THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI)

1. THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI) e-EDI Teacher Information & Training Session

2. A large number of children at a small risk for school failure may generate a much greater burden of suffering than a small number of children with a high risk (Based on Rose 1992, Offord et al. 1998)

3. 1. WHY CARE ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT 2. WHY THE EDI 3. BACKGROUND 4. WHO IS USING IT 5. COMPLETING THE e-EDI QUESTIONNAIRES Today’sPresentation

4. 1. WHY CARE ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT?

5. EARLY YEARS MATTER: They set the stage for further development

6. ‘Sensitive periods’ in early Brain Development Binocular vision Central auditory system Habitual ways of responding Language Emotional control High Symbol Peer social skills Relative quantity Sensitivity Low 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Years Hertzman , 2007

7. EARLY YEARS MATTER: • Child’s experiences in the early years of life are pivotal for how the genes that govern many aspects of neurobiological development are expressed • Child’s capacity to learn when they enter school is strongly influenced by the neural wiring that takes place in the early years

8. Readiness to learn concept Children are born ready to learn: the neurosystem is pre-programmed to develop various skills and neuropathways, depending on the experience it receives.

9. School Readiness Refers to the child’s ability to meet the task demands of school, such as: • being comfortable exploring and asking questions, • listening to the teacher, • playing and working with other children, • remembering and following rules. In short, it is the ability to benefit from the educational activities that are provided by the school.

10. School Readiness involves… ready children ready parents ready schools ready communities ready policy

11. 2. WHY THE EDI?

12. Benefits Results from the Early Development Instrument (or EDI) will enable us to: • Look forward – adjust school programs to meet the current needs of incoming students (schools). • Look backward – adjust early childhood programs to help ensure children are ready to learn and make it easier for them to make the transition to school (community).

13. Benefits cont’d • Schoolsuse EDI data by itself for program planning. • Communityuses EDI data in conjunction with other information (e.g., EQAO results, population statistics, other community information) to identify neighbourhoods where additional early years supports may be required.

14. Canadian Association of Principals “EDI data in conjunction with other data can be used to create, maintain, and monitor community support for programs and policies affecting young children…. Analysis can increase public understanding of the factors which contribute to early child development, inspiring a commitment to fundraising, policy development and other initiatives.” Source: Canadian Association of Principals – Student Readiness to Learn and the School Ready to Teach: an Internet Essay and Collection of Selected Documents: www.schoolfile.com/cap_start/schoolready.html (2003)

15. 3. BACKGROUND OF THE EDI

16. What is the EDI • The EDI is teacher-completed checklist that assesses children’s readiness to learn before they enter formal schooling (Grade 1). • In other words, it measures the outcomes of children’s pre-school experiences as they influence their readiness to learn at school. • As a result, the EDI is able to predict how children will do in elementary school.

17. How the EDI works The EDI assesses children’s readiness to learn when they enter school by looking at five key areas of child development:

18. 1) Physical health and well-being

19. 2-3) Maturity 2) Emotional health and maturity 3) Social knowledge and competence

20. 4) Language development and thinking skills

21. 5) Communication skills and general knowledge

22. The EDI is…….. A population (or large group) measure A way to understand trends in the development of kindergarten children The EDI isnot…….. An individual child or diagnostic measure A way to evaluate teachers or individual programs

23. Who Developed It? • The EDI was developed at McMaster University’s Offord Centre for Child Studies in 1997. • The instrument was designed and tested in collaboration with teachers and educators.

24. Teachers’ Input • In the process of development, the EDI was streamlined using further input from teachers. • Questions that did not seem clear enough, or did not bring any new information, have been removed.

25. Validity Testing • The EDI has undergone extensive pilot testing, and has been compared with direct assessment results and parent reports. • It has also been repeated on the same group of children within a short space of time. • The EDI demonstrated reliability in all these tests.

26. 4. WHO IS USING IT?

