Frequently Asked Questions
Click on a question below to view the corresponding answer.
How many children will be included in the data collection?
Is the EDI a valid measurement tool?
Does the EDI measure the effectiveness of kindergarten classrooms?
What are the 5 major areas of early childhood development?
What is ‘readiness for school’?
Why is readiness for school important?
Are EDI scores available for individual children?
Who should I contact if I would like to discuss my child's development?
What can parents and caregivers do to support children's early development?
How will this information be used to improve outcomes of young children?
Who do I contact if I have questions or concerns about this project?
Why is the EDI important?
Developed by Drs. Magdalena Janus and Dan Offord at the Offord Center for Child Studies, McMaster University, with support of a national advisory committee, the EDI is a questionnaire that measures either junior or senior kindergarten children’s ‘readiness for school’.
School readiness is the child’s ability to meet the task demands at school and the child’s ability to benefit from the educational activities provided by the school.
School readiness to learn is measured across several areas of child development, including:
- Physical health and well-being
- Social competence
- Emotional maturity
- Language and thinking skills
- Communication skills and general knowledge
To know how to best support healthy child development, we need to know how children are doing right now. The EDI provides information for groups of children in order to:
- Report on areas of strength and deficit for populations of children.
- Monitor populations of children over time.
- Predict how children will do in elementary school.
EDI results assist communities in planning for the services and programs children need in order to learn and enjoy their school experience.
How is the EDI collected?
Kindergarten teachers complete the EDI questionnaire for all children in their classroom. EDI results can only be presented for groups of children; the EDI is never used to assess the development of individual children
How many children will be included in the data collection?
In year one (2012) Kindergarten teachers in 24 EPISD schools are scheduled to complete the EDI and then the remaining 33 schools in year two (2013). Additionally 18 (all) schools in SISD will go in year one, with the 33 schools in YISD going in year two. At this time, we do not have the number of how many surveys that would total for either year. After year one data is returned, we will have more information to share in October/ November.
Is the EDI a valid measurement tool?
Yes, the EDI has undergone extensive testing and is a valid and reliable measurement tool.
What does the EDI measure?
The EDI measures children’s overall development from birth until kindergarten entry (and its impact on children’s readiness for school) in five key areas of development, as identified by research on early child development.
Does the EDI measure the effectiveness of kindergarten classrooms?
No, the EDI is not designed to measure the effect of kindergarten on children’s learning, school performance or teacher ability. Rather, the EDI measures children’s early development, which has primarily occurred prior to children entering kindergarten.
What are the 5 major areas of early childhood development assesed by the EDI?
School readiness to learn is measured across several areas of child development, including:
- Physical health and well-being
- Social competence
- Emotional maturity
- Language and thinking skills
- Communication skills and general knowledge
What is ‘readiness for school’?
Readiness for school’ refers to, “the child’s ability to meet the task demands of school such as comfort in exploring and asking questions, playing and working with other children, listening to the teacher, and benefiting from educational activities that are provided by the school” (Offord Centre for Child Studies).
Children are considered “ready for school” when they have developed certain skills and behaviors, such as being able to understand and follow instructions, to communicate and get along well with others, and having basic literacy skills.
Children’s readiness for school is assessed based on the skills and abilities children have learned from birth until they reach kindergarten. Readiness for school is based on years of cumulative early childhood development, beginning at birth.
Why is readiness for school important?
Readiness for school is important because children who arrive at school ready tend to benefit more from and face fewer challenges in a school environment. When children are not ready for school, they may experience greater challenges adapting to, participating in, and benefiting from their new learning environment.
By measuring readiness for school at the group level, the EDI enables community members, educators, and researchers to better understand the strengths and needs in a community, and to identify the types of supports that are needed for families with young children.
Are EDI scores available for individual children?
No, EDI scores are not available for individual children and the EDI is not designed to assess, screen, or diagnose individual children. The EDI is designed to examine children’s early development at the population level (i.e., groups of children), and results are never produced for groups with fewer than 10 children.
While EDI scores are not available for individual children, you may wish to discuss your child’s overall development with his or her teacher. If you are interested in learning more about the EDI results for Regina, public meetings will be held to share EDI results with community members. As well, a Community Mapping Report and Community Action Plan will be available in fall 2011.
Who should I contact if I would like to discuss my child’s development?
If your child is enrolled in school, you are encouraged to speak with your child’s teacher about his or her development.
If your child is not yet in school, you are encouraged speak to your child’s physician or to visit a child health clinic. At a child health clinic, a public health nurse will check your child's growth and development and provide counseling and immunization.
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What can parents and caregivers do to support children’s early development?
