New Hampshire
In 2017 New Hampshire became the 28th Pyramid Model State. With funding support from the Endowment for Health, a State Leadership Team (SLT) was established with NH leaders from public and private organizations concerned with the social-emotional development of young children and their families. PTAN Project Director, Joan Izen serves as the SLT Meeting Facilitator.
The SLT has worked closely with the Pyramid Model Consortium to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for statewide implementation of the Pyramid Model and complete the exploration/planning stage for each of the Pyramid Model key structures (state leadership team or SLT; a master cadre of training and TA professionals; behavior specialists; implementation programs and communities; and data and evaluation systems).
Welcome to the New Hampshire Pyramid Model Home Page! We have created a number of tabs to help organize the wonderful work happening across the state. See the list below to help you select which tab at the top of this page to select. The table below does not contain live links to content or tabs.
Tab Title | Content |
Home | New Hampshire Pyramid Model History MTSS-B Alignment with Pyramid Model Pyramid Model State Leadership Team Annual Report Archive eNewsletter Archive ProSolutions Courses and Additional Resource Websites Social Media |
Preschool Technical Assistance Network (PTAN) | Overview Our Staff – Contact Information PTAN Consultant and Coaches PTAN Child Care Inclusion Project |
State Leadership Team | Mission and Vision New Member Materials Benchmarks of Quality Meeting Minutes Workgroup Action Plans Products and Resources |
Practice-Based Coaching | Systems Decisions: Choosing a Delivery Method Orientation Materials |
TPITOS & TPOT | Fact Sheet Overview |
Family Engagement | iSocial Communicating with Families Guide Tip Sheets Positive Solutions for Families Webinars and Resources Resources Developed by The Children’s Center |
Pathway to Pyramid | Granite Steps for Quality (GSQ) |
Interested in becoming a Program Coach with our New Hampshire team? Complete this application!
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PTAN is a grant-funded statewide technical assistance and training network that promotes quality, developmentally appropriate and culturally competent early childhood education and special education programs in New Hampshire.
The PTAN Child Care Inclusion Project provides FREE (grant-funded) services to NH child care teachers and directors to support their successful inclusion and retention of children with challenging behaviors and other special needs. Early childhood inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society regardless of ability.
Our Staff
Joan Izen, PTAN Project Director
In 1992, Joan conceived and designed the Preschool Technical Assistance Network (PTAN), a statewide, grant funded project that promotes quality programs for New Hampshire’s young children and their families. She has served as the Project Director since its inception and has supported NH’s State offices to develop new systems and policies that promote the successful inclusion of all young children in their early care and education settings. Most recently, Joan supported the State’s efforts to become the twenty-eighth Pyramid Model state. For the past five years she has served as the facilitator of the State Leadership Team and through a funded project supported the development of the State’s first Master Cadre of coaches and trainers.
Joan earned a B.S. in Communication Disorders from Emerson College and an M.A. in Speech Communication from the University of Maine-Orono. In 2008 she completed the Organization Development Certificate Program at Antioch University New England and in 2010 graduated from the Leadership NH program.
Hillary Pincoske, PTAN Project Coordinator
Hillary grew up in New Hampshire and holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Early Childhood Education. She spent the first 20 years of her career working as a Kindergarten teacher and Assistant Director of Program at a small independent school in the lakes region of NH. She joined the PTAN staff in June 2017 to start her new adventures supporting the social emotional needs of young children throughout the state.
Contact Us! Phone: (603) 865-7145 Address: PO Box 1243 Concord, NH 03302
PTAN Child Care Inclusion Project
PTAN services are FREE thanks to grant funding from the Bureau of Child Development and Head Start Collaboration at the NH Department of Health and Human Services. Skilled and knowledgeable PTAN consultants provide telephone and onsite consultation depending upon the intensity of need. Services continue until program staff feel confident in their abilities to maintain the child in their program and promote his or her successful inclusion in program activities.
To request assistance, NH child care teachers and directors can call the PTAN Project Coordinator at (603) 865-7145.
The PTAN Child Care Inclusion Project is a comprehensive statewide program that offers:
- Free and equitable access to consultation and training for NH child care programs
- Short- and long-term consultation and technical assistance to support a program’s efforts to maintain children with challenging behaviors and other special needs
- On-going, program improvement consultation and training to increase capacity of child care programs for parents of children with special needs
- Consultation that integrates Pyramid Model evidence-based practices to support children’s social and emotional development
PTAN services and supports for NH child care providers are grounded in the belief that:
- Children are capable individuals
- Behavior is a form of communication
- Describing behaviors and feelings is a more effective support to children than labeling them
- It is the teacher’s role and responsibility to teach children positive (pro-) social skills
- Time out is not an effective behavior management strategy because it doesn’t teach children pro-social skills
- Change in child behavior depends on change in the teacher’s behavior.
