THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT EDI

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THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI)
e-EDI Teacher Information Training Session
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• 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)
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Todays Presentation

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

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1. WHY CARE ABOUT EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT?
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EARLY YEARS MATTER
They set the stage for further development
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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
7
6
5
4
Years
Hertzman , 2007
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EARLY YEARS MATTER

• Childs experiences in the early years of life
  are pivotal for how the genes that govern many
  aspects of neurobiological development are
  expressed
• Childs capacity to learn when they enter school
  is strongly influenced by the neural wiring that
  takes place in the early years

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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.
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School Readiness

• Refers to the childs 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.
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School Readiness involves
ready children
ready parents
ready schools
ready communities
ready policy
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2. WHY THE EDI?
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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).

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Benefits contd

• 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.

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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/s
choolready.html (2003)
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3. BACKGROUND OF THE EDI
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What is the EDI

• The EDI is teacher-completed checklist that
  assesses childrens readiness to learn before
  they enter formal schooling (Grade 1).
• In other words, it measures the outcomes of
  childrens 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.

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How the EDI works

• The EDI assesses childrens readiness to learn
  when they enter school by looking at five key
  areas of child development

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1) Physical health and well-being
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2-3) Maturity
2) Emotional health and maturity
3) Social knowledge and competence
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4) Language development and thinking skills
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5) Communication skills and general knowledge
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• 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

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Who Developed It?

• The EDI was developed at McMaster Universitys
  Offord Centre for Child Studies in 1997.
• The instrument was designed and tested in
  collaboration with teachers and educators.

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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.

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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.

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4. WHO IS USING IT?
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• 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
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5. COMPLETING THE e-EDI QUESTIONNAIRES
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Implementation Timelines, Deadlines

• 1. Teachers receive e-EDI Training
• 2. Teachers complete EDI questionnaires on-line
• 3. Teachers lock in each childs questionnaire
  as they are completed

• - Insert Date
• - Insert Date
• Insert Date

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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.

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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.

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Getting Started Your EDI Package
Around insert date you will receive an EDI
package containing 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)
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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

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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.

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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.

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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 students whose
  parents/guardians have declined permission
• Good luck and thank-you!

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Accessing the e-EDI

• In your Internet browser type in
• www.e-edi.ca

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Signing In
Teachers email here
Ensure that ENGLISH is chosen
The initial password is the Teachers EDI ID
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Teacher Menu
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Tip 3

• Use the Navigation Bar to change screens
• Using your browsers forward and back buttons may
  cause some information to be lost

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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.

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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.

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YOU ARE NOW READY TO TACKLE THE QUESTIONNAIRES!
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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 dont know as a last resort only,
  especially in the student demographic page (page
  1). Questionnaires received with too many I
  dont knows cannot be used in the final
  analysis.

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e-EDI Questionnaire Overview

• Demographics -identifying information
• Remainder 5 sections (labeled A-E),
• based on the 5 key areas of child development

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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.

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Local Class List
Match the corresponding Local ID with the Local
Class List (which contains childrens names) to
ensure you are thinking about the right child.
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Step 2 Confirm the childs 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.

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Missing or incorrect label information

• If any of the information is incorrect or
  missing, enter the correct information on the
  Child Demographics page of the e-EDI
• Click Save EDI

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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
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What if I cant find a pre-labeled questionnaire
for a child in my class?
Type childs local ID
Click Add Student
Remember to add all of the students information
on the Student Demographic screen
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What if a child has moved to another school?

• Only complete the first screen (Child
  Demographics) for that child
• When you choose
• in class for less than one month
• moved out of class
• moved out of school
• other
• The system will tell you to stop and lock the
  questionnaire

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What if 2 teachers teach the same class (job
sharing)?

• Only one questionnaire per student should be
  filled out.

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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.

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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.

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Tip 5

• If you have a lot of dont know answers, put
  this childs e-EDI aside and observe the child
  for a few more days

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REMAINDER OF THEEDI QUESTIONNAIRE

• Complete Sections A E by selecting the
  appropriate response for each question

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• Read Section E carefully. The system will not
  recognize it as complete until your answers are
  in agreement
• Once completed, click Check for Completeness (at
  top of page)

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If the system tells you
Go back to incomplete sections and fill in any
answers you missed
You are done!
Click here
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Locking a Questionnaire

• You will get a message asking if you are sure
  that you want to continue with locking the child.
  
• If so, click OK. You will be returned back to the
  Class Information page.

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Done?

• Remember to fill out your Teacher Participation
  Form Teacher Training Feedback Forms (from the
  main menu)

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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

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YOUR SCHOOLS EDI CONTACT
Insert your schools EDI contact info here
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QUESTIONS?