LAUSD EDI

The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a community snapshot of children’s development, health and school readiness for Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). It describes children’s well-being in five areas of development known to predict later success in school and in life: 1) Physical Health & Well-Being; 2) Social Competence; 3) Emotional Maturity; 4)Language & Cognitive Skills; and 5) Communication Skills & General Knowledge.

Dr. Dan Offord and Dr. Magdalena Janus developed the EDI at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University in Canada in the late 1990s. Since then, it has been implemented in over 30 countries, including its introduction in the United States in 2008.  The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities serves as the Technical Assistance administrator and licensee for the national administration of the EDI in the US.

The EDI is helpful in predicting later health, education, and social outcomes and is used to engage diverse groups to better understand the needs and assets of children in the community and collectively develop solutions. Understanding how children are doing in every neighborhood allows community members, educators, organizations that provide services and supports to families, as well as policy makers, to make informed decisions about where and what types of investments and policies could be put in place to support children and families.

The EDI is a questionnaire completed by kindergarten teachers for each child in their class a few months into the school year.  It is not a diagnostic or screener tool for individual children. Student names or other identifying information on individual students are not shared with results. Instead, information collected using the EDI is reported at a group (population) level (e.g. for a census tract, neighborhood, city, etc.) and is never reported on individual children.

More information about the EDI can be found  here .

The results in this Story Map reflect data collection by participating kindergarten teachers during the 2021 - 2022 school year(s). In addition, 2021 - 2022 data were combined with data that were collected in the prior two school years, if applicable.

The table below shows some background information on the LAUSD EDI data collection:

LAUSD offered 2 options to teachers for EDI training. The first option teachers had was to attend an after-school meeting/Professional Development session. Teachers were trained in this 1.5-2 hour training, and then completed their data collection outside of classroom/instructional time. The second option was to attend a 1.5-2 hour training session on a non-work day (weekend or school holiday), and then complete their data collection outside of classroom/instructional time.

Students are not present for the training session or while teachers are completing their EDI questionnaires. The format of teacher training and teacher compensation for participation are determined by the leaders at participating district(s) and/or the EDI funder for the community.

Within Los Angeles, the EDI has been used in a number of ways by the city, community organizations, and LAUSD.

District K-Readiness Team: LAUSD is the first school district within the nationwide Early Development Instrument (EDI) effort to provide a K-Readiness team to support participating schools in areas identified as needs on the EDI. The team is comprised of Instructional Coaches and Psychiatric Social Workers (PSW) who work with their identified school administration along with kinder and first grade teachers to build capacity for culturally responsive Social Emotional Learning (SEL) strategies that can promote academic success and address the disproportionate number of Black students suspended from school and in special education. The work includes collaboration with teachers in Data-Strategy Teaching, choosing topics, focus and specific strategies for supporting the needs in the classroom.

Articulation Meetings: The K-Readiness team uses EDI data, reports and EDI maps to facilitate and lead their articulation meetings. This has been a very effective catalyst for bringing Kindergarten and first grade teachers and teachers from the Early Ed Centers (EECs) together to collaborate. Teachers have found these articulation meetings very helpful and the meetings have led to productive discussions, connecting teachers from EECs and elementary schools. 

Parent Workshops: The K Readiness team helped facilitate parent workshops/informational sessions, including sharing out EDI data, as a way to increase parents’ knowledge of children’s development and suggest activities that they can employ at home to support their children’s growth and development.

Bright Beginnings Kindergarten Readiness Conference (for teachers): The K Readiness team at LAUSD hosts a conference for Kindergarten teachers each year and provides sessions on EDI data and how to use it. EDI results from the previous school year are used to inform which topics/areas the conference focuses on. Specific strategies are modeled and shared that support EDI domains in instruction and Preschool Learning Foundations standards, and integrating Social Emotional needs in all academic content areas.

Family Conference is a district wide event sponsored by the Kindergarten Readiness Team whereby parents, caregivers, and family’s experience hands-on activities and gain resources for the summer. Workshops included topics in Early Literacy and Numeracy, Science and Engineering, Art and Dance, Physical Health & Wellbeing, Transitioning to Next Year, Social Emotional Learning, Managing Feelings, Self-Care for Parents

Virtual Community Resource Fairs are a Community Resource Fair in partnership with LA Unified Wellness Programs and the Kindergarten Readiness Team. Community organizations share resources and connect the assets of the community available to families such as mental health services, housing, food, and medical services.

SEL Weekly Lessons: the K-Readiness team creates weekly SEL Lesson Plans that are utilized by an average of 450 LAUSD TK-1 ^st  grade teachers across the district. These lessons are easy to integrate and build teacher capacity in developing their students' skills in self-regulation, prosocial behaviors, emotional awareness, diversity awareness, and so much more. 92% of teachers report that the K-Readiness SEL lessons are an important factor in building their students' social-emotional skills, and 93% of teachers report that the SEL lessons are very helpful in building their own knowledge and awareness of Social and Emotional development.

EEC PD Series: The Kindergarten Readiness team facilitated a series of professional development  for Early Education Center Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Administrators. Some topics include early literacy and numeracy skills such as phonemic awareness, counting collections and number talks, STEAM lessons, Self Regulation, and parent engagement.

TK Cadre:  The Kindergarten Readiness team developed and facilitated a professional development series for a cadre of teachers of 4-5 year olds. The five-month intensive professional learning focused on incorporating the framework of  the text: Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning (Building Expressways to Success) by Adretesha Fritzgerald into instructional practices in the classroom. Teachers collaboratively developed lessons and tools for the TK community in order to improve outcomes for students in literacy while integrating social and emotional strategies.

• Lead partner
  • Kindergarten Readiness Program, Division of Instruction, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Contact Information:
  • Carlen Powell, Administrator of Elementary Instruction, Division of Instruction, Los Angeles Unified School District, 213.241.5333,  Carlen.Powell@lausd.net 
• Other key partners:
  • Community Health Councils
  • Magnolia Community Initiative, Children’s Bureau
  • UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities
  • Funder:  First 5 Los Angeles