EO Center Resource Alert

Division for Early Childhood (DEC)

Page 5 provides an overview of Standard 3: Collaboration and Teaming that emphasizes building respectful, culturally responsive partnerships, sharing expertise, communicating effectively, and working together to develop and implement individualized supports that meet each child's and family's unique needs. Successful teaming strengthens outcomes for children while building the capacity of everyone involved. The following page includes practical vignettes across birth-to-three, preschool, and early elementary settings that demonstrate how educators collaborate with families and professionals in real-world settings to develop and implement individualized plans and support transitions.

CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge

Through realistic case scenarios, videos, reflection activities, and practical tools, learners explore evidence-based strategies such as active listening, seeking and verifying information, and joining and supporting to build strong partnerships. The module also guides participants through an evidence-based decision-making process to apply these communication practices in real-world settings.

Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC)

These resources are aligned with DEC's EI/ECSE Professional Preparation Standard 3: Collaboration & Teaming. It offers examples of readings, assignments, and authentic learning experiences that help learners apply evidence-based practices through reflection, guided practice, feedback, and real-world application in early childhood and early intervention settings.

Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC)

This case study explores how an early intervention team, a family, and community providers work together to support a young child with autism. Through guided reflection questions and practical resources, learners examine strategies for effective communication, collaborative problem-solving, family-centered teaming, and coordinating services across disciplines.

Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC)

This collection of short videos brings DEC Standard 3: Collaboration and Teaming to life through real-world examples of family-professional partnerships, interdisciplinary teamwork, coaching, communication strategies, technology-supported collaboration, and transition planning.

The field of early intervention offers a broad array of career opportunities including developmental specialists, service coordinators, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, infant mental health specialists, and more. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) federal regulations requires states to have policies and procedures to ensure that qualified personnel are available to support the early intervention system for infants and toddlers with disabilities.

This resource includes a competencies framework and an assessment tool to measure a set of priority competencies in pre-service students who are preparing to work with infants and toddlers with special needs. These tools are designed for instructors and trainers teaching the pre-service infant/toddler workforce and could be used for practitioners to engage in self-reflection.

A unified vision outlining essential content knowledge and practical skills for entry-level early childhood educators in Michigan, detailing what they should know, understand, and demonstrate in their teaching practices. These standards capture the profile of a well-prepared beginning teacher, equipped to support and respond to the holistic needs of young children.

The first stand-alone standards to focus specifically on the preparation of EI/ECSE professionals who work with young children ages birth through eight years who have or are at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities and their families in homes, classrooms, and other community settings.

These standards support the growth and development of all children throughout the state, birth to kindergarten; to support early childhood professionals in recognizing individual developmental trajectories and expressions of learning, and to guide programs toward the highest quality in their operations.

This set of standards and competencies describe what early childhood educators should know and be able to do. As such, there is a core body of knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions that early childhood educators must demonstrate to effectively promote the development, learning, and well-being of all young children.

Encourage your students and recent graduates to explore job opportunities from employers across Michigan. Our job board features current openings in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Early Childhood fields—perfect for those seeking their first position or next career step.

(Note: If you’re an employer looking to post a job, please email the link to eotweb@edzone.net.)

The Central Directory includes a category specifically for Early Intervention Research in Michigan. Click the category to discover current projects, reports, and research focused on Michigan’s youngest learners.