What is BEAM?

Bridging Education and Mental Health (BEAM) supports teachers in improving their interactions with young children. BEAM provides a framework to support children's social-emotional development and intervene when challenging behaviors interfere with development and learning.

BEAM is grounded in the fundamentals of quality instruction, positive behavior support, and therapeutic or relationship-based teaching.

This synthesis of recommended practices emphasizes the quality of relationships with children as the foundation of good teaching.

BEAM is a professional development process. It offers early childhood professionals training through online coursework or in-person instruction. In addition, follow-up distance or on-site coaching can be provided. BEAM coaching is grounded in reflective practice, which incorporates opportunities for practitioners to examine their thoughts and feelings regarding their work as well as instructional aspects of supporting young children and their families.

• Download the BEAM brochure
• BEAM Presentation Handout
  • Full page slides (48 pages)
  • Handout with 6 slides per page (8 pages)

Video Presentations

Requires Flash. Click the image to view video.

View a video presentation of Christopher Watson, BEAM Project Director, describing the history and philosophy of BEAM (15:00).

View Shelley Neilsen Gatti, BEAM Instructor and Coach, describing the training model and materials (15:00)

 

BEAM Key Concepts

1. Teacher behavior directly impacts children's social and emotional development and mental health.
2. To change children's behavior, teachers must change their behavior.
3. Children and their challenging behaviors are typically multi-dimensional, multi-faceted, and require a range of support.
4. Teams need time to reflect on their practice for their own mental health and to improve instructional practices.
5. A program that implements the BEAM model provides an emotionally safe environment that is consistent, predictable, and proactive.

BEAM Intervention Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This model comes from the research on levels of intervention. There are four levels. Click on the links below to learn more about each section of the BEAM Pyramid:

• Child-Specific Interventions
• Social and Emotional Teaching Strategies
• Supportive Environments
• Relationships with Children, Families, and Colleagues

Children who are emotionally well adjusted have a significantly greater chance of early school success while children who experience serious emotional difficulty face greater risks of early school difficulty.

Social policy report published by The Society for Research in Child Development (Raver, 2002)

Reflective Practice

Teams need time to reflect on their practice for their own mental health and to improve instructional practices.

Teaching can often be a demanding job and there is usually little time during the day for a teacher to sit quietly for a moment to think about his or her interactions with the children and staff or for teachers to talk to one another or with their supervisor about their day. The importance of having this time is often overlooked and we are just beginning to understand the need for this reflective time in education. In order to improve practice, teachers need to be able to think about their current practice and share their ideas with others who will support and understand their thoughts and feelings regarding their work. With this in mind, child care centers and preschools could set aside time for their staff to meet regularly t o discuss their work and their feelings about how things are going in their classrooms and in their programs in general.

BEAM Coaching

BEAM coaches work with participating teachers on utilizing BEAM strategies for working with children with challenging behaviors and creating an environment that supports healthy social and emotional development. BEAM is designed to support all children with disabilities and children who have suffered trauma, neglect, and abuse as well as typically developing children.

BEAM coaching consists of regular observations and dialogue between coaches and teachers, primarily on a biweekly basis. Training resources have been provided to the early childhood teachers. These resources include the BEAM Classroom Guide, Informational Tip Sheets, classroom materials, and BEAM Implementation Manual. Additional BEAM training events have been scheduled with staff and parents at the participating programs.

Project Staff

• Christopher Watson, Project Director
• Shelley Neilsen Gatti, BEAM course instructor and coach
• Lillian Duran, BEAM course instructor and coach
• Leah Hjelseth, BEAM course instructor and coach
• Cynthia Croft, BEAM instructor
• Karen Anderson, Executive Administrative Specialist

Funding

The BEAM Project was funded by the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board--through the Early Learning Opportunities Act (ELOA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ELOA included a focus on early literacy through the Minnesota Early Literacy Training (MELT) Project.

Funded 2002-2008

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