e-EDITeacher Information & Training

Session

THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI)

Today’s Presentation

1. Developmental Health

2. Early Development Instrument (EDI)

3. Using e-EDI system

4. Completing the questionnaires

EARLY YEARS MATTER:

They set the stage for further development

Binocular vision

0 1 2 3 7654

High

Low

Years

Habitual ways of respondingLanguageEmotional

controlSymbolPeer social

skillsRelative quantity

Central auditory system

Hertzman , 2007

‘Sensitive periods’ in early Brain Development

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

Trajectories - Continuation of Differences

Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15

Hypothetical growth trajectories

Simple continuation of differences Increasing differences

Target for interventions

Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15

Hypothetical growth trajectories

School-based interventions Desired results

Target for interventions

Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15

Hypothetical growth trajectories

School-based interventions Frequently-achieved results

Target for interventions

Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15Kindergarten Age 10 Age 15

Hypothetical growth trajectories

Pre-school-based interventions Desired results

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

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.

Developmental Health atSchool Entry

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.

Development Health at School Entry

• 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

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)

What is the EDI?

• The EDI is teacher-completed checklist that assesses children’s developmental health when they enter school.

• In other words, it measures the outcomes of children’s 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.

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.

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 children’s future academic success than direct tests

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 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.

How the EDI works

The EDI assesses children’s developmental health when they enter school by looking at five key areas of child development:

1) Physical health and well-being

2-3) Maturity2) Emotional health and 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 IS USING IT?

Across Canada

Around the World

COMPLETING THE e-EDI

QUESTIONNAIRES

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

- Today!

- Today until XXXXX

- Today until XXXXX

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.

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

1) Additional Explanatory Notes / FAQ

2) EDI Guide3) ClassList from OCCS4) Local Class List5) e-EDI Instructions

You will receive an EDI package containing the following items:

(One per teacher)

(One per teacher)

(One per class)

(One per class)

(One per teacher)

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

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.

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

Before you Begin the e-EDI

1. Review the e-EDI questions 2. Get your login and password. 3. Have your class lists available. 4. Ensure that all the children in your class(es)

have a local ID and are included on your list. 5. Review any background materials6. If applicable, list student’s whose

parent’s/guardians have declined permission7. Good luck and thank-you!

Accessing the e-EDI

In your Internet browser type in:

www.e-edi.ca

Signing In

Teacher’s email here

The initial password is the Teacher’s EDI ID

Ensure that ENGLISH is

chosen

Teacher Menu

YOU ARE NOW READY TO TACKLE THE

QUESTIONNAIRES!

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.

EDI Questionnaires

Class List

AM Class

PM Class

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#.

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.

Enter into the Questionnaire

Child Demographic Page

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

IMPORTANT!!Q 7 - Special Needs – Cannot be left blank

Q 9 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.

IMPORTANT!!

Q 14 Student Status – cannot be left blank • Child must be currently in your class

• If the child has: – been in class for less than one month– moved out of class– moved out of school– other– is a “registered non-attender”

…Indicate this and DO NOT COMPLETE ANY FURTHER!

IMPORTANT!!

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

Remainder of theEDI Questionnaire

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

Section B

• Answer these questions to the best of your knowledge. Use data from the students file if available. If you do not know the answer to the question please indicate ‘Don’t Know’.

• Once completed, click Check for Completeness

Section E

Finishing and Checking

SECTION E

Go back to incomplete sections and fill in any answers you missed

You are done!Click here

If the system tells you…

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.

Adding a student

Type child’s

Local IDClick Add Student

Remember to add all of the student’s information on the Student Demographic screen

Done?

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

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.

Privacy and Confidentiality

• All information collected is kept completely confidential and used for statistical purposes only

• NO CHILD OR TEACHER IS EVER IDENTIFIED IN OUR REPORTING

YOUR SCHOOL’S EDI CONTACT

QUESTIONS?