- PTAN Child Care Inclusion Consultants model respect and active listening in all interactions
- Reflective consultation is a form of professional development that has direct, positive impact on children’s behaviors
- Consultation is most effective when it is requested not mandated
- Establishing a strong consultative relationship with teachers and administrators is key to having a positive impact on children’s behaviors
Maintaining children with special needs in their child care setting benefits children, parents, providers and the community at-large; children are spared the trauma associated with expulsion, parents are secure in their child’s placement and able to focus on their workplace responsibilities and providers feel more confident and competent, decreasing the likelihood of provider turnover.
Information about the PTAN Child Care Inclusion Program
- PTAN Child Care Inclusion Project Flyer– Post this flyer in your program so that staff have access to information about FREE project services. Please change to: To request services contact the PTAN Project Coordinator at 603-865-7145 or [email protected].
Vision: The New Hampshire Pyramid Model State Leadership Team establishes and maintains a sustainable statewide infrastructure that supports high-fidelity implementation of the Pyramid Model across early childhood settings. [revised 9/17/24]
Mission: New Hampshire families, early childhood programs, and communities nurture, promote, and facilitate the social-emotional development and learning of all young children, birth through six years. [revised 9/17/24]
Anticipated outcomes:
- A sustainable, complementary infrastructure to support Pyramid Model statewide is implemented and monitored.
- NH early childhood education and care workforce has the capacity to implement Pyramid Model practices with fidelity.
- Early childhood programs statewide have access to high fidelity Pyramid Model trainers and coaches.
- NH has a statewide cadre of high-fidelity program-wide and community-wide implementation sites.
- Families are engaged across all levels of the system to enhance skills and strategies to support children’s social emotional well-being.
- Programs that engage in program-wide PM implementation demonstrate increased children’s pro-social skills and reduced challenging behaviors.
Practice-Based Coaching
Practice-Based Coaching (PBC) is a professional development strategy that uses a cyclical process. This process supports teachers’ use of effective teaching practices that lead to positive outcomes for children. PBC occurs in the context of collaborative partnerships. Click HERE to view videos about PBC.
Practice-based coaching resources from Head Start/ECLKC (Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center) can be found HERE.
Systems Decisions: Choosing a Delivery Method for Practice-Based Coaching
Expert coaching, reciprocal peer coaching, or group coaching? Which delivery format is right for your program?
Choosing a Delivery Method for Practice-based Coaching will introduce a systems level approach to support leadership teams in preparing for practice-based coaching. NH Master Cadre member, Becky Britton, will take you through the details of expert coaching, reciprocal peer coaching, and practice-based coaching in a group. This training will outline key points for teams to consider when making program level decisions regarding practice-based coaching.
This 45-minute webinar presented by Pyramid Model Consortium Consultant and Trainer, September Gerety is another resource that provides detail about each delivery format.
Downloadable tip sheets to support decision-making around coaching formats
- Choosing a Practice-based Coaching Format for the Implementation of Pyramid Model Practices
- Choosing Expert Coaching: Individual and Team
- Choosing Group Coaching
- Choosing Reciprocal Peer Coaching
NCPMI Webinar Links
Using Practice Based Coaching in a Group Coaching Format (4/28/21)
Practice-Based Coaching Orientation
September Gerety presented this 38-minute webinar to the first NH cohort of practice-based coaches on 10/3/16 . She provides an overview of PB coaching and specifically addresses components of the expert coaching model.
TPITOS and TPOT
Fact Sheets
Fact sheets were created to inform administrators and practitioners about the Pyramid Model fidelity measures, TPOT and TPITOS (Teacher Pyramid Infant Toddler Observation Scale for Infant and Toddler Classrooms). Click on the links below to download:
Overview of the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT)
This webinar was presented by Pyramid Model Consortium Consultant and Trainer, September Gerety on 6/12/17. It provides an overview of the TPOT including:
- TPOT and the Pyramid Model
- TPOT Administration: What to expect
- TPOT Data: What it tells us, what it doesn’t
- TPOT and Practice-Based Coaching
Family Engagement
At every tier of the Pyramid Model, practitioners and programs should consider what strategies might be used to welcome and support diverse families; how to create opportunities to learn from families; strategies for partnering with families to promote child outcomes; and providing the supports and services that families might need to promote their child’s skill development.
(Fox & Swett, 2017, Implementing partnerships with families to promote the social and emotional competence of young children)
What is the Pyramid Model?
These Pyramid Model (PM) Information Cards have been developed to provide basic information about what social emotional development is, and how the Pyramid Model supports children, families and professionals.
Tip Card – Families Want to Know
Provides information about NH’s support of Pyramid Model and the benefits of focusing on social emotional development for professionals, families, and children and childcare.
Tip Card – What is Pyramid Model
An introduction to the tiered approach of providing universal supports to all children to promote wellness, targeted services to those who need more support, and intensive services to those who need them.
Tip Card – Calming Down & Problem Solving
Shares strategies to support children to calm down when experiencing anger, sadness and frustration. Introduces the steps of problem solving and potential solution ideas.