What is Understanding the Early Years (UEY)?

Understanding the Early Years (UEY) is a national research initiative that provides communities with information to help them better understand the needs of their young children and families.

What is UEY's Goal?

To provide members of participating communities with quality information on the readiness to learn of their kindergarten children; to identify family and community factors that influence children's development; and to identify the availability of local resources to support young children and their families.

Where are other UEY sites?

UEY began as a pilot project in North York, Ontario in 1999, and quickly expanded to include 11 additional pilot sites.

UEY pilots across the Atlantic Provinces were located in Hampton, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Southwestern Newfoundland. In the fall of 2005, the Government of Canada announced an expansion of twenty-one new UEY communities including:

British Columbia

• UEY Greater Victoria
• UEY Mission
• UEY Okanagan Similkameen
• UEY Sunshine Coast
• UEY Campbell River
• UEY North Shore (North and West Vancouver)

Québec

• UEY Pointe-de-l’Île de Montréal
• UEY Yaldei

New Brunswick

• UEY Greater Saint John

Nova Scotia

• UEY Halifax
• UEY Cumberland County
• UEY Western Nova Scotia

Saskatchewan

• UEY Northeast Saskatchewan

Manitoba

• UEY Lorette (Division scolaire franco-manitobaine)

Ontario

• UEY Niagara Region
• UEY Ottawa
• UEY Northern Region of Ont
• UEY Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County
• UEY Lower Hamilton
• UEY Milton
• UEY Northumberland County

What Are the Research Components?

The UEY Initiative gathers various information related to children’s development, family factors influencing development and community programs and services available to support families and their children.

Early Development Instrument (EDI) – This is a population–level checklist that assesses children’s:

• physical health and well-being
• social competence
• emotional health and maturity
• language and cognitive development
• communication skills and general knowledge

The EDI is completed by kindergarten/primary teachers after several months of observing the kindergarten/primary children in their classroom. It is not intended for individual assessment but is used to gather information on the “school readiness” of a cohort (group) of children.

Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey (PIDACS) – An independent research company, RA Malatest and Associates, will conduct the data collection activities for this part of the research. All schools with a Primary Class and located within the geographic boundaries of the UEY Halifax Initiative may participate in the PIDACS.

Grade Primary children will be administered three brief assessments, and RA Malatest will conduct standardized phone interviews with their parents. Parents will also be provided the option to complete their interview through an on-line survey.

Community Mapping Report - Information is obtained on the physical and socio-economic characteristics of the neighbourhoods in which young children live and the types and locations of programs and services available for the children and their families. This information is used to develop a community mapping report.

Who Is Involved in the UEY Halifax Initiative?

Sponsoring Organization

UEY - Halifax is being sponsored by Sackville Bedford Early Intervention Society. The Society is a non-profit organization that provides early intervention services to children between birth and age 5 who are developmentally delayed or at risk of delay.

Community Coordinator

UEY sites are managed by a Coordinator. The responsibilities of the coordinator include: the coordination of data collection, the completion of a community mapping report, sharing and interpreting report information and ensuring the completion of deliverables that have been outlined in the contribution agreement between the sponsor agency and Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

The Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) and Participating Schools

The Halifax School Board has partnered with the sponsor agency to enable data collection activities related to the EDI and the PIDACS. Thirteen schools within the JL Ilsley, Sir John A MacDonald, and Halifax West “Families of Schools” agreed to participate in the research activities.

Children and Families

Primary children attending the thirteen participating schools for the 2005-06 school year were included in the EDI collection. Children enrolled in Grade Primary for the 2006-07 school year and their parents/guardians participated in the PIDACS collection.

UEY Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee is a forum to provide support, information and advice within the parameters of the project to the Executive Director of Sackville Bedford Early Intervention (Project Sponsor) and the UEY Community Coordinator.

What are the Geographic Boundaries for the UEY Halifax Initiative?

The UEY Halifax geographic area encompasses three Municipal Electoral Districts – 18, 15 and 23. These districts include:

• Herring Cove/Spryfield
• Fairview/Clayton Park
• A portion of Hammond’s Plains/St Margaret’s

What are the Objectives for UEY Halifax?

• Assess children’s “readiness to learn” in their primary school year
• Build an inventory of the various programs and services available for families with young children and map this information with relevant demographic and population data
• Identify conditions that may influence child development and well-being
• Assist in developing an evidence-based community action plan
• Help to build community capacity around early childhood development
• Educate and inform communities and stakeholders on research findings, experiences and environments know to support the well-being of children

The Understanding the Early Years Initiative is funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada. For more information, visit http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/.