Cycles 5-6
The EDI is designed for use with whole populations based on geographical or administrative boundaries. It is a questionnaire completed by kindergarten teachers for each student in senior kindergarten.
The EDI measures early child development in 5 domains:
- physical health and well-being
- social competence
- emotional maturity
- language and cognitive development
- communication skills and general knowledge
The EDI was developed by researchers at the Offord Centre for Child Studies in McMaster University. The instrument is designed to be interpreted at the group level only.
*[EDI]: Early Development Instrument
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Data dictionary
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle | Text |
Cycle 1 (2003/4, 2004/5, 2005/6), Cycle 2 (2006/7, 2007/8, 2008/9), Cycle 3 (2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12), Cycle 4 (2015), Cycle 5 (2018), Cycle 6 (2023) |
| CDuid | Text |
These unique IDs correspond to those used by Statistics Canada in their 2006 Census Division geography. |
| CDname | Text |
Census Division names, as used by Statistics Canada |
| Sex | Numeric |
Aggregate results are reported on by sex. |
| received | Numeric |
The number of EDIs that teachers completed. |
| SN | Numeric |
The number of children with a special needs status. These children have have already been identified as needing special assistance due to behavioural, communicational, intellectual, physical or multiple exceptionalities, such as autism or a learning disability. The teacher may also answer yes if the child requires special assistance in the classroom. |
| vfa_w_sn | Numeric |
The number of EDIs for students in senior kindergarten, in class for more than one month, with a sufficient number of EDI questions answered, and with an indication of whether or not each child has a special need. |
| vfa | Numeric |
The number of EDIs for students in senior kindergarten, in class for more than one month, with a sufficient number of EDI questions answered, and without special needs. |
| EFSL_no | Numeric |
The number of children WITHOUT an English Language Learner or French as a Second Language status. |
| EFSL_yes | Numeric |
The number of children WITH an English Language Learner or French as a Second Language status. A child is considered E/FSL if English (or French for a child in a French-language school board) is not his or her first language and who needs additional instruction in English (or French). In most school boards, children are identified as having E/FSL status if they are not fluent enough in English/French to easily follow the classroom educational activities. |
| EFSL_ms | Numeric |
The number of children missing a response to the question about English Language Learner or French as a Second Langauge status. |
| olowph | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on the Physical Health and Well-Being domain. Number of children vulnerable on Physical Health and Well-being domain based on Ontario baseline cut-offs. Physical Health and Well-Being refers to the child's physical readiness for the school day, physical independence, and gross and fine motor skills. |
| olowsoc | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on the Social Competence domain. Social Knowledge and Competence refers to the child's overall social competence, responsibility and respect, approaches to learning and readiness to explore new things. |
| olowem | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on the Emotional Maturity domain. Emotional Health and Maturity refers to the child's prosocial and helping behaviour, anxious and fearful behaviour, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity and inattention. |
| olowlc | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on the Language and Cognitive Development domain. Language and Cognitive Development refers to the child's basic and advanced literacy skills, interest in literacy/numeracy and memory, and basic numeracy skills. |
| olowcg | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on the Communication Skills and General Knowledge domain. Communication Skills and General Knowledge refers to the child's ability to communicate needs and ideas effectively and interest in the surrounding world. |
| olow | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on one or more domian. |
| olow2 | Numeric |
The number of children vulnerable on two or more domains. |
| cmci | Numeric |
The number of children with multiple challenges, as identified by the Multiple Challenge Index (MCI). The MCI incorporates 16 sub-domains within the five major domains of the EDI, with each sub-domain representing a relatively homogeneous aspect of child development. If a child meets few or none of the developmental expectations on nine or more of the 16 sub-domains, he or she is considered to have multiple challenges. |
Additional information
- Last updated
- October 20, 2025
- Created
- October 20, 2025
- Format
- application/csv
- File size
- 14.5 KiB
- Licence
- Open Government Licence – Ontario
- Name
- Cycles 5-6
- Type
- Data
- Language
- English
- Data made public date
- October 20, 2025
- Validation status
- success
- Validation timestamp
- 2025-10-20T14:46:20.069613
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