Early Childhood Implementation Snapshots, No. 3: Professional Development Network of Program Implementation Coaches

Program Implementation Coach: Guiding Program-Wide Fidelity

This video provides an overview of what a Pyramid Model Program Implementation Coach is, their requirements and responsibilities.

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Resource Spotlight

The Statewide Implementation Guide provides Professional Development Network of Program Implementation Coaches Materials to assist states with building their statewide PDN capacity.

• Program Implementation Coach Scope of Work
• Sample Letter of Invitation and Application Packet for PDN Members

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Voices from the Field: Michigan

Beginning in 2020, the state of Michigan ventured into a partnership with NCPMI focused on program-wide implementation of the Pyramid Model in preschool classrooms. Led by Pat Sargent of the Michigan Department of Education and Michelle McQueen of Michigan's MTSS Technical Assistance Center (MiMTSS TA Center), work is well underway to build the capacity of four implementation sites across the state to serve as models for future scale-up.

Michigan's Early Childhood MTSS Implementation Team has relied heavily on the Statewide Implementation Guide to jump-start its PDN. Drawing upon the sample recruitment and selection materials from the Statewide Implementation Guide, the MiMTSS TA Center created an application process that was used to recruit and select two staff internal to the TA Center to fulfill the role of Program Implementation Coaches. As Michigan's first Program Implementation Coaches, Michelle McQueen and Allison Olivo will be instrumental not just in supporting Michigan's first cohort of sites but also in shaping the vision for scale-up of the PDN. Conversations are already underway for the recruitment and selection of future Program Implementation Coaches with an eye toward equitable capacity building across the different regions of Michigan.

• MiMTSS Early Childhood Program Coach Position Description and Application
• MiMTSS Early Childhood Model Demonstration Site Application (2021-2022)

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Considerations for Equity

The State Leadership Team can use the State Leadership Team Equity Inventory: Considerations for Essential Structures of Statewide Implementation of the Pyramid Model to help guide discussions using the following reflection questions:

• What is the overall mix of characteristics of the network of program implementation coaches? Is it representative of the programs served?
• What trainings are offered to support program implementation coaches' capacity and competence to have crucial conversations around equity?
• What is the geographic representation of program implementation coaches in the state?
• Where are trainings occurring and in what languages are trainings being offered?
• What agencies support the PDN of program implementation coaches?

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Equity Planning Tools

Pyramid Model Equity Coaching Guide

The Pyramid Model Equity Coaching Guide is a reflection tool that examines the implementation of Pyramid Model practices through the perspectives of equity and cultural responsiveness. It is not an assessment of implementation; instead, it is meant to provoke thoughtful reflection about classroom practices. It should be used within the collaborative coaching partnership and ongoing coaching activities to identify equity concerns and promote equity within Pyramid Model practice implementation. The tool provides:

• reflective questions that are used to identify areas of concern;
• guidance for using supporting data to prioritize concerns;
• links to resources, both for each reflective question and for addressing implicit bias; and
• conversation starters and strategies for supporting the teacher in identifying opportunities to make practices more equitable

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Equitable Implementation at Work

This supplement addresses critical aspects of equitable implementation and attempts to define concrete strategies for advancing equity in implementation and in efforts to scale it. The core elements for equitable implementation include building trusting relationships, dismantling power structures, making investments and decisions that advance equity, developing community-defined evidence, making cultural adaptations, and reflecting critically about how current implementation science theories, models, and frameworks do (or do not) advance equity.

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Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Key Resources for Promoting Equity and Reducing Disparities

This compendium of Web-based equity-focused resources may serve a number of purposes, for example:

• Informing state, tribal, and community leaders who are engaged in conversations about disproportionate data on preschool expulsions
• Building awareness of the need to foster collaboration and partnerships to promote greater equity and transparency in outcomes for boys and African American children
• Assisting mental health consultants as they engage in dialogue with teachers, administrators, and home visitors about implicit bias Equity is central to the CoE's mission and values.

These resources are compiled to help practitioners in working toward the goal of attaining greater equity for all young children.

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References

• Statewide Implementation Guide. (2019). ECTA Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center. https://ectacenter.org/sig
• Rausch, A., Van Polen, A., & Smith, B. J. (2021). State Leadership Team Equity Inventory: Considerations for Essential Structures of Statewide Implementation of the Pyramid Model. https://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/docs/State-Equity-Inventory.pdf

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