Australian Early Development Index

 

The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) project is enabling communities around the country to assess how their children are doing in terms of early development and readiness for school learning. A unique online data entry system allows teachers to complete checklists on five areas of child development: physical health and wellbeing; social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills; and communication and general knowledge.

 

The AEDI project is a partnership between the Institute and the Centre for Community Child Health in Melbourne. It is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FACSIA) and Shell Australia.

From 2004 to 2007 the AEDI was completed in 60 Australian communities on 37,420 children in the first year of full-time school by 2,157 teachers from 1,012 government and non-government schools.

 

Each participating site ranges in geographical size and number of children, from single rural towns with small numbers of children to entire health services and local government regions.

 

The AEDI is based on the Canadian Early Development Indicator (EDI) which was adapted and validated for use in Australia.

 

Our research
Following the completion of three years of trialing the AEDI in selected Australian communities, the program was expanded in 2007 to invite participation across the nation. With Federal government support for the project, the AEDI will now be rolled-out to all communities to help identify those areas of child development where improvements can be made.

 

In 2007, we began adapting the AEDI for use in Indigenous populations. The project will determine the factors required for the AEDI to be inclusive of Aboriginal perspectives of children’s readiness to learn at school and for it to accurately measure the early development of Aboriginal children in the five developmental domains. This project is funded by FACSIA and Shell Australia from 2007 to 2009.

 

A partnership project with BHP Billiton Iron Ore as the foundation and principal sponsor saw the AEDI implemented in the Pilbara region, in collaboration with the Communities for Children Initiative of the West Pilbara Consortium, The Smith Family, Resource Unit for Children with Special Needs (RUCSN) and Chevron Australia. The project involved completion of the AEDI checklist to provide baseline data for the region and training and support to Pilbara communities to allow them to identify, plan and implement local programs to improve early child development. With 100 per cent participation, this was the first time a region of this extensive size had wholly participated in the AEDI.

 

We are also collaborating with researchers in Canada, where the Index was originally developed, to assist other countries to develop and implement an EDI. The Institute’s current involvement is with Indonesia, Jordan and the Philippines. In Indonesia we will assist in the evaluation of a World Bank early child development program in 5000 of the poorest communities in Indonesia, with the EDI being one of the proposed evaluation tools.

 

Further information about the AEDI can be found at the Australian Early Development Index website.