Utah Pyramid Model

A Social Emotional Program for Early Childhood Settings

Utah has joined a national initiative to address inclusive policies and practices at the state, local program leadership, and early care and education environments level. The Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice and the Utah Department of Human Services, along with several other programs across the state, are working together to improve early childhood outcomes and increase positive social-emotional competencies for all children.

The Basics

  1. Intensive Intervention
  2. Targeted Social Emotional Supports
  3. High Quality Supportive Environments
    Nurturing & Responsive Relationships
  4. Effective Workforce
A pyramid split into 4 levels

What is the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model is a conceptual framework of evidence-based practices for promoting young children's health social and emotional development and decrease child challenging behavior.

Who uses the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model provides guidance for

  • early childhood special education personnel
  • early intervention personnel
  • early educators
  • families
  • other professionals

Who created the Pyramid Model?

The Pyramid Model was developed by two national, federally-funded research and training centers: The Center for the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) and Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Youth Children (TACSEI). These centers’ faculty represent nationally recognized researchers and program developers in the areas of social skills and challenging behavior.

What is the Utah vision of the Pyramid Model?

All early childhood settings support the social and emotional development and inclusion of ever ychild, birth through eight years of age.

Tried & Tested Results

Based on over a decade of evaluation data, the Pyramid Model has shown to be a sound framework for early care and education systems.


Now let's take a closer look at each level of the Pyramid Model.