Frequently Asked Questions

The new Colorado Pyramid Model Training launched on August 1, 2024. This 50-hour series-based training includes infant/toddler and preschool content, along Colorado-specific “bookends” and is recognized as a Training of Special Recognition in the Professional Development Information System (PDIS).   

The Pyramid State Leadership Team (PSLT) provides insight, expertise, and guidance to Healthy Child Care Colorado on programming, research, funding, and systems alignment. They help ensure Pyramid-related efforts remain relevant and impactful at local, state, and national levels. The team also supports the advancement of our Annual Action Plan to drive success.  

Healthy Child Care Colorado values collaboration and welcomes input on the Pyramid Model. We engage stakeholders to ensure our work reflects Colorado’s evolving early care and education landscape. Stay informed through the HCCC and Pyramid Colorado newsletters, and share your suggestions or questions with the Pyramid State Leadership Team at info@healthychildcareco.org.

Explore the HCCC training calendar for virtual and in-person sessions led by Pyramid Facilitators across the state. You can also connect with your local Early Childhood Council (ECC) or Local Coordinating Agency (LCO) for upcoming training opportunities. Need a specific facilitator? Use our “Find a Facilitator” search tool to connect with one in your area. 

The PPA in English formally retired on November 1, 2024. The Spanish PPA is still being delivered until the national content becomes available in Spanish. The CPMT is anticipated to be launch in Spanish in 2025.

No. When completed with a Pyramid Facilitator, the training hours and points earned through the Colorado Shines QRIS and PDIS for the 45-hour PPA or 50-hour CPMT do not expire. PPA participants are not required to retake training once the new content becomes available. 

However, those interested in continuous quality improvement can still earn annual training points by completing the 50-hour Colorado Pyramid Model Training (CPMT). 

No. PMC’s ePyramid Modules do not qualify as a Training of Special Recognition in Colorado. Unlike the Colorado Pyramid Model Training (CPMT)—an instructor-led course delivered by a Certified Pyramid Facilitator—ePyramid Modules do not include Colorado-specific content, peer learning, or lived experience sharing. CPMT was vetted through the state system to align with: 

• Training and coaching qualifications/competencies 

• The state’s definition of a Training of Special Recognition 

• Colorado Institutes of Higher Education standards for Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) 

That said, we recognize the value of these well-developed eModules in Colorado’s Pyramid landscape. They are used to support make-ups during CPMT and can be submitted to PDIS for social-emotional credit hours. However, they should be completed in sequential order as a full Infant-Toddler or Preschool set, rather than as standalone modules, per PMC guidance. 

Yes. Both the Pyramid Plus Approach (with a certificate dated before October 31, 2024) and the Colorado Pyramid Model Training (CPMT) are equivalent to the Early Childhood Guidance Strategies course (ECE 103). They can be used to meet education requirements for positions in licensed child care facilities and family child care homes. 

Yes! Participants who participate in the Pyramid Training of Special Recognition (PPA or CPMT), led by a Pyramid Facilitator, can earn college credit as Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) at the University of Colorado, Denver. See our Higher Ed webpage for more information. 

For more information and a definition of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) in Colorado’s PDIS system, please visit the Colorado Department of Early Childhood website. If CEUs are listed as ongoing professional development components of the Early Childhood Professional Credential 3.0, please convert CEUs to clock hours using the following formula: 0.1 CEUs = 1 clock hour.  

Healthy Child Care Colorado follows an annual process for selecting and hosting a Cohort of Certification Candidates. Applications open in May, with candidates selected the same month. The Certification Cohort is publicly announced in June and runs from late August through June of the following year. 

Stay informed about Pyramid updates, application details, and more by checking our website and subscribing to our newsletters! 

To apply, you must: 

• Complete either the 45-hour Pyramid Plus Approach or the 50-hour Colorado Pyramid Model Training, led by a Certified Pyramid Facilitator. 

• Hold a Trainer Credential in PDIS. 

Additional Pyramid-specific lived experience can strengthen your application. 

HCCC and partners are committed to an inclusive community and welcome anyone interested in and impacted by the Pyramid Model to engage in deeper levels at the local and state levels. Please consider getting more involved by:  

• Signing up for the Pyramid Colorado newsletter to receive Pyramid Model updates  
• Signing up for Pyramid Pointers monthly texts with tools and tips  
• Attending the Annual Pyramid Event to celebrate the Pyramid Network in Colorado  
• Nominating an annual Pyramid Champion who has had a collective impact on Pyramid implementation and/or systems  

We recognize and applaud that the Pyramid Model content is an important component of our early childhood system! Watch the Pyramid Updates Newsletter for any new opportunities that come our way. 

