Sunday, November 16th, 2025, 1:00 PM Eastern Time - Register here. The DEC Awards Committee invites all members of the DEC community to the 2025 Division for Early Childhood Awards Ceremony. This special virtual event will honor outstanding leaders, advocates, and changemakers whose work has made a lasting impact on young children with disabilities, their families, and the professionals who support them. We encourage all DEC members, colleagues, families, and friends to atten

Calling all DEC CoP members! The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Community of Practice (CoP) Development Committee is seeking to understand the value and impact DEC CoPs have had on you and your practices. All DEC CoP members are invited to respond no matter how much or little you have participated in DEC CoP meetings, events, and activities.   Information will be used to determine the effectiveness of CoPs and resources needed to better support CoP participants and facili

Thursday, November 13th, 2025, 4:00 - 5:00 PM Eastern Time - Register here.   Join the National Coalition of Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services (NCPSSERS) for a powerful Virtual Town Hall commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This special event will feature a dynamic panel of parents and professionals reflecting on how IDEA has shaped their personal and professional lives over the past five dec

DEC is sponsoring a new initiative to promote the adoption, alignment, or integration of EI/ECSE Standards and resources into systems (i.e., local, regional, state/territory) that serve young children and their families. The pilot program will identify a Standards Ambassador(s) for each of a small number of states/territories. The roles and expectations for the EI/ECSE Standards Ambassador are to: Promote awareness of the EI/ECSE Standards; Support higher education faculty an

On October 23, 2025, the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) joined 59 national organizations in urging the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to conduct an oversight hearing of the Executive Branch as it actively seeks to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and decimate implementation of key education and disability laws. Read the full letter here. Take Action Join DEC and our partners in speaking up for children, families,

Meet the DEC Executive Board and Executive Office for the monthly DEC community coffee break. We'll discuss the field, share resources, and hear from you about the things that are important to the work you do!* The start times for this year's meetings vary to account for a variety of time zones. If you click the registration link for any given date, Zoom will automatically show the event in your time zone. October 15th, 2025, 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Eastern Time - Register here.

DEC Members, The U.S. Department of Education (ED) engaged in a round of layoffs late this week, as reported by USA Today and other...

In this episode of DEC Talks, Dr. Peggy Kemp and Dr. LaShorage Shaffer lead a conversation with Dr. Angel Fettig and Dr. Hailey Love, the...

Dear DEC Members and Community,   We are thrilled to share a newly compiled resource that brings together the full breadth of what the...

DEC Talks, the new podcast from the Division for Early Childhood, brings you thoughtful conversations on inclusion in early childhood,...