A Measurement of School Readiness
CAP Tulsa puts great value on data-driven decision making. And we are committed to participating in and building successful coalitions. We also know that quality early learning needs to be followed with quality elementary school environments and experiences. These values come together in Innovation Lab’s work on the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The EDI is a population measure of school readiness. It collects information from all children entering kindergarten in specific geographic areas and then creates an overall snapshot of their developmental progress. The EDI does not label or identify individual children. Instead, it assesses our systems that support children. The EDI provides local leaders with the information they need to plan how to improve programs and support systems and better coordinate services to help children develop and learn before and during their school years.
The EDI provides information about children in five developmental areas that are known to affect well-being and school performance:
- Physical health and well-being
- Social competence
- Emotional maturity
- Language and cognitive skills
- Communication skills and general knowledge
Data on these domains are collected from Tulsa, Union and Sand Springs public school kindergarten teachers and combined with other health, economic, and related data to generate maps that show community needs and service gaps on a highly local basis. With the help of the Tulsa Area United Way, we are developing a strategy for sharing results and creating community-driven solutions and action plans. As the tool is population based, it gives communities the ability to analyze and improve services and allows communities and schools to take greater ownership of early childhood issues and outcomes.
The EDI data will be used on an ongoing basis to engage parents, educators, and service providers in discussing and addressing the needs of the neighborhoods and the community as a whole, including the development of new neighborhood revitalization projects, targeting of early education recruitment to neighborhoods with high vulnerability levels and evaluating future classroom improvements.
The role of the EDI data is to inform schools, parents, service providers, and community leaders about the needs facing young children in target areas, and serve as a catalyst for bringing together individuals, organizations and community leaders working to improve school readiness and create better environments for our children.
This fact sheet, prepared by the national EDI team, describes the EDI instrument, how it was designed and how to understand EDI results.
This report is the summary of 2011 EDI results for Tulsa, showing overall and neighborhood indications of child vulnerability and readiness.
Tulsa EDI School Status 2012-13
This map shows which schools have participated in the EDI over the 3-year pilot period from 2011 to 2013.
This comprehensive report includes detailed 2011 Tulsa EDI results for all neighborhoods as well as maps comparing EDI results to indicators of economic stress.
This fact sheet, prepared by the national EDI team, describes how communities can use the EDI to develop better systems and supports for young children.
Tulsa EDI Statistical Analysis
This report describes how Tulsa’s 2011 EDI results varied by children’s race, income, and early learning experiences.
EDI Summary of Reliability and Validity
This fact sheet from the national EDI team describes research on the EDI’s reliability (does it get consistent results?), its validity (does it measure what it claims to measure?) and its predictive validity (does it predict outcomes for populations of children in later grades?).
Project overview.