Transcript EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT

THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT
INSTRUMENT (EDI)
Teacher Information & Training
Session
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)
Today’s
Presentation
1. WHY CARE ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT
2. WHY THE EDI
3. BACKGROUND
4. WHO IS USING IT
5. COMPLETING THE QUESTIONNAIRES
1. WHY CARE ABOUT
EARLY CHILDHOOD
DEVELOPMENT?
EARLY YEARS MATTER:
They set the stage for further
development
Binocular vision
‘Sensitive periods’ in early
Central auditory system
Brain Development
Habitual ways of responding
Language
Emotional control
Symbol
Peer social skills
Relative quantity
High
Low
0
1
2
3
Years
4
5
6
7
Hertzman , 2007
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
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.
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.
School Readiness involves…
ready
children
ready
parents
ready
schools
ready
communities
ready
policy
2. WHY THE EDI?
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).
Benefits cont’d
• Schools use EDI data by itself for program
planning.
• Community uses 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.
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)
3. BACKGROUND OF
THE EDI
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.
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:
1) Physical
health and
well-being
2) Emotional
health and
maturity
2-3) Maturity
3) Social
knowledge
and
competence
4) Language
development and
thinking skills
5) Communication
skills and general
knowledge
•The EDI
is……..
–A population (or
large group)
measure
–A way to
understand
trends in the
development of
kindergarten
children
•The EDI is
not……..
–An individual
child or
diagnostic
measure
–A way to
evaluate
teachers or
individual
programs
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.
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.
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.
4. WHO IS USING IT?
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
5. COMPLETING THE
QUESTIONNAIRES
Implementation Timelines, Deadlines
1.Teachers receive EDI
package(s) at their school
by internal courier
2.Teachers complete EDI
questionnaires
3.Teachers put completed
questionnaires into internal
courier system
- Insert Date
- Insert Date
- Insert Date
Why this part is important to you?
• You will have only 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.
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.
Getting Started: Your EDI Package
Around insert date you will receive an EDI package
containing the following items:
1) Additional Explanatory Notes for
(One per teacher)
Teachers
(One per class)
2) Teacher Participation Form
(One per teacher)
3) EDI Guide
(One per class)
4) ClassList from McMaster
(One per class)
5) Local Class List
(One per child)
6) EDI questionnaires, individually labeled(One per teacher)
7) A blank EDI questionnaire
Teacher Participation Form
• Please complete one per class after the
completion of your class EDIs.
• 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.
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.
• Open to further comments: If you have
comments pertaining to the guide, please
write them on a separate sheet of paper and
enclose with your completed questionnaires.
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.
YOU ARE NOW READY TO
TACKLE THE
QUESTIONNAIRES!
General Instructions
• Please use a blue or black ball-point pen.
• If you make a mistake, do not use white-out.
Put a large X over the wrong answer and put a
clean mark in the correct circle.
• The child does not need to be there when you
complete the questionnaire. Base your answers
on your observations and overall impressions
of the child.
• Responses to the questions should be
based on your observations of the
students reflecting his/her CURRENT
developmental status
• 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.
EDI Questionnaire: Overview
• 4 double-sided pages, Scantron-type
• First page – identifying information.
• Remainder – 5 sections (labeled A-E),
based on the 5 key areas of child
development
Step 1: Verify school and teacher
information
• Look at the label in the top right corner of
the questionnaire.
• Confirm that the School and Teacher
information is correct.
• If School and Teacher information does not
appear on the label, please print it clearly in
the spaces provided.
Step 2: Identify the child
• In the top right corner of the form is an 11digit child identification number (generated
by McMaster University) called the EDI
ID#.
• To find the child’s name, you will need to
cross-reference the child’s EDI ID# with
both the ClassList (generated by McMaster
University) and the Local Class List
(generated by school boards).
ClassList from McMaster
• Find the EDI ID# from the questionnaire on this ClassList.
