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Understanding the Early Years Action Planning Session

Understanding the Early Years Action Planning Session. Thursday, May 22, 2008 Delta Brunswick Hotel Saint John, NB. Objectives for today. Share wealth of knowledge in our community with respect to ‘early years’ Connect with community partners- past, present and future

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Understanding the Early Years Action Planning Session

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  1. Understanding the Early YearsAction Planning Session Thursday, May 22, 2008 Delta Brunswick Hotel Saint John, NB

  2. Objectives for today • Share wealth of knowledge in our community with respect to ‘early years’ • Connect with community partners- past, present and future • Contribute to UEY Community Action Plan: evidence-based, relevant, living, breathing document

  3. According to Dr. Fraser Mustard… “The quality and capacity of our future population depends on what we do now to support early child development.”

  4. Why UEY? • UEY’s overall purpose is to enable members of a community to work together to address the needs of young children by: • raising family and community awareness of the many and varied factors that influence child development • enhancing our ability to use local data to help make decisions to enhance children’s lives. Generate data to build knowledge to enable community!

  5. How does UEY work? • Data collection • Parents’ and teachers’ perspectives on development of kindergarten children • Direct assessment results on children’s cognitive abilities • Parents’ perspectives on family circumstances and children’s experiences • Local info on programs and services • Local socioeconomic characteristics

  6. Step 1: Early Development Instrument • Measures ‘readiness for school’ • Survey completed by K teachers in 2005-6 for each child in class (n~800) • 5 domains: • Physical health and well-being • Social competence • Emotional maturity • Language and cognitive development • Communication skills and general knowledge

  7. EDI Participation: 2006

  8. EDI: things to remember… • Single snapshot of one group of children: K students, SD 8, 2005-6 • EDI is a population measure, not an individual assessment • Data from EDI is useful, but does not answer ‘why?’ • Best used with other valid, reliable data

  9. UEY-SJ vs. National Sample

  10. Percentage of Vulnerable Children

  11. Multiple Challenge Index

  12. Mapping the EDI • Mapping is the visual representation of data by geography or location, the linking of information to place.  • Mapping is a powerful tool: • it makes patterns based on place much easier to identify and analyze and; • it provides a visual way of communicating those patterns to a broad audience, quickly and dramatically.

  13. Step 2: PIDACS • PIDACS= Parent Interview and Direct Assessment of Children Survey • PIDACS based on National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (see www.statcan.ca for more information) • UEY-SJ area families with K children, 2006-7, n~800, response rate > 83%

  14. How are children doing in SJ?

  15. How are children doing in SJ?

  16. Family and Community Supports for Early Childhood Development

  17. Family Characteristics

  18. Children’s Participation in Community Activities

  19. How about the TV?

  20. Use of Educational Resources

  21. Use of Entertainment and Cultural Resources

  22. Use of Recreational Resources

  23. Barriers to Use of Programs and Resources • Parents unaware the program or service was available (#1) • Transportation issues (#2) • Also: finding a convenient time, having time to participate and availability of programs for children this age

  24. Use of Childcare Arrangements • No child-care arrangement: 38% (vs. 43%) • More than one type of care: 31% (vs. 48%) • Total time per week in care: ~15 hours • Type of care most frequently used: • Someone else’s home by a non-relative • Someone else’s home by a relative • In own home by a relative

  25. Neighbourhood Characteristics

  26. Step 3: Census 2001 Data Variables include: • Family Income • Parents’ Employment • Parents’ Level of Education • Family Structure

  27. Family Income

  28. Parents’ Employment

  29. Parents’ Level of Education

  30. Family Structure

  31. What makes GSJ unique? • SJ children had below-average scores (UEY-21) on receptive vocabulary and number knowledge BUT, average score on test of early literacy was considerably above Canadian average (?) • SJ children had scores well below national average on 4 of 5 measures on EDI- exception was language and cognitive development

  32. What makes GSJ unique? • SJ families had relatively low incomes, even though most parents worked outside the home • 1 in 3 children live in families with incomes below $30,000 • 1 in 4 children live in single-parent families • Parents had relatively high levels of education, yet the average level of SES in SJ is very low

  33. What makes GSJ unique? • High levels of positive parenting practices and engagement with their children • Safe neighbourhoods, good schools, adequate recreation and health facilities • Family members, friends and neighbours who help them feel safe, secure and happy **NEED MICRODATA!**

  34. Conclusion • UEY is a starting point for Greater Saint John in identifying strengths and needs among our children age 0-5 and their families • Next steps? Public consultation on results-to-date leading to input on development of UEY Community Action Plan

  35. Questions? Let’s take a break!

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