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Welcome to the Fall 2016 EDI Newsletter

The Early Development Instrument team is proud to share a new story on the EDI being used internationally in this edition of the newsletter.

We travel to the Kyrgyz Republic to learn how the EDI is helping measure the effectiveness of the ambitious Kyrgyz Early Education Project.

This edition also features exciting news from our friends at the Human Early Learning Partnership, EDI stories in the media, the latest EDI publications, and a chance to help the EDI video win a CIHR awards competition.

EDI video finalist for CIHR award

The EDI and the Early Years video is one of 14 finalists for a Canada-wide CIHR awards competition. One part of the competition is a public vote. We would love it if you could click the link below and "like" the video by pressing the thumbs up button. The deadline for voting is November 30, 2016 at 5:00 pm EST

EDI and the Early Years
EDI and the Early Years video

HELP releases BC 2016 Provincial Report

Our colleagues at the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) released EDI BC: 2016 Provincial Report, in a dynamic, interactive format. The report features the trends from over 10 years of data collection. The report is also available in a PDF print version. HELP also released community profiles for the Wave 6 EDI collection, which include maps and over time results.

KEEP uses EDI in the Kyrgyz Republic

The Kyrgyz Republic is restructuring their pre-primary education under a plan called the Kyrgyz Early Education Project (KEEP). The project intends to increase preschool delivery to improve children’s developmental outcomes and future success. Although the Kyrgyz Republic scored poorly among nations that participated in the 2006 and 2009 rounds of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), children who attended kindergarten did better than those who did not. With kindergarten as a major focus, KEEP planned to increase teaching time from 240 hours a year to 480 hours and expand community-based kindergartens.
 
One of the ways chosen to track the effectiveness of the project was with the Early Development Instrument.   
 
Before using the EDI for program evaluation, the EDI required adaptation and pilot testing.
 
The EDI adaptation process involved translating the questionnaire into Kyrgyz and Russian, making the Kyrgyz Republic the only country outside of Canada with the EDI translated into two languages. This occurred in March 2014 and allowed pilot implementations starting in May 2014 to establish the EDI’s validity.
 
Two pilot tests occurred before a baseline collection. The Offord Centre for Child Studies implemented these collections with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic and the National Testing Centre.       
 
The goal of the pilot implementations was to assess the appropriateness of the EDI in the Kyrgyz Republic. The initial pilot collected EDI data on 656 children and demonstrated the feasibility of the EDI in the Kyrgyz Republic. The results followed similar patterns as data from Canada and other countries. Much like in other countries, girls did better than boys, and older children did better than younger children.  

 

A second pilot study occurred in November/December 2015. The collection included 3,156 students and 116 teachers who would be part of the initial baseline collection in April 2016. The pre-baseline implementation offered an opportunity to further refine training and quality control processes with the feedback from the National Testing Centre and teachers.   
 
Once again the larger collection confirmed the appropriateness of using the EDI in the Kyrgyz Republic, with the results following similar patterns to those in Canada and other countries.   
 
The third phase of the EDI implementation was a collection of baseline data. Its goal was to set baseline score distribution patterns to allow researchers to assess changes in future samples, much as it is done in other jurisdictions where the EDI is used. A total of 2,954 children were a part of the baseline collection.  
 
The results of the baseline implementation are currently being analyzed.    

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EDI in the News
$800,000 grant supports EDI in Illinois
The Erikson Institute has a pilot project using the EDI in Illinois communities. The project is supported by an $800,000 grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation
CBC showcases EDI results
CBC has published articles online highlighting EDI results from the latest collection in Ottawa, Hamilton, and BC.
Success before and beyond the school years
The Community Foundation of Ottawa used the EDI as one of three indicators of success beyond the school years. The report was featured in the Ottawa Citizen.
EDI results featured in Maclean's
Maclean's magazine used EDI results to show that even in the wealthiest parts of Canada, money doesn't necessarily buy happiness. The article describes an affluent Vancouver neighbourhood and explains that despite these advantages they still have high EDI vulnerability.
Tulsa Risk to Ready report
CAP Tulsa and its school partners used the EDI to measure school readiness in Oklahoma kindergarten classes. The results are mapped and allow users to create custom neighbourhood reports.
Divided City report features EDI
Divided City, a new report on the state of poverty in Toronto, uses the EDI as one measure of how poverty negatively affects children. The report was discussed in the Toronto Star, CBC, and Global News.
Herald Sun promotes AEDC research
Research based on Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) results was showcased in Australia's Herald Sun. The research found children who attend preschool have higher literacy and numeracy scores and are more socially and emotionally mature than those who don’t.
Latest EDI Publications
Bell, M. F., Bayliss, D. M., Glauert, R., Harrison, A., & Ohan, J. L. (2016). Chronic illness and developmental vulnerability at school entry. Pediatrics, 137, 1-9. 

Bentley, J. P., Roberts, C. L., Bowen, J. R., Martin, A. J., Morris, J. M., Nassar, N. (2016). Planned birth before 39 weeks and child development: A population-based study. Pediatrics, 138.

Goldfeld, S., Kvalsvig, A., Incledon, E., O’Connor, M. (2016). Epidemiology of positive mental health in a national census of children at school entry. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 0, 1-7.

Janus, M., & Reid-Westoby, C. (2016). Monitoring the development of all children: The Early Development Instrument. In: Moreno, T (Ed.), Early Childhood Matters, (pp. 40-45), The Hague, Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation.

Kariuki, M., Raudino, A., Green, M. J., Laurens, K. R., Dean, K., Brinkman, S. A.,... & Carr, V. J. (2016). Hospital admission for infection during early childhood influences developmental vulnerabilities at age 5 years. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 52, 882-888.

Lain, S. J., Bentley, J. P., Wiley, V., Roberts, C. L., Jack, M., Wilcken, B., & Nassar, N. (2016). Association between borderline neonatal thyroid-stimulating hormone concentrations and educational and developmental outcomes: A population-based record-linkage study. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology,4, 756-765.

O’Leary, J. D., Janus, M., Duku, E., Wijeysundera, D. N., To, T., Ping, L.,… & Crawford, M. W. (2016). A population-based study evaluating the association between surgery in early life and child development at primary school entry. Anesthesiology, 125, 272-279.
(See also the editorial addressing the implications of this study)
Copyright © 2016 Offord Centre for Child Studies, All rights reserved.


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