Effective EC-EI teaming

1.1 Defining the partnership and establishing routines

To kickstart the collaboration, EC and EI educators can cover the following:

The Knowledge – Skills – Attitude Framework highlights the key factors that help difficult conversations flow more smoothly.

To have a successful EC-EI relationship, by focusing on:

• Knowledge: Observations of the child in different settings, respective knowledge of preschool curriculum, interventions, and strategies.
• Skills: Combination of soft skills to communicate and collaborate with other professionals + best practices to set your partnership up for success.
• Attitude: Adopting a positive, growth mindset when trying new things, such as embedding intervention into preschool context.

1.2 Conducting an effective meeting

EC and EI can structure their regularly scheduled updates based on the following. This structure can be applicable to any meetings that the EC and EI educator might have with caregivers or other professionals in a child’s life:

Pre-meeting

• Based on what was agreed upon, set schedule ahead of time to meet regularly
• Prepare necessary information that is needed for the meeting
• Note: ICO may wish to sit in on the first few meetings, but does not need to be present for all

Do ensure that parents’ consent is sought before sharing information on the child.

During meeting

• Keep a child-centric approach to share multiple perspectives of the child in different settings
• Be open to share information with each other
• Agenda of the meeting can cover one or more of the following:
• Addressing parents’ / families’ concerns
• Share challenges in monitoring progress of child
• Share templates / forms that can enable cross-sharing of info
• Celebrate Progress: Acknowledge and celebrate the child's achievements and milestones together as a team. Recognize the collective effort and the positive impact of effective teaming on the child's development

After meeting

• Align on next steps, action points, and follow-ups
• Arrange the next time to meet

Sample prompts for EC-EI check-in The ICO may wish to share this list of questions with EC and Educators for their check ins: How has the child been adapting to the new strategies? What strategies or approaches have been effective in supporting the child's learning and development? Have you noticed any changes in the child's behavior or emotions after you tried out with the new strategies? Are there any concerns or challenges that have emerged during or after the child receives the EI services (e.g., the child completed the DS-LS package)? If it is not possible to schedule a meeting, EC and EI may wish to open up a regular channel of communication (e.g. email) to provide updates.