do the best
  you can

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Data-Based Decision Making

• Behavior Incident Reports (BIR)
• Identify children with challenges
• Identify factors related to challenges (location,
  teacher, activity, behavior type)
• Change in incidents over time

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Behavior Incident Reports(BIR)

• Form for recording serious behavior incidents
• Monthly graphs provided to leadership team
• Review results at Leadership Team Meetings to
  make data based decisions

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BIR Data Drives Decision Making

• Who (teacher, child)
• Where (classroom, hall, outside, etc.)
• How often (average per month)
• What behaviors

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How Often is the Behavior?
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What Behaviors?
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Who is having problem behavior?
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Where is Problem Behavior?
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When is problem behavior occurring?
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Data-Based Decision Making

• Social Skills Rating System (SSRS)
• Child social skills delay and growth
• Child behavior delay and growth

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SSRSSocial Skills Rating System

• Teachers complete based on their knowledge of
  child. Only complete on children that have been
  in the program a minimum of 1 month
• Write unique identifier (instead of name), date
  completed, birth date, ethnicity, disability
  status (if known)

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Spring 07
Problem Behavior
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Statistically Significant Increase in Social
Skills
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Steps for Implementation

• Participate in training - develop implementation
  plan on critical elements form as part of
  training
• Develop expectations
• Develop ideas for establish teacher buy-in
• Develop roll out ideas (teachers and families)
• Develop processes for responding to problem
  behavior
• Develop plan to begin professional development
  and staff support

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Steps for Implementation(continued)

• Collect data
• SSRS, BIR, TPOT, Program Incidents, Benchmarks
• Begin implementation
• Begin professional development
• develop classroom action plans
• Program wide roll-out of behavior expectations
• Implementation of systems for responding to
  problem behavior
• Behavior Flow Chart

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Steps for Implementation(continued)

• Convene monthly leadership team meetings
• Collect and review data and progress
• SSRS, BIR, TPOT, Program Incidents, Benchmarks
• Refine plan based on data
• Problem solve around classroom action plans -
  assistance needed
• Families
• Share plan with families
• Develop materials for families
• Plan activities/meetings for families

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National Centers - Resources

• Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations
  for Early Learning
• (CSEFEL)
• www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel
• Technical Assistance Center on
• Social Emotional Intervention
• www.challengingbehavior.org