Madison Community-Wide Pyramid Model Implementation (BE HEART)
What is the Pyramid Model?
The Pyramid Model is a framework of evidence-based practices promoting young children’s healthy social and emotional development.
Watch and learn in detail (10 minutes long) how the Wisconsin Pyramid Model can be a fit for your program or community and the key elements of program-wide implementation or Watch a quick video (3 minutes long) description of the Pyramid Model.
The Pyramid Model also helps in:
- Addressing disparities in discipline practices
- Promoting family engagement
- Using data to make informed decisions
- Fostering the inclusion of children with developmental delays and/or who use behaviors that challenge adult
- When implemented with fidelity, children, families, teachers, support staff, and administrators benefit from the Pyramid Model
Who is Be Heart Madison?
Together, the Be Heart (Building, Empowering, Honoring Emotions and Relationships Together) Madison community is engaging in critical work to support the social and emotional competencies of young children and supporting the adults who care for them, using the national and state Pyramid Model framework to guide our community-wide implementation. We would love to have you join us!
Vision: Our community will invest in the implementation of culturally sensitive and evidence-based practices that promote positive social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children. We will actively nurture the social and emotional competence of young children, their families, and the adults who support them.
Mission: Through collaboration we build trusting relationships as the foundation to high quality early care and education. We will foster an equitable, inclusive, and diverse community committed to the healthy social-emotional development of young children and their families. We must rally together as a community, working in deep and ongoing partnership with children, families, and community members to disrupt the barriers that stand in our children’s way of success.
As we train, coach, and advocate to intentionally use Wisconsin’s Pyramid Model framework for social emotional competence, we aim to:
- Learn, unlearn, and relearn as we grow, heal and develop in our own cultural humility
- Embrace family power through partnership
- Invest in our effective workforce.
- Decrease the use of exclusion, suspension, and expulsion
- Use data to make informed decisions
- Foster inclusion by ensuring policies and systems actively address equity and access
- Celebrate the radical joy in being with young children
Our team is lead in partnership by City of Madison and Madison Metropolitan School District Early Learning staff. The Madison community is large! To ensure we hear from many perspectives we have two committees working collaboratively. The Core team meets monthly establishing action items, identifying resources and partners, providing training and coaching, staying closely connected to the state leadership team and program implementing sites, and seeks advice from the Community team.
The Community team meets quarterly and provides feedback on work completed, helps provide direction for future work of the Core team based on what they see and hear in the community, supports communication of the work and opportunities.
Why is this work important?
Positive social and emotional development in the early years provides a critical foundation for lifelong development and learning. Educators and caregivers who are equipped with effective teaching practices are not only able to support children’s development and learning in all domains, but they find joy in their work and relationships with children and families. The Pyramid Model framework helps us all do just that!
Research has shown that when children are supported by teachers who are deeply supported by programs and programs by communities, we have the best outcomes for all. Children find more success in school and educators find more joy in their work.
Hear directly from a program director and a teacher on the pyramid model.