Understanding the Early Years - Early Childhood Development in North York - May 2001

1. Introduction

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There is increasing evidence to support the importance of investing in the early years of children's development. New research shows that these formative years are critical. The kind of nurturing and stimulation that children receive in their early years can have a major impact on the rest of their lives.

The citizens of the former city of North York recognized the importance of this period in a child's life and, under the leadership of the Early Years Action Group (EYAG), took up the challenge to better understand how their children aged six years and under were developing, and how the community could better focus its resources to nurture the development of children in this age range. The EYAG is a broad-based coalition of individuals and organizations committed to meeting the needs of children in their early years.

Understanding the Early Years is a national initiative that provides research information to help strengthen the capacity of communities to make informed decisions about the best policies and most appropriate programs to serve families with young children. It seeks to provide information about the influence of community factors on children's development and to enhance community capacity to use this data to monitor both early childhood development and to create effective community-based responses.

Their goal is to ensure all children in the community are ready to learn when they start school.

Concurrently, the Understanding the Early Years (UEY) initiative was being developed by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). Together, the community and HRDC were successful in implementing the UEY research program in North York, which gathered information about children's early years from many members of the community. This report delivers the research results to the community.¹

More specifically

A. We talked to teachers — the Early Development Instrument

With the support of the Toronto District School Board, teachers of all kindergarten children attending English-language public schools in the community were asked to complete the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a short checklist about the behaviours and development of each child in their class. This information was used to assess how ready the community's children, as a whole, were for school.

B. We talked to parents and guardians — the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Community Study

In order to get more detailed information about the experiences of children and families in the community, a random sample of children was selected to participate in the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The sample was selected from all of the children in the school district. Children completed assessments which asked them to draw, count, and identify pictures and shapes. Their families provided Statistics Canada with information about their social and economic backgrounds, their children's activities and involvement in the community, and their health, their social, emotional and behavioural development.

C. We talked to community agencies — the Community Mapping Study

Finally, the Community Mapping Study (CMS) was implemented to give the community a picture of the distribution and scope of programs and services being provided to the families in the area. It includes information about the physical conditions of the neighbourhoods (e.g., volume of traffic, lighting), the kinds of resources that were available for children aged zero to six years old and their families (at the time the study was completed) and where they were located, the demand for existing services and the perceptions of service providers.² The data were geographically mapped to provide the community with information about how and where its resources are distributed. The maps give a visual representation of North York's resources, socio-economic and physical environments relative to the distribution of families with children.

This report highlights some of the key findings from the information that was collected from teachers, parents and children. It examines the overall development of children in senior kindergarten (through the EDI) and provides a more detailed look at the outcomes of a selected group of these children (through the NLSCY). It suggests some of the unique strengths the community can work from — and some challenges to meet — in continuing to build a collective commitment to ensure the health, well being, and positive development of their children.

• ¹All data were collected in the spring and summer of 1999.
• ²Detailed results of the CMS are available in Connor, S., Norris, C., and McLean, S. (2001). Community Research in Child Development: Results of the Community Mapping Study in North York.

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