Pan-Canadian EDI Approach
Across Canada, 25% of children start kindergarten without the skills they need to succeed in school. Yet from region to region the numbers of children who are not ready for school vary dramatically. Understanding how Canadian children are doing is the first step towards ensuring they develop to their fullest potential, and a Pan-Canadian approach to using the EDI in Canada furthers this understanding and strengthens our national platform of action in early childhood development.
The EDI is collected in many Canadian jurisdictions, including: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Quebec, and the Yukon. The newly established Pan-Canadian EDI Working Group includes representatives from the Offord Centre for Child Studies (developers of the EDI) and from many of the jurisdictions collecting the EDI, including Manitoba.
One of the initial activities of the EDI Working Group was to coordinate the first ever Pan-Canadian EDI conference, which was held from November 16 – 18, 2009, in Winnipeg.
Pan-Canadian EDI conference
Child development, education and health experts from across the country gathered in Winnipeg for The Early Development Imperative: A Pan-Canadian Conference on Population Level Measurement of Children’s Development. This conference celebrated ten years of the EDI, a population level measurement of children’s development co-authored by the late Dan Offord and Magdalena Janus, and now used across the country and internationally. The event featured presentations by world-renowned early child development experts Clyde Hertzman, Fraser Mustard, Rob Santos, Magdalena Janus and Australian child development expert, Sally Brinkman; and included sessions on a wide range of topics related to early child development and school readiness.
One of the main goals of the conference was to increase awareness and understanding of the link between experiences in the early years and how children fare later on, in school and as adults. Understanding how Canadian children are doing is the first step towards ensuring they develop to their fullest potential, and the ground breaking launch of the Pan-Canadian mapping project will continue to further this understanding and strengthen our national platform of action in early childhood development. To view Manitoba’s presentations at the Pan-Canadian EDI conference, please download the following:
EDI in Manitoba: Evidence-based Decision Making
EDI in Manitoba: Knowledge Exchange
What does the Early Development Instrument tell us about academic
achievement and socio-emotional development in Grade 3?
Working in Rural Communities with Population Level Data
Understanding the Early Years, A South Eastman Experience
EDI: From Data to Action in Manitoba
EDI: Data to Action Presentation
Bookmates Programs and the EDI
Wolseley Family Place Playroom: Creative and Innovative Child Development
Families First Universal Screening in Manitoba