THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT EDI

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

• 1. School Readiness
• 2. Early Development Instrument (EDI)
• 3. Using e-EDI system
• 4. Completing the questionnaires

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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
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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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Trajectories - Continuation of Differences
Hypothetical growth trajectories
Simple continuation of differences
Increasing differences
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Target for interventions
Hypothetical growth trajectories
School-based interventions
Desired results
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Target for interventions
Hypothetical growth trajectories
School-based interventions
Frequently-achieved results
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Target for interventions
Hypothetical growth trajectories
Pre-school-based interventions
Desired results
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Trajectories Established Early - Vulnerability
on EDI and Grade 6 outcomes
N of domains with low scores
Percentage of Grade 6 students not meeting
provincial standards in relation to number of
vulnerabilities in Kindergarten (EDI)
TDSB, 2007
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Trajectories Continue.

• Of those children scoring vulnerable on 2 or more
  of the EDI domains in Kindergarten approx 65
  failed to meet provincial EQAO standards in
  Reading, Writing and Math.

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Key Principles

• The later you attempt to change a trajectory the
  more energy that is required
• Therefore a major effort has to be made in the
  early years when neural systems are most plastic
  and compromises or constrictions are most readily
  overcome

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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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Readiness for school

• School understood as Grade 1
• Many marked differences between curriculum in
  Kindergarten and Grade 1
• Kindergarten provides transition between
  play-based preschool and home environment to the
  academically-based environment of grade school

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What is school readiness?

• Context of early experiences
• Reflects developmental outcomes and milestones
  achieved during the first five years of life
• A measurable holistic concept involving several
  developmental areas
• Childs ability to benefit from the activities
  provided by the school

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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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Readiness for school
Ready Schools
Ready Children
Ready Parents
Ready Policy
Ready Government
Ready Communities
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(No Transcript)
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What is the EDI?

• The EDI is teacher-completed checklist that
  assesses childrens readiness to learn when they
  enter school.
• In other words, it measures the outcomes of
  childrens pre-school (0-6 years) 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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A Population-Based Measure

• The EDI is designed to be interpreted at the
  group level.
• The EDI does not provide diagnostic information
  on individual children.

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Teacher Perception Data

• Perception is good
• Teachers are educated experts
• Teacher intuition is extremely accurate
• Grades, report cards, parent-teacher conferences
• Scientific evidence, both from the EDI and other
  studies, that teachers rating of children are
  actually more reliable in predicting childrens
  future academic success than direct tests

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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 and resource allocation
• 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.
• Advocacy for families and children.

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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 IS USING IT?
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Across Canada 1999-2008 over 620 000
children- Full provincial coverage in Ontario,
Manitoba, BC, Saskatchewan, PEI and NB -
Implementations in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta,
Newfoundland, Nunavut
Internationally Australia (full coverage) USA
Mozambique Chile Moldova New
Zealand Kenya Jamaica Kosovo Mexico UK
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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

• - Today!
• - Today until XXXXX
• Today until XXXXX

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Time

• It will take approx 20 minutes to complete each
  questionnaire.
• However, once you have completed a few, it should
  take closer to 10 minutes per questionnaire.
• Best students and struggling students completed
  quickly.middle ground students require more
  thought.

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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
You will receive an EDI package containing the
following items

• Additional Explanatory Notes / FAQ
• EDI Guide
• ClassList from OCCS
• Local Class List
• e-EDI Instructions

(One per teacher) (One per teacher) (One per
class) (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 if
  in doubt.

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e-EDI Teacher Instructions 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.
• e.EDI General Teachers Guide.doc

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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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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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EDI Questionnaires
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Class List
AM Class
PM Class
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Step 1 Identify the child

• At the top of every questionnaire page 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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Enter into the Questionnaire
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Child Demographic Page
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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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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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IMPORTANT!!

• Q 14 Student Status
• Student must be currently in your class to do the
  EDI
• If the student has been
• 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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Tip 3
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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REMAINDER OF THEEDI QUESTIONNAIRE
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REMAINDER OF THEEDI QUESTIONNAIRE

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

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Section B
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Finishing and Checking
SECTION E
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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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Adding a student
Type childs local ID
Click Add Student
Remember to add all of the students information
on the Student Demographic screen
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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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Teacher Participation Form

• 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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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
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QUESTIONS?