It is important to note that children are unique, and learn and grow in different ways. There is not a ‘strict’ timeline that can be applied to children’s development. Research does, however, point to key elements that parents and caregivers can use to support their young child’s early development:
- Remember that babies begin learning at birth. Each time a parent or caregiver provides loving interaction, he or she is helping his or her baby learn about things such as how to communicate with others or how the world around him or her works. Research shows that when caregivers respond to a baby’s expressions and needs, babies develop a sense of trust and security that enables them to thrive.
- Talk to your baby beginning at birth. Babies brains are ‘wired’ to learn language from the time they are born.
- Provide opportunities for play and exploration. Research shows that babies and young children learn best through play.
- Provide safe, stable, secure, predictable, and engaging environments for children, wherever they are.
- Provide a daily routine, healthy food, and plenty of opportunities for exercise and time outdoors.
- Establish rules and boundaries for children, and ensure that children understand and follow rules and limits.
- Read aloud to your child everyday.
- Really talk to your child - listening to children’s thoughts, answering their questions thoughtfully, and sharing stories encourages children’s development by helping them feel loved, valued, and confident while they learn.
- Introduce basic concepts (such as counting) and letters of the alphabet to children as they play, or while you read to them.
- Provide opportunities for children to play and interact with other children—this helps children develop their social skills.
- Provide opportunities for children, such as running, jumping, drawing, writing, etc., to develop and practice their gross and fine motor skills.
- Teach your child how to share, to take turns, to co-operate, to express himself or herself effectively, to say sorry, and how to get along with others.
- Encourage your child to feel positive about school and about learning, while ensuring that he or she does not feel pressured.
- Encourage children to try new things and to learn new things. Remember to offer praise, and to let children know how much you love them!
How will this information be used to improve outcomes of young children?
Once the data from year one is received, a primary outcome of the EDI will drive a project in the development of a community-driven action plan, informed by research, collection of local data, and broad community involvement. The community action plan will commence in the fall of 2012 and be released in the spring of 2013. Planning will take place throughout the spring and summer to be able to use local results that will contribute to better-informed planning and program development within schools, school districts and the greater community.
The El Paso Community Action Plan will be child-centered and will consider the interdependencies between parenting, family circumstances, neighborhood context, cohesion and conditions, and the state and quality of early childhood development.
There will be widespread community involvement in the El Paso County project. Some of the key partners include:
- Parents
- El Paso Early Childhood Network (after it is formed)
- United Way of El Paso County
- EPISD
- SISD
- The Northeast Coalition for Positive Youth Initiatives Community Associations
- City of El Paso
- Fort Bliss
In October, November, and December of next year, community meetings will be held in local schools, community centers, and libraries. The project will present the results of the study and \will ask community members to offer their reflection, ideas and concerns.
For more information regarding dates, times and locations of the upcoming community meetings, please visit this website: www. unitedwayelpaso.org/edi.html or call (915) 533-2434 x 232
What will take place?
Kindergarten teachers throughout the district (24 schools this year and the rest in 2013) are asked to complete a questionnaire called the Early Development Instrument (EDI) on each child in his/her class to describe key areas of development such as physical, emotional, language and cognitive development. To complete the EDI questionnaire, kindergarten teachers observe children in their classrooms during normal class activities and then fill out the EDI questionnaire outside of class time. There is a short, thirty minute training/orientation for teachers that can be facilitated at your school to explain the format and timeline of administration. The EDIs take about 10 minutes to complete per child. There is teacher compensation plan included for completion and participation.
What about confidentiality?
Children’s names do not appear on the EDI questionnaires. Results of the project will not be shared about individual children. Instead, results will only be shared about groups of children. The results will not be part of their academic records, or displayed as individuals, only as groups within neighborhoods, shown on maps and in visual charts.
Information from the EDI questionnaires will be sent to UCLA’s Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, who will analyze the results. These results will be shared with your school district and other local leaders in your community. Results will also be shared with the publisher of the EDI at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University.
There are no risks involved with this project. Although there will be no direct benefit to the individual child, this information will be used to help improve developmental services for young children in the participating schools in three school districts of our community. The information will be useful in classroom, school and district planning, grant writing for your school or district and will provide helpful information on neighborhood vulnerabilities.
Who do I contact if I have questions or concerns about this project?
If you have questions or would like to request that Gail Gale, the EDI Coordinator for El Paso and or Sandy Garza, the EDI-District Coordinator for this project to come to your school to speak with you and your staff, please contact us at the number listed below. For your convenience, there is a weblink that has attachments that can be downloaded to view the actual EDI, see a community results profile from Wichita Falls completed last year, and other helpful materials that explain the timeline and the process in greater detail.
That website address is: www.unitedwayelpaso.org/edi.html The decision whether or not to participate is voluntary, but we hope all schools/classrooms will participate. For questions or concerns please contact:
For more information about the Early Development Instrument please contact:
Gail Gale
915.533.2434
ggale@unitedwayelpaso.org
