Early Development Instrument (EDI) 2003 to 2023 Results

Measuring the developmental wellbeing of kindergarten children for 20 years

Experiences during the first six years of life have far reaching impacts on children’s health and resiliency across the life course.

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a population-based tool that measures kindergarten children’s ability to meet developmental expectations in five key domains. Children are considered vulnerable if, without additional support, they are more likely to experience challenges upon entering school, and in the future.

The EDI is a key source of early years data in Halton, and is used by local government, school boards, non-profit organizations and community groups to promote early childhood development and plan how to better support the development of community resources so all children thrive.

The EDI assesses children’s ability to meet age-appropriate expectations in five domains: Physical Health & Well-Being, Social Competence, Emotional Maturity, Language and Cognitive Development, and Communication Skills and General Knowledge. Each domain consists of sub-domains that explore children’s developmental skills in detail. There are 16 sub-domains in total.