Infusing the Pyramid Model into Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Programs

The Pyramid Model has a strong base of implementation research with in-service teachers. However, an entire population of the future workforce has been excluded from the research: pre-service teachers. The purpose of this multi-case qualitative study was to investigate pre-service teachers’ (N = 80) attitudes and beliefs, after receiving training related to the Pyramid Model embedded within coursework, about the nature of students’ social-emotional skills and providing behavior intervention supports. We triangulated data collection between students’ responses to a discussion board posts, document analysis of course materials, and semi-structured interviews with recent graduates. Qualitative findings, for within and across cohorts, will be presented and are divided into two major categories: (1) foundational understanding of behavior and (2) catalysts of change. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.