Data a “conversation” starter
A lack of sleep and proper nutrition are two of the biggest areas of concern for students in their “middle years” provincially and in School District No. 83 according to data recently released through the MDI.
SD83 is a part of the University of B.C.’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) which is collecting province-wide data about children under five (CHEQ), in kindergarten (EDI) and now in the middle years (MDI).
Jen Findlay, district vice-principal and early learning co-ordinator, reported to the Board on Tuesday explaining the program measures different points along a child’s development. The CHEQ questionnaire is for all kindergarten parents to complete. “You connect with parents and get direct input on early learning experiences. It looks at birth to age five.”
“We’ve been part of the EDI, which measures kindergarten-aged students, and this time it is the teachers who fill in the questionnaire. This happens every three years and our district’s next uptake is February 2020.”
The addition of the middle years development instrument (MDI), which is for students in Grade 4 & 7, means the district and community will now receive data about children at this stage of development. The students fill in this questionnaire.
The MDI asks students to measure areas of development strongly linked to well-being, health and academic achievement. Findlay noted that at the Grade 4 level SD83 had the highest participation rate at 92 per cent. In grade 7 SD83 was third highest in the province at 90 per cent.
“All of this data looks at trends over time,” explained Findlay. She said the information is not just helpful for school districts but also recreation partners, communities and health organizations.
“It is a starting point for conversation. It helps us take a look and listen to how students are feeling socially and emotionally and what we can do as a school and community to better support them.”
The data can provide a way to understand students’ perspectives about their lives inside and outside of school, it shows connectedness to adults in schools, to promote social and emotional learning, and can be used to help community organizations see where gaps are.
As an example, she noted that students in rural areas of the district have more difficulty accessing after school activities. “This might be something our community recreation partners might want to look at.”
Click here to view the complete SD83 MDI report for Grade 4s
Click here to view the complete SD83 MDI report for Grade 7s
Click here to read more about the MDI and UBC’s HELP project