• Cross-reference the corresponding Local ID# with the
Local Class List (see next slide).
CLASSLIST
School Name
Valley School
Valley School
Valley School
Valley School
Teacher Name
Mrs. X
Mrs. X
Mrs. X
Mrs. X
EDI ID#
Local ID#
DOB
Gender
02900101102
02900101103
02900101104
02900101105
75-02
75-09
75-03
75-15
14/09/99
07/04/99
15/02/99
21/06/99
f
m
f
m
Local Class List
• Use the Local ID # from the previous step to find the
name of the child.
School
Name
Teacher
Name
Local
ID
Last
Name
First
Name
Postal
Gender Code
BOB
Valley
School
Mrs. X
75-02
Bouchal
Claire
14 9 1999 M
N7V1B3
Valley
School
Mrs. X
75-09
Smith
John
7 4 1999
F
N7V1N4
Valley
School
Mrs. X
75-03
Jones
Brigette 15 2 1999 F
N7V1H7
Valley
School
Mrs. X
75-15
Reagan
Mikey
N7H1S1
21 6 1999 F
Step 3: Confirm the child’s identity
• Quickly double-check that the DOB,
Gender and Postal Code on the bottom
half of the label on the questionnaire is the
same as the information on the Local Class
List.
• This will confirm that the questionnaire is
indeed for that child.
Missing or incorrect label information
If any of the information on the label (top right
corner of the EDI questionnaire) is incorrect or
missing, enter the correct information in:
• the label
and
• the Scantron section on page 1 by filling in the
appropriate circles
What if I can’t find a pre-labeled
questionnaire for a child in my
class?
If there are not enough forms for
everyone (e.g., new child in your class):
• Take the blank EDI questionnaire and make
as many photocopies as you need.
How to complete a blank questionnaire
• Take the 9-digit Teacher ID # from the
Teacher Demographic Form and write it in the
label at the top of the EDI questionnaire.
• Next, enter the child’s date of birth, gender,
and postal code both in the label and by
filling out the Scantron section on page 1.
• Proceed with the rest of the EDI questionnaire
as usual.
What if a child has moved to
another school?
• The teacher who has had the student for the
longer duration should complete a blank
EDI for that child.
• The teacher who has had the student for the
shorter period and was sent a questionnaire
on that child should mark “moved” on the
form and include it with the other
questionnaires to be returned.
What if 2 teachers teach the
same class (job sharing)?
• Only one questionnaire per student should
be filled out.
IMPORTANT!!
Q 7 Special Needs – Cannot be left blank!!
A professional must identify the child as special
needs, this is not meant to be an assessment by the
teacher. For example a child identified already as
needing special assistance due to chronic medical,
physical, or mental disabling conditions (e.g.,
autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, Down syndrome)
and/or a child requires special assistance in the
classroom. Please see Guide for provincially
specific SN definition.
IMPORTANT!!
Q 8 ESL
Refers to a child for whom English is NOT their
first language AND who needs additional
instruction in English. A child is NOT considered
ESL if his/her first language is English, or the
child is able to speak another language apart from
English, but whose English is fluent, or a child
whose first language (developmentally) is not
English but whose English is fluent.
REMAINDER OF THE
EDI QUESTIONNAIRE
...
EDI – Section E
• Asks questions about pre-school experiences,
if known (e.g., child care)
• Space for additional comments, if any
Teacher Participation Form
• When do you complete the form?
• When you have completed your EDIs
• How do you complete the form?
• One form for each class you teach
• Why do you need to complete the
form?
Privacy and Confidentiality
•All information collected is kept completely
confidential and used for statistical purposes
only
•Parents are informed about the research by
letter; participation is voluntary; consent is
passive
•NO CHILD OR TEACHER IS EVER
IDENTIFIED IN OUR REPORTING
YOUR SCHOOL’S EDI CONTACT
Insert your school’s EDI
contact info here
QUESTIONS?