Purpose: Although research has established a positive relationship between young children's social emotional skills and success in school, large numbers of young children are beginning their school experiences without the emotional, social, and behavioral skills necessary for academic success. The purpose of this project is to refine the Teaching Pyramid intervention, a multi-tiered intervention to address the social emotional development and challenging behavior of young children with or at risk for disabilities. The research team will further develop the intervention and then conduct an initial evaluation of the intervention in public preschool classrooms.

Project Activities: The research team will first develop and field test intervention materials for teachers and establish the technical adequacy of a tool for measuring implementation fidelity. The team will then conduct an initial evaluation of the intervention in 40 classrooms randomly assigned to intervention classrooms or control classrooms. Teachers randomized to the intervention condition will be provided with training, technical assistance, and materials needed for the intervention and will be compared to teachers who are implementing "business as usual" practices. Researchers will assess whether intervention classrooms have improved teacher and child outcomes compared to control classrooms.

Products: The products of this study include a fully developed intervention focused on promoting young children's social and emotional development and reducing challenging behavior, and validated measures of implementation fidelity. Published reports on the initial evaluation of the developed intervention on key outcomes such as student's behavior and social development, teacher-child interactions, overall classroom behavior and classroom climate will also be available.

Structured Abstract

Purpose: Although research has established a positive relationship between young children's social emotional skills and success in school, large numbers of young children are beginning their school experiences without the emotional, social, and behavioral skills necessary for academic success. The purpose of this project is to refine the Teaching Pyramid intervention, a multi-tiered intervention to address the social emotional development and challenging behavior of young children with or at risk for disabilities. The research team will further develop the intervention and then conduct an initial evaluation of the intervention in public preschool classrooms.

Setting: Public preschool classrooms in urban areas in Tennessee and Florida.

Population: A total of 40 preschool classrooms that serve children with, at risk for, and without disabilities.

Intervention: The Teaching Pyramid provides educators with a multi-tiered model of universal strategies (classroom preventive practices), secondary strategies (social emotional teaching strategies), and targeted interventions (individualized interventions) focused on promoting young children's social and emotional development and reducing challenging behavior.

Research Design and Methods: Phase 1 will involve developing and field testing implementation materials for teachers and establishing the psychometric integrity of an observation for measuring implementation fidelity. Phase 2 will involve an initial evaluation of the intervention in 40 classrooms (20 intervention and 20 control) in Tennessee and Florida. The design is a cluster-randomized trial with random assignment at the classroom level.

Control Condition: Control classrooms will consist of teachers who are implementing "business as usual" practices.

Key Measures: The project will collect demographic and descriptive measures as well as measures of intervention fidelity, teacher and classroom variables, and children's social skills and behavioral development. Key classroom-level measures include the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, the Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale, The Engagement Checklist II, and direct observations of classroom behavior. Child-level measures include the Caregiver-Teacher Report Form, Child Behavior Checklist, and the Social Skills Rating System Preschool Version.

Data Analytic Strategy: To establish the psychometric integrity of intervention instruments, generalizability theory and measures of concurrent validity will be used. Panels of key stakeholders will review implementation guides for teachers, and classroom teachers will field test the guides. Revisions to the guide will be based on reported usability, satisfaction, impact on practice, additional supports needed to implement the practices, and impact on children's behavior and engagement. To evaluate initial impact of the intervention, the research team will analyze the data using a random regression model, which takes into account the nested nature of the data.

Publications from this project:

Fox, L., & Hemmeter, M. L. (2009). A program-wide model for supporting social emotional development and addressing challenging behavior in early childhood settings. In W. Sailor, G. Dunlap, G. Sugai, and R. Horner (Eds.), Handbook of positive behavior support (pp.177–202). New York, NY: Springer.

Hemmeter, M. L., Snyder, P., Kinder, K., & Artman, K. (2011). Impact of performance feedback delivered via electronic mail on preschool teachers' use of descriptive praise. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26 (1), 96–109.

Snyder, P., McLaughlin, T., & Denney, M. (2011). Frameworks for guiding program focus and practices in early intervention. In J. M. Kauffman & D. P. Hallahan (Series Eds.) & M. Conroy (Section Ed.), Handbook of special education: Section XII early identification and intervention in exceptionality. New York, NY: Routledge.

Fox, L., Hemmeter, M. L., Snyder, P., Binder, D., & Clarke, S. (in press). Coaching early childhood special educators to implement a comprehensive model for promoting young children's social competence. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.

Hemmeter, M. L., Ostrosky, M., & Corso, R. (in press). Preventing and addressing challenging behavior: Common questions and practical solutions. Young Exceptional Children.

Hemmeter, M. L., & Conroy, M. (in press). Supporting the social competence of young children with challenging behavior in the context of the Teaching Pyramid model: Research-based practices and implementation in early childhood settings. In R. Pianta, L. Justice, S. Barnett, & S. Sheridan (Eds.), The handbook of early education. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Strain, P. S., Joseph, G., & Hemmeter, M. L. (in press). Young children's problem behavior: Impact, intervention and innovations. Early Childhood Services.