Breaking Down the 2016 EDI Results

Last issue we shared the Provincial Results of the 2016 EDI Data Collection Process. To recap, this data reveals that a higher percentage of young children in Alberta are developmentally vulnerable (29.4%) when compared to the Canadian norm (25.4%). Approximately three quarters of young children are developing on track in the areas of Physical Health and Well-being, Social Competence, Emotional Maturity and Language and Cognitive Development. Communication and General Knowledge was the developmental area with the smallest percentage of children developmentally on track (68.2%) and the highest vulnerability. In order to better understand this data, we will break down what kind of skills were observed for data collection purposes.

Physical Health and Well-Being looks primarily at gross and fine motor skills, energy levels for activities, independence in looking after own needs, and daily living skills.

Social Competence examines a sense of curiosity, the eagerness to try new experiences, the ability of a to control their own behaviour, respect, cooperation, following rules, and ability to play and work with other children.

Emotional Maturity includes the ability to think before acting, control impulses, deal with feelings at an age-appropriate level, and demonstrate empathy for other people’s feelings.

Language and Cognitive Development assesses early writing skills, reading awareness, age-appropriate literacy and numeracy skills, ability to understand similarities and differences, and memory.

Communication and General Knowledge checks on skills required to communicate needs and wants in socially appropriate ways, use language symbolically, tell stories, and exhibit age-appropriate knowledge about each child’s life and surrounding world.

In addition to seeing how the Albertan data snapshot fits into the wider Canadian picture, we also have the data for Calgarian Kindergartners in the 2016 cohort. Here’s the comparison: