Impact

Helping Kids Thrive

Our mission is to give Maryland providers, educators, and families the knowledge and resources to help kids thrive, enhance their social and emotional development, build nurturing relationships and environments, and create new, data-informed strategies.

What Does Impact Look Like?

  • Support for educators, providers, and caregivers.
  • Advocating for increased access to quality care and education.
  • Working to reduce exclusionary discipline practices.
  • Fostering equitable and sustainable systems of care throughout Maryland.
  • And, measuring our progress.

Why Data Is Key

Data-informed decision-making is central to our impact. At the state level, we regularly monitor and report on the following metrics:

Our Reach — Who are we serving? Who are we not serving?

Program Fidelity — Are our programs running the way we intend?

Outcomes — Are our programs making a difference?

Expanding Reach Every Day

The Kids Thrive Maryland combination of Pyramid Model implementation and trainings with Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations is gaining traction across Maryland.

The Pyramid Model started with just a few county-wide demonstration sites. Today, every county has some level of Pyramid Model implementation, with trainers and coaches serving all jurisdictions.

IECMHC Accepted Cases

In FY 22-23, IECMHC programs accepted 402 cases from 242 early learning programs. While the number of accepted cases has increased slightly over the past 3 years, it is still well below the number of pre-pandemic cases.

Maryland Map with Program Logos
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) has 10 funded programs that provide services to all 24 jurisdictions.

Access to Training and Certification

Training for Pyramid Model implementation, coaching, Positive Solutions for Families, along with ASQ, TPOT, and TPITOS certifications increased as well.

5,268

Total trainings and certifications in 2024

Tracking the Success of Our Initiatives

Since 2019, the Pyramid Model State Leadership Team (SLT) has been self-assessing progress toward high-fidelity implementation of Pyramid Model practices in the areas of:

  • the State Leadership Team,
  • family engagement,
  • implementation and demonstration programs/sites,
  • professional development,
  • and evaluation/data-informed decision-making.

The Benchmarks of Quality (BOQ) are grounded in implementation science and monitor progress toward stages of implementation:

  • planning/installation,
  • implementation,
  • scale-up,
  • and sustainability.

The percentage of indicators emerging and in place has been rising for the past 5 years. Our SLT has also infused equity into relevant BOQ items, and we regularly reflect on how far we have come and how we can improve in serving our communities equitably.

+20%

Increase in indicators in place since 2019

Measuring Meaningful Outcomes

Pyramid Model

We actively collect baseline and follow-up data on TPOT, TPITOS, BOQ, and Suspension, Expulsion, and Exclusionary Discipline Practices for our 5 Pyramid Model implementation sites.

Highlights include encouraging pre- and post-program improvements illustrated in our Preschool Mental Health Climate Scale.

Pyramid Model Preschool Mental Health Climate Scale tracks indicator changes.

Improved Systems and Tracking

Updating Outcomes Monitoring Systems

We collect data from early childhood programs that implement the Pyramid Model and/or Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation by utilizing Outcomes Monitoring Systems (OMS).

We are currently transitioning to a new Pyramid Model Implementation Data System (PIDS) from our current OMS for both Pyramid Model and IECMHC data collection.

Why is this important to our impact?

Program coaches, consultants, and providers can enter child, classroom, and program-level data into PIDS and produce reports on the ASQ: SE, BIRS, BOQ, TPOT, TPITOS, and classroom coaching logs.

By combining our tracking and data collection, PIDS allows state, local, and program leaders to:

  • Remain informed about progress toward Pyramid Model implementation,
  • Monitor the effectiveness of classroom-level and child-level strategies for supporting social-emotional development,
  • and monitor program coach activities such as training and classroom coaching.

Stay tuned for the new PIDS training and support resources!

Enter PIDS Data System

Addressing Issues of Equity and Access

Whether you are an IECMH consultant, program director, researcher, or policymaker, we encourage you to use our 2023 Equity mapping report, along with your own experiences and expertise, to promote meaningful advances toward an equitable IECMH consultation services network.

