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In 2010, ÁùºÏ±¦µä was selected as one of two states to partner with the Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Interventions for Young Children (TACSEI) for a two-year training and technical assistance grant. The purpose of this partnership was to build ÁùºÏ±¦µä’s capacity to develop, implement and sustain a comprehensive system of training and technical assistance for supporting social emotional competence and addressing challenging behaviors in young children at-risk for, or with, identified developmental delays or disabilities in ÁùºÏ±¦µä. A primary goal of this partnership was to enhance the ability of the early care and education (ECE) workforce to address the social, emotional and behavioral needs of all young children birth to 5-years. This was done by embedding Pyramid Model training into existing ÁùºÏ±¦µä ECE professional development initiatives.

The Pyramid Model is a tiered system of evidence-based practices for teaching and supporting positive social emotional skills for young children, such as recognizing emotions in self and others, learning rules and expectations, self-regulation, and positive social interactions with peers. Research confirms a strong link between social emotional competence in young children and later school success. It also shows the negative consequences of untreated behavior problems including risk for school failure, delinquency in adolescence, and adult incarceration.

To achieve the broad goal of implementing a comprehensive system of training and technical assistance to support children’s social emotional competence, TACSEI staff worked with ÁùºÏ±¦µä on the following activities:

Convened a statewide interagency early childhood leadership team to develop policies and procedures to implement, evaluate, and sustain this initiative. 

• The ÁùºÏ±¦µä TACSEI State Leadership Team (SLT) has met monthly since the first meeting in November 2010 and continues to do so.  The SLT is comprised of primary stakeholders in early childhood programs, and guides ÁùºÏ±¦µä’s work in supporting social and emotional competence for young children, their families, and those who care for and educate young children.

Identified and trained a Master Cadre of trainers and coaches to build the capacity of the ECE workforce to implement the Pyramid Model with fidelity.

• ÁùºÏ±¦µä has a Master Cadre of expert trainers and coaches located throughout the state, focused on providing training to the community and facilitating program-wide implementation for individual programs. 

Identified and provided support to programs to serve as model demonstration sites to demonstrate the effectiveness of Pyramid Model and practices.

• Using , ÁùºÏ±¦µä TACSEI works with programs to implement Pyramid Model practices program-wide to fidelity.  When a program reaches program-wide fidelity, they become a ÁùºÏ±¦µä TACSEI Demonstration Site.

For more information about ÁùºÏ±¦µä TACSEI, participating programs, or to find out how you can support this work, contact Janice Lee or go to to find out more information.