Pyramid Model work is an important component of our early childhood system.  “Community-Wide Implementation” is a newer facet of national Pyramid work and a powerful support to scale and sustain high fidelity implementation of the Pyramid Model in Colorado. Our state has deep regional roots supported by both Early Childhood Councils (ECCs) and Local Coordinating Agencies (LCOs). Currently we are providing some technical assistance to a few groups and larger programs with multiple locations in visioning and executing community-wide implementation.

Watch our newsletters and website for Pyramid updates! You can submit questions related to Community-Wide Implementation to info@healthychildcareco.org     

Both are formal observation tools that have been normed and validated and have an associated reliability and re-reliability process.  They measure the provider/caregiver level of fidelity implementation of the Pyramid Model practices in classrooms for these appropriate age groups and similar early childhood environments. The TPOT is focused on children 2 years of age to 5.  TPITOS is focused on birth to 3 years of age. 

Currently national partners are working on a Family Child Care mixed age group observation tool.  There is also an Early Intervention observation tool, the EIPPFI.  All of these tools are designed and used to inform Pyramid Model coaching in various settings. 

Brookes Publishing and the authors of the tools specify that trainers must be “Gold Star Rated” to teach reliability. In addition to consultants with Brookes Publishing and the Pyramid Model Consortium, the only place to locate TPOT and TPITOS Reliability Workshop training is through Health Child Care Colorado, the home of Pyramid Model work in our state. We have permission from the authors, publishers, and our national partner to facilitate this training. Visit our Training page for more information. 

Yes, providers and caregivers can earn up to 10 points for meeting the Demonstrated Competency by completing the steps in this form: Demonstrated Competency TPOT Requirement. The scores needed for a Demonstrated Competency and associated points are below. 

Once TPITOS is part of Colorado Shines, it will have a similar document and process. 

Currently only the TPOT is a Demonstrated Competency in PDIS within the achievement of certain thresholds. Note that the credit for the Demonstrated Competency for providers expires every 3 years in the PDIS; however, submitting again with new data is encouraged. HCCC has been partnering with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to make TPITOS a Demonstrated Competency in Colorado Shines and anticipate having observation tools available by the end of 2025. 

• The TPOT Reliability Workshop was last updated by national partners in 2022. The TPOT tool itself was updated in 2017. 
• The TPITOS Reliability Workshop was created in 2021.  It is a newer tool and has not been updated. 

All active TPOT and TPITOS reliable observer certificates of completion have an expiration date of 3 years from the final date of the Reliability Workshop. Additionally, language stating the participant is a Reliable Observer is now used. 

If you have an old, outdated certificate without an expiration date on it, then your reliability is no longer valid. You need to complete the Reliability Workshop again to reestablish reliability.  Language has been updated in all certificates of completions stating that the participant is “Reliable.” For updates and a schedule of upcoming Reliability trainings, visit our Training website. 

Before: Our national partners have been developing a re-reliability process to meet this need, which we anticipate being launched soon. Once launched, those who have an upcoming expiration date will go to the Pyramid Model Consortium website, sign up for re-reliability, pay a fee, and get a new reliability video to score. You will have two opportunities to pass the re-reliability scoring test, which earns you an additional 3 years of reliability. If you do not pass within two attempts, you are required to take the entire 15-hour reliability training again. Stay informed on updates to TPOT and TPITOS re-reliability by visiting our Training website and/or signing up for our Pyramid Network Newsletter. 

After: If you have already expired or passed the expiration date on your reliability training certificate, then the only way to get reliability on that tool again is to take the entire 15-hour reliability training. 

Currently we are using an inquiry form to gauge demand for these workshops, then scheduling Reliability Workshops when we reach a sufficient threshold. Learn about upcoming workshops or add your name to our interest forms here. Visit our Training page often to register for upcoming workshops that are being scheduled. 

HCCC recognizes Reliable TPOT and TPITOS observers as one of many important roles in Pyramid Model implementation.  While Pyramid Facilitators are required to hold one or both reliabilities, many large programs often need more than one Reliable Observer to complete observations within allocated timeframes. This is a great way to build team buy-in too, as it spreads the collaborative nature of Pyramid Model implementation.