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. Developmental Health
• 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
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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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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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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Developmental Health atSchool Entry

• 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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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

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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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(No Transcript)
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What is the EDI?

• The EDI is teacher-completed checklist that
  assesses childrens developmental health 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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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).

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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 developmental health
  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

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Around the World
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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

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 materials
6. If applicable, list students whose
   parents/guardians have declined permission
7. 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

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IMPORTANT!!

• 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.

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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!

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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

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

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Section B
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Section E

• 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 Dont Know.
• Once completed, click Check for Completeness

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Finishing and Checking
SECTION E
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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
• NO CHILD OR TEACHER IS EVER IDENTIFIED IN OUR
  REPORTING

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YOUR SCHOOLS EDI CONTACT
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QUESTIONS?