Early Development Instrument Project
Assessing early child development within a community.
UPDATE: The EDI Project at Erikson has sunset and will no longer doing data collection (read full announcement). Communities that have participated in the project and are interested in continuing EDI data collection can contact the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities.
You can download and read Erikson’s full announcement
Community Factors Influencing How Children are Prepared to Learn for Kindergarten
The Early Development Instrument (EDI) Project is a neighborhood-level population measure administered in kindergarten that gauges the development of young children within the context of their community.
Erikson has completed the pilot phase and this groundbreaking tool is now available for communities. This project, the first of its kind in Illinois, extends our commitment to improving the lives of young children by illuminating opportunities for community-driven policy recommendations.
What is the Early Development Instrument?
An Early Childhood Research Tool
The Early Development Instrument is a validated and reliable research tool created in Canada that has been used internationally for more than two decades.
A Child Development Survey
The survey, delivered by kindergarten teachers and typically administered every three years, measures ability of a child to meet age-appropriate developmental expectations.
Aggregated and Reported Data
Results for individual children are never reported; data is aggregated and reported at the neighborhood level, providing a precise and holistic snapshot of a child’s development in the context of their community.
Watch and Listen to the EDI Project Overview
A community-based data tool to measure child development
Our objective is to work with communities to secure data on how their young children are doing. We help build data literacy so that communities can contextualize the data, bringing it to life through community history and storytelling, and, ultimately, translating it into actionable strategies.
The EDI compels communities to look at the supports and resources currently available to young children prior to entering school and assess how to better support early child development in preparation for kindergarten and beyond.
Measuring Components of Child Development
Physical Health and Well-being
Social Competence
Emotional Development and Maturity
Language Skills and Cognitive Development
Communication Skills and General Knowledge
How Schools Can Benefit from Early Childhood Data
Schools can use this data to identify and learn from strengths in the community. It can help initiate targeted conversations on how to set children up for success before they start kindergarten, and where there are opportunities to focus additional support. The EDI data can also inform planning for future kindergarten students and address the needs of the current cohort of kindergarten children as they progress through school.
The EDI Program Promotes Community Support for Early Child Programs
- Align and strengthen early childhood systems
- Identify strengths and gaps in early childhood programs and services
- Tailor supports for young children entering school
- Complement existing student assessments
- Shift problem-solving from individual to community solutions
- Assess community impact of child development over time
How EDI Helps Community Leaders Affect Change for Children and Families
Educators and School Representatives
Results help identify the strengths and challenges of the children in their schools, leading to targeted interventions for those children. EDI data are used to predict academic outcomes up to fourth grade.
Parents and Community Leaders
The data instigates community conversations that inform advocacy action planning. EDI data also encourages equitable allocation of resources to address the needs of children and families.
Elected Officials and Policymakers
EDI data helps government plan equitable investments, inform policy, and evaluate program success over time. Maps built from the data can help focus investments and identify specific community needs.
EDI Implementation Across the Globe
How Erikson Supports Community Partners
Once we partner with a community, coalition, or school district, we provide support in many ways.
- Training, coaching, technical assistance, and resources to implement the EDI tool
- Funding for teacher stipends or substitute teachers to allow for administration of the EDI
- Data collection and analysis
- Capacity building around data literacy
- Community action plan development/refinement based on EDI results
- Advocacy coaching and support
Hear What Our EDI Partners Are Saying
Erikson’s EDI Project Details, Resources, and News
Locations
Year I
- Greater East St. Louis, Illinois
- City of Kankakee
- Village of Bradley
- Village of Bourbonnais
Year 2
Year 3
- Central Skokie/Morton Grove Neighborhoods
- City of Rockford
EDI Project News
- WATCH OUR EDI WEBINAR
- Community centers, coaching to play vital role in Rockford’s Ready to Learn
- Early childhood learning takes rank at Alignment Rockford
- Our View: Weigh in on early childhood challenges
- Oak Park educators are using new child development data
- Transform Rockford: Preparing the Entire Family for Success
- Big News: Early Development Instrument to pilot in Rockford
This initiative was generously funded by the
Connect with Erikson EDI & Policy Leaders Today
Ask a question, launch a project, or get involved in research into early childhood development.