How the Illinois Early Learning Project is Helping Families, Teachers, and Young Children Thrive

When a parent searches online for advice on their child’s skill development, or when early childhood educators need guidance for tomorrow’s lesson plan, they face an overwhelming mix of “expert” solutions, influencer trends, subscription or advertising-laden resources, and conflicting opinions. For over two decades, the Illinois Early Learning (IEL) Project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has served as a trusted source forfree information, in multiple languages, backed by independent research, and designed to support the people who care for Illinois’ youngest learners.

Housed in the College of Education’s Department of Special Education and funded for the past 25 years by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Illinois Early Learning has quietly become an indispensable resource for thousands of educators, families, and caregivers across Illinois and beyond. Its mission is straightforward but powerful: to provide evidence-based, accessible information on early care and education that helps adults give young children the strongest possible start in life.

As the state of Illinois continues to expand its investment in early childhood education and the new Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) launches, the work of IEL is more relevant than ever. Illinois Early Learning transitioned from ISBE to IDEC on July 1, 2026. However, the IEL mission is unchanged: rather than simply documenting research, the project translates expertise into trusted, practical tools that teachers can use in classrooms and in birth to three programs and that caregivers can apply at home.

“The teachers who visit our site use us every day,” says Emily Dorsey, IEL principal investigator and project director. “We run into people at conferences who tell us, ‘I don’t go a day without going to your site. I have a binder of all your materials. My whole staff uses your resources.’”

Growing Support for Growing Kids

Since its founding in 2001, Illinois Early Learning has evolved alongside the changing landscape of early childhood education. Originally created to ensure that parents, caregivers, and educators had access to understandable, research-based information, the project has continually expanded its reach, formats, and audience.

One of its earliest innovations—the now-famous IEL Tip Sheets—debuted in 2002. Today, the initiative offers more than 250 concise, easy-to-read tip sheets on virtually every topic an early childhood educator or parent might encounter. Tip sheets cover a range of topics from literacy and math activities to social-emotional development, home safety, and challenging behaviors. Many are available in as many as seven languages, helping families throughout Illinois access trustworthy information regardless of the language they speak at home.

“Our most popular items are our tip sheets,” Dorsey says. “They’re one-page handouts on almost any topic you can think of that teachers might want to discuss with families or staff. And if we don’t have something people need, we’re happy to write it.”

Those resources have expanded considerably over time. As Illinois introduced comprehensive Early Learning Guidelines for Children Birth to Age Three, then updated standards for children ages 3 to 5, IEL staff developed extensive supporting materials aligned with those frameworks. Today, many educators visit the website specifically to access the Illinois Early Learning Guidelines and Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards, along with classroom resources that help them put the standards into practice.

More Than Just Tip Sheets

Although many educators first discover IEL through its printable handouts, the website has grown into a comprehensive online hub for early childhood learning.

Visitors can explore expert Q&As, blogs, podcast episodes, classroom resources, professional development materials, project-based learning resources, and toolkits for educators and families. The project also continues to respond to emerging issues in early childhood education by developing new content, some of which is directly requested by people using the site.

Natalie Danner, content and engagement coordinator and host of the Illinois Early Learning podcast, says listening to educators is central to the team’s approach.

“When we interact with families in webinars or teachers at conferences, they tell us what they need,” Danner says. “We take notes and we’re ready to write a blog, develop new tip sheets, or create podcast episodes around those topics. We try to be as responsive as we can be to caregivers and those using our resources.”

That responsiveness has helped the project remain relevant as new challenges emerge. Topics such as challenging classroom behaviors, inclusion, neurodiversity, food allergies, and early intervention increasingly shape the content being developed.

The IEL podcast, launched in 2017, extends that mission even further. With more than 30 episodes available through major streaming platforms, it pairs practical advice with conversations featuring researchers and practitioners. To maximize accessibility, every episode also includes a written transcript translated into Spanish.

“We interview experts who provide practical strategies for educators and parents,” Danner says. “Episodes go deeper than what we can cover in a one-page tip sheet but are short enough to fit into busy schedules.”

Designed for Everyone

Although IEL is well known among many preschool teachers and early childhood professionals, its leaders see tremendous opportunity to reach more families directly.

“If families are working with a professional who knows us, they may know our content really well,” Dorsey says. “If they aren’t, they might never know who we are.”

To bridge that gap, the team has expanded its presence through social media, webinars, and outreach sessions titled More Than Just Tip Sheets, which introduce educators and caregivers to the depth of resources available online. Many are surprised by how much the project offers.

“People often say to us, ‘Why didn’t I know about you earlier?’” Danner says. “They realize they could have been using these resources with families, for lesson planning, or just to build their own knowledge.”

The growing visibility comes at a pivotal moment for early childhood education in Illinois. Illinois Early Learning’s work complements statewide efforts to expand access and opportunities for young children to become healthy, well-prepared learners in K-12 schools.

Perhaps the project’s greatest strength lies in its commitment to accessibility—not simply making information available online but ensuring people can actually use it.

The website and its resources are written in plain language, at a reading level that families from a wide range of educational backgrounds can easily understand. The entire website is available in both English and Spanish, while many individual resources are professionally translated into Polish, French, Arabic, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. The project relies on human translators to preserve linguistic and cultural accuracy throughout its materials.

Equally important is ensuring that every family feels represented and included. Both Dorsey and Danner earned a doctoral degree in special education from the Department of Special Education at Illinois, which informs and enhances their perspective and contributions on the project.

“I really want the site to feel accessible to families whose children have disabilities,” Dorsey says. “We want everything people read on our site to feel like it’s for everybody—not just typically developing children. We want families to see themselves reflected through cultural diversity, language diversity, and ability diversity.”

Over the past several years, the project has significantly expanded resources related to autism, speech and language disorders, hearing and vision differences, limb differences, neurodiversity, and inclusive early childhood practices. And, Dorsey says, IEL webmaster Deborah Fuoss has led a major effort behind the scenes to ensure the website meets accessibility standards while expanding multilingual content, making it easier for all users to access information regardless of language or disability.

Legacy of Leadership and Service

Illinois Early Learning’s impact has been built over decades of collaboration, innovation, and leadership.

Since first receiving funding, the project has been guided by nationally respected scholars beginning with founding Principal Investigator Lilian Katz, followed by Susan Fowler, Micki Ostrosky, and current PI Emily Dorsey. Alongside project coordinators and staff members over the years, they have helped transform IEL from tipsheets into one of Illinois’ most trusted online resources for early childhood information. What began as a website known only to a small audience has grown into an online destination serving educators, parents, caregivers, and early childhood professionals through continually expanding content, multilingual resources, podcasts, blogs, standards-aligned materials, and professional learning opportunities.

Yet despite its growth, the project’s mission remains remarkably consistent.

“The format of our content may evolve based on the needs of our community,” Danner notes, “but our passion for creating and sharing high-quality early childhood content will never change.”

The Illinois Early Learning Project exemplifies how the work happening within higher education can extend far beyond campus—supporting classrooms, childcare centers, and birth to three programs; strengthening families; informing public policy; and ultimately improving outcomes for young children everywhere.