This report identifies where IECMH consultation services were delivered across all of Maryland in the context of where child care programs and families in need were from July 3, 2017, through December 31, 2020. It is designed to prompt discussions about equity in Maryland’s IECMH consultation services and inform decisions about programmatic changes wherever needed.

The report also includes an interactive dashboard. Our statewide maps and interactive dashboard can be useful tools for Maryland IECMH consultation program staff, funders, legislators and community leaders to identify where else IECMH consultation services could have been provided in the context of racial/ethnic, socio-economic factors, and type of child care available. Furthermore, these maps can help initiate and facilitate collective discussions that explore the potential reasons behind IECMH consultation service gaps – like funding, community outreach efforts, delivery of IECMH consultation, and cultural/linguistic appropriateness.

Read the Full Report
Explore the Dashboard

Measuring Impact Through Data Collection

Our impact is greatest when we collectively benchmark and collect data to inform our programmatic outreach efforts.

Commonly Used Tools and Resources

Pyramid Model Program-Wide Benchmarks of Quality (BOQ) — The BOQ is a self-assessment tool that helps programs evaluate their progress toward implementing the Pyramid Model program-wide. It includes critical elements related to leadership and management, staff buy-in, family engagement, classroom practices, procedures for responding to challenging behavior, monitoring outcomes, and ensuring equity and cultural responsiveness. Versions are available for early childhood programs, Part C Early Intervention programs, and State Leadership Teams (SLT)

Early Childhood Program-Wide PBS Benchmarks of Quality
Early Intervention (Part C) Benchmarks of Quality Form
State Leadership Team Benchmarks of Quality: Implementing the Pyramid Model Statewide

Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) for Preschool Classrooms – The TPOT is a tool that measures the fidelity of implementation of Pyramid Model practices in the preschool classroom (ages 2-5), based on observation by a trained observer and an interview with the teacher. The TPOT contains three types of items organized under three subscales: Pyramid Model Teaching Practices, Red Flags, and Challenging Behavior.

Teaching Pyramid Infant-Toddler Observation Scale (TPITOS) – The TPITOS is a tool that measures the fidelity of implementation of Pyramid Model practices in infant and toddler classrooms (ages birth-3), based on observation by a trained observer and an interview with the teacher.

Classroom coaching logs – Pyramid Model program coaches can collect data on the types of coaching strategies that are used with early childhood providers, including observation, modeling, and reflective conversations.

Webinar: Analyzing Program-Wide Pyramid Model Implementation: Introduction to the Classroom Coaching Log
Early Intervention Practitioner Coaching Log and Coaching Strategies

Early Intervention Pyramid Practice Fidelity Instrument (EIPPFI) – The EIPPFI is used to assess the implementation of Pyramid Model practices by early interventionists in the coaching of family caregivers. EIPPFI practices are aligned with the Division for Early Childhood Recommended Practices and the Principles of Early Intervention. EIPPFI organizes practices within six practice categories: (1) Building Partnerships with Families; (2) Social Emotional Development; (3) Family-centered Coaching; (4) Dyadic Relationships; (5) Children with Challenging Behavior; and (6) Social Emotional Assessment.

Early Interventionist Pyramid Practices Fidelity Instrument (EIPPFI)

This checklist can be used by site directors and their program coaches/consultants to collect data about responses to behavioral concerns.

View Suspension, Expulsion & Exclusionary Practices Checklist

The Behavior Incident Report is a form used by teachers to record serious behavior incidents, including the behavior, the context in which it happened, the response, and needed follow-up. The BIRS is a mechanism for gathering and summarizing this information to inform decision-making and alert programs of possible equity issues by calculating disproportionality related to race, gender, IEP status, and dual-language learners.

Download BIR form and BIRS Excel system from NCPMI

The ASQ:SE2 is a screening tool that measures social-emotional development of children ages 2-60 months. It helps identify areas in which a child is on track and where they may need additional support.

The DECA is a behavior rating scale that is completed by parents and/or caregivers or teachers, and it measures child protective factors central to social-emotional health and resilience.