Observation Toolkit for Mental Health Consultants

Mental health consultants often find themselves working in Head Start and child care programs that have received training on the Teaching Pyramid (opens in a new tab) —a series of evidence-based strategies for promoting social emotional development in children from infancy through age five.

The Teaching Pyramid was developed and disseminated through the Center for Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) (opens in a new tab) and their partner the Technical Assistance Center for Social Emotional Interventions (TACSEI, now NCPMI) (opens in a new tab).

This toolkit provides mental health consultants with tools that they can use to help teachers and program managers to realize the full potential of the Teaching Pyramid framework.

Mental health consultants who are working in Head Start and child care programs that have not been trained in the Teaching Pyramid model can also benefit from these tools as these work with teachers in infant/toddler and preschool classrooms. Brief forms of the Teaching Pyramid Infant Toddler Observation Scale (TPITOS) and the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool can help consultants structure observations and provide specific feedback to teachers on improving the social emotional climate in their classrooms.

Download Observation Toolkit for Mental Health Consultants (PDF)

Many of the materials in this toolkit were adapted from materials developed through other federally funded projects including:

The Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning—funded by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care in the US Department of Health and Human Services (90YD0215/01)

The Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Interventions—funded by the Office of Special Education Programs in the US Department of Education (H326B070002)

Examining the Potential Efficacy of the Teaching Pyramid Model—funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the US Department of Education (R324A07212)

The Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool Short Form included in this toolkit is a modification of the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT). While the TPOT has strong psychometric properties, the psychometric properties were based on the original version of the TPOT and thus, are not applicable to the version used in this toolkit. The version included here is designed for training purposes only and not for research.

This product was developed with funding provided by the Office of Head Start, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through an Innovation and Improvement Grant (90YD0268).

August 2011