The Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children, offered by the Pyramid Model Consortium, provides an approach that combines teaching practices with organizational strategies. The Pyramid Model offers programming for preschoolers. A CASEL-approved evaluation demonstrates evidence of effectiveness at the preschool level. Translated materials are available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, and Turkish.
Strategies supporting educational equity
The Pyramid Model features strategies for understanding context, working with bias, and customizing for context. This includes training on learning about the cultural backgrounds of students and their families, implicit bias training, and guidance on how to customize lessons to better suit their students.
-
-
- SEL lessons
- Instructional practices
- Relationship building
- Positive classroom management
- SEL generalization
- Shared agreements
- Student voice
-
- Systemic support for SEL
- Adult SEL
- Peer mentoring
- Student supports
- Student Voice
-
- Family Intervention Component
- School Involvement
- Connecting Families With Community Supports
- Activities and Resources for Home
- Individualized Communication
-
-
- Onsite in-person training
- Virtual training
- Offsite training
- Train the trainer model
-
- Administrator support
- Coaching
- Technical assistance
- Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
- Online resource library
- Self-report tools for monitoring implementation
- Observational tools
- Tools for measuring student success
Evidence of effectiveness
Results from a randomized controlled trial (published report in 2016) supported the effectiveness of The Pyramid Model for public school students. This evaluation included 492 students in a Southeast preK (44% Black/African American; 33.9% White; 18.9% Hispanic/Latinx; 83% free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL)). The study found that students who participated in the program had improved teacher-reported social skills and reduced teacher-reported problem behaviors at post-test, as measured by the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales compared to students in the control group while controlling for outcome pretest.
-
Evidence shown in grades Pre-KSchool characteristics -
-
- Southeast
Student characteristics - Black / African American
- Hispanic / Latinx
- White
Percentage Low Income - Eligible for FRPL: 83%
Study design type - RCT
Greater than 350 students included in study design type - Yes
Multiple school districts included at study design type - Yes
-
- Improved academic performance
- Reduced emotional distress
- Improved identity development and agency
- Reduced problem behaviors
- Improved school climate
- Improved school connectedness
- Improved social behaviors
- Improved teaching practices
- Improved other SEL skills and attitudes
How does The Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children support SEL implementation across multiple settings?
“Grounded in decades of research, the Pyramid Model supports SEL wherever young children learn: classrooms, family child care, home visiting, and early intervention. Our framework aligns state systems, program leadership teams, and coaching so practices are used with fidelity, and family resources carry them into homes for a shared approach.”
Sign up for our newslettersAccess the latest, most trusted information on SEL -