NCPMI Fellows

Erin E. Barton, PhD, BCBA-D, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. As faculty for the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations she developed a state-wide approach to support the scale-up and sustainability of Pyramid Model practices into early intervention programs with families. The approach merges evidence-based practices for coaching families, promoting social emotional competence, and understanding how to support implementation of a family coaching model within states, agencies, and programs. She also provides technical assistance related to implementing high quality early childhood inclusion. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and directs research projects related to evidence-based practices for young children, policies and practices that support high quality inclusion, and effective professional development systems. Specifically, she has completed multiple single case studies related to identifying practices that support play and social skills in young children with disabilities, early childhood teachers’ use of recommended practices, and caregivers use of practices that address their child’s social emotional competence and reduce challenging behaviors.

Lise Fox, PhD., is a Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies and the Co-Director of the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, the University of South Florida Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She is the principal investigator of the OSEP-funded National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations and a faculty member with the OSEP-funded Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA). Her work in Pyramid Model implementation has included research and development related to classroom practices in preschool classrooms, the implementation of the framework within Part C home visiting, the development of the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool, design of program-wide implementation guidance and training materials, the development of the behavior incident report system and other data decision-making tools, addressing equity issues through practice-based coaching, guiding implementation and scale-up within states and local programs, and the development of materials related to family engagement.

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Mary Louise Hemmeter, PhD, is a professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on effective instruction, social emotional development and challenging behavior, and coaching teachers. Dr. Hemmeter has been the PI on numerous research and training projects funded by the US Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. She directed the National Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning for ten years. During this time, she co-led the development of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Young Children. As PI of funded research projects as well as the National Center for Quality Teaching and Learning, she was instrumental in the development of the evidenced-based Practice Based Coaching model. In addition, her work related to the Pyramid Model has included: a) co-developer of the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) and the Teaching Pyramid Infant Toddler Observation System (TPITOS); b) development of Program Wide Supports for Pyramid Model Implementation; and c) initial work around developing training and support materials related to “taking the Pyramid to kindergarten”.

Elizabeth A. Steed, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Early Childhood Education program at University of Colorado Denver. Elizabeth coordinates the early childhood education masters, licensure, and doctoral programs. She has experience working with young children with disabilities and their families in classroom and home-based settings. She has been the principal investigator on several research projects focusing on building partnerships with preschool teachers to implement Pyramid Model practices and to evaluate factors that impact fidelity of implementation. Elizabeth is the first author of the Preschool-wide Evaluation Tool (PreSET; Paul Brookes Publishing Co., 2012), an assessment of program-wide positive behavior interventions and support in early childhood settings. Elizabeth is faculty on the NCPMI federal grant, serving on several workgroups, including the coaching, family engagement, inclusion, and state workgroups.

Phil Strain, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Denver. Phil has worked in the field of early intervention since 1974, is the author of over 250 scientific papers and he serves on the editorial boards of over a dozen professional journals. His primary research interests include: a) intervention for young children with early onset conduct disorders; b) remediation of social behavior deficits in young children with autism; c) design and delivery of community-based, comprehensive early intervention for children with autism; and d) analysis of individual and systemic variables affecting the adoption and sustained use of evidence-based practices for children with severe behavior disorders. He is one of the developers of the Pyramid Model and Prevent-Teach-Reinforce-Young Children.

Jolenea Ferro, PhD, BCBA-D, is an Assistant Professor and Training Director in the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, the University of South Florida Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She is also faculty in the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations. Her early childhood work includes being part of the team developing and piloting practice-based coach training, development of decision-making tools for the BIR, development of materials and tools addressing equity issues, and work with programs to implement Pyramid Model practices. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and does research and training in functional behavioral assessment and implementation of function-based interventions in early childhood settings.