Teaching Pyramid Infant-Toddler Observation Scale (TPITOST) for Infant-Toddler Classrooms: Tool

Available in packs of 5, these are the 28-page forms needed to conduct the Teaching Pyramid Infant–Toddler Observation Scale (TPITOS™) for Infant–Toddler Classrooms observational assessment. A child's early teachers and caregivers play a vital role in supporting social-emotional development—and that's why more and more center-based infant and toddler programs are adopting the evidence-based Pyramid Model for Promoting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children. If your program is one of them, TPITOS™ is the essential tool you need to ensure that infant–toddler teachers are using the Pyramid Model practices with fidelity.

Modeled after the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT™) for Preschool Classrooms, TPITOS is for early childhood settings caring for infants and toddlers from birth to 3 years of age. Focusing on teacher practices and classroom environment variables, TPITOS measures how well your program's staff is fostering responsive, nurturing relationships with children and promoting strong social-emotional development in their earliest years.

How It Works
A trained TPITOS administrator conducts a 2-hour classroom observation, followed by an interview with the teacher being observed. The observer completes three types of items: 1) Observational Items (practices and environmental factors noted during the observation), 2) Interview Items (practices scored based on the teacher’s responses during the interview), and 3) Red Flags (practices that are not consistent with the Pyramid Model). Results of TPITOS show your program which Pyramid Model practices are being implemented effectively—and what teachers need to focus on to ensure positive social-emotional outcomes for infants and toddlers.

TPITOS helps programs:

• Ensure effective implementation of the proven PBIS-based Pyramid Model
• Support professional development efforts in center-based infant–toddler settings
• Strengthen the practices of individual teachers or caregivers, classroom teams, and entire programs
• Monitor the success of quality improvement initiatives
• Build a foundation for social-emotional competence in the critical first years of life

View our recorded webinar: Using the TPITOS™ presented by Kathryn M. Bigelow, Ph.D., and Dwight W. Irvin, Ph.D.

Learn more about TPITOS

See more resources on supporting children's social-emotional competence with the Pyramid Model.

Kathryn Bigelow, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor at the Juniper Gardens Children's Project in the Institute for Life Span Studies at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on interventions for culturally and linguistically diverse children and families experiencing multiple risks. Specifically, her work has addressed early childhood language and social-emotional development and the translation of evidence-based interventions for parents, care providers, home visitors, and early intervention providers within both center-based and home-based early childhood education programs. Dr. Bigelow's work in these areas maintains an emphasis on implementation fidelity, and how technology can promote engagement and enhance the implementation of evidence-based intervention. She has been the PI or Co-PI on projects focusing on child language promotion, and on parent engagement in home visiting. Currently, she directs, with Drs. Carta, Irvin, and Hemmeter, an Institute of Education Sciences-funded (IES) research project focused on developing the Infant-Toddler Pyramid Model, a three-tiered model to promote social-emotional outcomes for infants and toddlers, based on the TPITOS.

Judith J. Carta, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist in the Institute for Life Span Studies, Professor of Special Education, and the Interim Director of the Juniper Gardens Children's Project at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on developing strategies to minimize the effects of poverty on children's outcomes, designing practices that teachers and parents can use to promote children's early learning and social-emotional development, methods for monitoring the progress of young children, and strategies for promoting family engagement in early intervention programs. She has been the PI of several multi-site research projects and centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Educational Sciences, and the Administration on Children and Families. She currently co-directs an IES-funded project to develop the Infant-Toddler Pyramid Model, a three-tiered model to promote social-emotional outcomes for infants and toddlers, based on the TPITOS. She was a member of the Federal Advisory Panel on Head Start Research and Evaluation, Division of Early Childhood’s Commission on Recommended Practices, and served as the Editor of Topics in Early Childhood Special Education as well as the boards of numerous scientific journals. She received the Mary E. McEvoy Service to the Field Award from the Division for Early Childhood.

Dwight W. Irvin, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor at the Juniper Gardens Children's Project in the Life Span Institute at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He was a Response to Intervention (RTI) in Early Childhood Postdoctoral Fellow at Juniper Gardens Children's Project and a Postdoctoral Scholar in Department of Education Leadership at the University of Kentucky. His research focuses on the use of wearable sensors to better understand the link between adult–child and child–peer interactions and the social competence of young children at-risk for or with identified disabilities in the classroom, home and community.

Mary Louise Hemmeter, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on effective instruction, social-emotional development, challenging behavior, and on coaching teachers.

She has been a principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on numerous projects funded by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Through her work on the National Center on Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning and Institute of Education Sciences (IES)–funded research projects, she was involved in the development of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Young Children and practice-based coaching, a model for supporting teachers in implementing effective practices.

She is currently the PI on on an IES–funded development project on programwide supports for implementing the Pyramid Model, a co-PI on an IES developmental project on implementing the Pyramid Model in infant–toddler settings, and a co-PI on an IES efficacy study examining approaches to supporting teachers in implementing embedded instructions.

She is a co-author on the Connect4Learning Early Childhood Curriculum and the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT™). She was a coeditor of the Journal of Early Intervention and President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Early Childhood (DEC). She received the Merle B. Karnes Service to the Division Award and the Mary McEvoy Service to the Field Award.