+ WHAT IS THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT?

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is an internationally recognized questionnaire that measures five domains of early child development that are known to be good predictors of adult health, education and social outcomes: Through these domains, the EDI provides a citywide lens for childhood development that helps us better understand where our children are on track, as well as where they are vulnerable.

In Washington, DC, the tool uncovers the proportion of our 4-year-old children who are vulnerable in any of the measured domains by presenting a snapshot of data at the neighborhood cluster level. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), in partnership with the Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities at UCLA, began partnering with schools and pre-K teachers across the District in 2016 to collect data on more than 4,600 students in 116 DC schools and community-based organizations. The EDI is collected every three years to give high-level trends, and the next collection will be during the 2018-2019 school year.

+ What does the EDI Collection entail?

Teachers complete observational assessments of pre-kindergarten 4-year-old students to measure how they fared in each domain, as well as in 16 subdomains – rolling up to a powerful population-level look at our city’s efforts for young children. We need your voluntary participation to ensure the best data to change outcomes for the District’s young children.

Schools and CBOs can incorporate the EDI collection into professional development schedules. The teacher training is 1.5 hours, and the EDI takes about 15 minutes per child to complete. A teacher can receive the training and assess 20 children in seven to eight hours. After completing the assessments, teachers may receive a brief survey asking for feedback on their experience using the EDI.

+ What are the benefits of participating?

Schools and CBOs (with at least 10 valid student records) will receive a school report, showing an aggregated look at children’s outcomes. Resources designed for school leaders can help your school or CBO use the results to:

• Shine a spotlight on your neighborhood to better partner with your community
• Spark discussions when used in tandem with other data sources
• Serve as a common lens for investment in children in the District
• Plan for harnessing change around the domains alongside families and staff

“At AppleTree, the EDI has been beneficial for us to understand how our student population fits in the broader education landscape. Elementary schools can also utilize the data to understand the students they are preparing to serve. As we consider the movement of students between CBOs and schools, this gives us a shared lens to engage in this conversation together.” – Rebecca Kimport, Director of Professional Development and Data Accountability, AppleTree Early Learning Public Charter Schools

+ How is the EDI driving change?

The EDI results challenge leaders across the District to further understand the role of place, neighborhoods, and supports for DC’s youngest children and their families. OSSE and Raise DC launched Our Children, Our Community, Our Change, a citywide engagement campaign that promotes community conversations around the EDI and provides tools and next steps for interested community members to apply this data to drive action. To see the original EDI maps, outcome data, and suite of resources, visit the Our Children, Our Community, Our Change homepage.

The EDI data is unique as it:

• Provides a geographic (rather than school-based) look at children’s development
• Points to the need for earlier, comprehensive services; schools are a key partner
• Shows a clear picture of readiness among the District’s four-year-olds in all eight wards

Stakeholders (including coalitions, philanthropies, government agencies, nonprofits, and schools) have used the EDI to:

• Host conversations with community partners to better address the developmental needs of our youngest learners before they reach pre-K
• Inspire focused, place-based projects that incorporate health, family, and educational supports
• Advocate for interventions that focus on equitable outcomes across neighborhood clusters