What is the Early Development Instrument (EDI)?

The EDI is a teacher-completed checklist that measures kindergarten children’s (4 and 5-year-olds) readiness to learn at school in five domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge. A teacher uses his/her observations after several months of classroom/school interaction with the child to complete the questionnaire.

The EDI was developed by Drs. Offord and Janus at McMaster University. It is largely based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), and other existing tests. In 1998/99 it was tested with over 16,000 students nation-wide. The EDI has been implemented in a number of communities: Ottawa and Toronto, ON; Woodstock, NB; Baffin Island, Nunavut.

How will the EDI be used?

The instrument is a group level measure. This means that even though teachers complete the questionnaire for each child, the data can only be interpreted at the group level, i.e. for whole classrooms, all boys or girls, all children from an ESL background. It cannot be used as a diagnostic tool.

Any information collected will be kept confidential and used for statistical purposes only.

Why is the EDI important?

The EDI will allow us to look backwards by profiling the early development of children in our community. The EDI will also allow us to look forward by profiling the readiness of children to learn at school.

	The purpose of the instrument is to report on populations of children in different communities. It is intended to help communities assess how well they are doing in supporting young children and their families and assist in monitoring changes.
	Finally, the EDI can assist community agencies and schools with resource planning.