Understanding The Early Years Niagara College ECE Program  October 2007 Glory Ressler, B.A., Dip. GIT Coordinator, Understanding the Early Years Niagara Region Early Childhood Community Development Centre or The Understanding the Early Years initiative is funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada. For further information, visit:

AGENDA Overview of UEY Local Research Products and Activities Impacts to-date Discussion Evaluations

INTRODUCTION TO UEY Funder: HRSDC (36 sites across Canada) Sponsoring agency: ECCDC History: Niagara Falls from , Niagara Region from Community Coalition: Early Years Niagara Planning Council Partners: Region of Niagara, Ontario Early Years Centres, DSBN, NCDSB, various early years service providers, community groups, businesses and service clubs

PURPOSE OF UEY Promote awareness and understanding concerning the importance of the early years Examine the relationship between community factors and early learning and development outcomes in Niagara Report on local and national findings Support evidence-based decision making and planning in the community (capacity building)

UEY KNOWLEDGE GATHERING COMMUNITY ASSETS Community Resource Inventory Survey CHILD DEVELOPMENT, FAMILY & COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE Readiness to learn (EDI) Parent Interviews & Direct Assessments (NLSCY, PIDACS) COMMUNITY FACTORS Socioeconomic Conditions and Social Risk Index (Census) UEY Timeline 2001 EDI – UEY Niagara Falls 2002 National Longitudinal Study of Children & Youth (NLSCY) 2001 Census/Statistics Canada - UEY Niagara Falls, UEY Niagara Region 2002 EDI – UEY Niagara Falls/Ontario Early Years Niagara Region 2003 EDI – UEY Niagara Falls 2003 Community Resources Inventory Survey – Ontario Early Years Niagara Region/UEY Niagara Falls 2005 EDI - UEY Niagara Falls/Ontario Early Years Niagara Region 2005 NLSCY – UEY Niagara Falls 2006 EDI – UEY Niagara Region 2007 Community Resources Inventory Survey – UEY Niagara Region 2007 PIDACS – UEY Niagara Region

EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI) An important part of the picture for the community, as well as early years service providers and decision makers. Population-based measure, Developmentally grounded, and Links to community factors, literacy levels, school performance, health outcomes, and curriculum.

EDI CONT’D Measures ‘readiness to learn at school’ – which refers to 4-6 year olds’ ability to meet task demands, such as: Being comfortable exploring and asking questions, Listening to the teacher, Playing and working with other children, Remembering and following rules, and Benefiting from the educational activities provided.

EDI CONT’D SK teacher recorded measure on five domains of early child development: Physical Health & Well-being, Social Competence, Emotional Maturity, Language & Cognitive Development, Communication Skills & General Knowledge.

EDI ANALYSIS There are inequalities in outcomes Data at the domain, sub-domain and neighbourhood levels reveals more information Vulnerability measures have strongest predictive value re: future success in education, employment and well-being Largest %s of children with vulnerabilities found among low income families Largest #s of children with vulnerabilities found among middle/upper income families Good predictor of grade 1 achievement, accounting for 33.8% of variance Small changes for large proportions of the population will have most impact

LOCAL EDI RESULTS In early 2006, Senior Kindergarten teachers from across the Niagara Region and both School Boards implemented the EDI with over 3,000 Niagara students. What follows are some of the results…

We scored significantly higher than the national averages on all five of the school readiness to learn domains in 2006!

77% of SK children in 2006 were on track for learning in school!

National Average = 26%

COMMUNITY CONDITIONS Low income, lone parenting and education level of parents are factors that seem to increase vulnerability scores on the EDI Access to resources also seems to impact early development and readiness to learn in school

UEY PRODUCTS / ACTIVITIES Maps & Mapping Studies, EDI Reports, Community Studies Community Updates, School Board Reports, Parent Brochures Research Communiques, Articles, Specific Requested Reports Custom Presentations, Workshops, Community Forums, Conference Session, and Event Displays Website where all of the above can be downloaded (

UEY IMPACTS TO DATE Professional development sessions provided School Board and service delivery planning influenced Regional and neighbourhood needs identified and used in community plans New programs developed, existing revised New resources allocated, existing re-allocated Successful proposals, grants, and reports written Research, event, training, and product development partnerships formed Community action inspired Resources provided to parents and early years professionals Local and national knowledge enhanced

DISCUSSION Do you anticipate being able to use the local data and knowledge in your practice with young children? How might ECE’s, JK/SK/Resource teachers and other early years professionals use the data to improve programs and services? Please complete an evaluation. Thank you for your time and attention! ~ Glory