27. Across Canada: • 1999-2007 over 520 000 children • Full provincial coverage in Ontario, Manitoba and BC • Implementations in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Newfoundland, PEI, New Brunswick, Nunavut • Only region not covered is Yukon Internationally: Australia (full coverage) USA - a few isolated sites Chile New Zealand Jamaica Kosovo Mexico Interest: UK, Israel, Cuba

28. 5. COMPLETING THE e-EDI QUESTIONNAIRES

29. Implementation Timelines, Deadlines 1. Teachers receive e-EDI Training 2. Teachers complete EDI questionnaires on-line 3. Teachers “lock in” each child’s questionnaire as they are completed - Insert Date - Insert Date • Insert Date

30. Why this part is important to you? • It will take approx 20 minutes to complete each questionnaire. • The first 2-3 questionnaires may take more time than the average 20 minutes. • However, once you have completed a few, it should take closer to 10 minutes per questionnaire.

31. Tip # 1 • Due to the “learning curve” involved, it is considerably more efficient to complete all the questionnaires in one sitting. One sitting may involve 2 or 3 consecutive days, depending on the number of students you have.

32. Getting Started: Your EDI Package Around insert date you will receive an EDI packagecontaining the following items: • Additional Explanatory Notes for Teachers • EDI Guide • Local Class List • e-EDI guide (One per teacher) (One per teacher) (One per class) (One per teacher)

33. EDI Guide • Intended to facilitate completion of the EDI; based on comments from teachers. • Please read the whole Guide once before starting to complete the questionnaires. • While completing the e-EDI you can click on the Guide button and a pdf version of the EDI Guide will pop up

34. Tip # 2 • Read the entire EDI GUIDE once before starting on the questionnaires. • After you have read the EDI Guide, consult it only if in doubt.

35. e-EDI Teacher Guide for Completion • Provides information – steps to guide the on-line completion of EDI questionnaires • Open to further comments: If you have comments pertaining to either of the guides, please write them on a separate sheet of paper and enclose with your completed questionnaires.

36. Before you Begin the e-EDI • Review the e-EDI questions. • Get your login and password. • Have your class lists available. • Ensure that all the children in your class(es) have a local ID and are included on your list. • Review any background materials • If applicable, list student’s whose parent’s/guardians have declined permission • Good luck and thank-you!

37. Accessing the e-EDI In your Internet browser type in: www.e-edi.ca

38. Signing In Teacher’s email here Ensure that ENGLISH is chosen The initial password is the Teacher’s EDI ID

39. Teacher Menu

40. Tip # 3 • Use the Navigation Bar to change screens • Using your browser’s forward and back buttons may cause some information to be lost

41. Teacher Participation Form • Please fill-out after the completion of your class e-EDIs. • The form can be found by choosing Teacher Participation Form from the home page.

42. What is the Teacher Participation Form for? • Helps us keep everything organized when you return the questionnaires to us. • It also provides information on the general characteristics of the population of teachers and their experience with the EDI. • It is not intended for evaluation of any sort. The information will be examined as a whole, not on an individual basis.

43. YOU ARE NOW READY TO TACKLE THE QUESTIONNAIRES!

44. General Instructions • Responses to the questions should be based on your observations of the students reflecting his/her CURRENT developmental status. (The child does not need to be present) • Use ‘I don’t know’ as a last resort only, especially in the student demographic page (page 1). Questionnaires received with too many ‘I don’t knows’ cannot be used in the final analysis.

45. e-EDI Questionnaire: Overview • Demographics -identifying information • Remainder – 5 sections (labeled A-E), based on the 5 key areas of child development

46. Step 1: Identify the child • At the Right of the class list there is an 11-digit child identification number (generated by McMaster University) called the EDI ID#.

47. Local Class List Match the corresponding Local ID# with the Local Class List (which contains children’s names)to ensure you are thinking about the right child.

48. Step 2: Confirm the child’s identity • Quickly double-check that the DOB, Gender and Postal Code at the top of the screen is the same as the information on the Local Class List. • This will confirm that the questionnaire is indeed for that child.

49. Missing or incorrect label information • If any of the information is incorrect or missing, enter the correct information onthe Child Demographics page of the e-EDI • Click Save EDI

50. Tip # 4 Continuously save as you work! After 15 minutes of inactivity you will be automatically logged off the system and all your unsaved changes will be lost