Understanding the Early Years Terms
Understanding the Early Years - Terms
Activity Reports
Regular narrative reports submitted by the sponsoring organization to Human Resources and Social Development Canada to report on UEY related activities, progress in meeting milestones of the UEY project and in moving towards intended results.
Coalition
A group of committed individuals and organizations in the community (e.g., parents, teachers, school trustees, local businesses, social or health service providers, and police) working together to advance one or more local social causes (e.g., early childhood development; poverty; homelessness).
Community Action Plan
A plan of activities to be implemented by community coalitions in order to mobilize the community and address young children's needs identified in the research findings.
Community Mapping
A process that uses special computer software to create maps to visually display the community's socio-economic characteristics, distribution of community resources, and distribution of children's developmental outcomes by different geographic areas of the community.
Community Mapping Report
A report prepared by the sponsoring organization that consists mainly of a series of maps with accompanying descriptions to show the geographical distributions of the community's socio-economic status, local resources and services and young children's developmental outcomes.
Community Programs and Services
Programs and services available in a given community for young children and their families, including a range of services such as health clinics, schools, family resource centres, libraries, recreational facilities such as parks and pools, child care facilities and related programs.
Coordinator
A person hired by the sponsoring organization for a UEY community to work full-time to facilitate the UEY project with responsibilities including coordinating data collection activities, mobilizing and engaging the community for designing the action plan, and preparing financial reports, activity reports, research reports, and other communications products.
Early Development Instrument (EDI)
A teacher assessment tool developed by the Offord Centre for Child Studies of McMaster University for measuring the school readiness of kindergarten children prior to grade one.
Final report
A report prepared by the sponsoring organization of a UEY community and to be submitted to Human Resources and Social Development Canada at the end of the UEY project, summarizing all the activities — financial, research- and information-related —implemented for the project and whether the project has accomplished the intended results.
Fiscal Year
A 12-month period used for calculating annual ("yearly") financial budgets and reports in the Government of Canada that starts from April 1 of the calendar year until the March 31 of the next calendar year, (e.g., April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008).
Kindergarten Children
For UEY data collection purposes, this refers to children registered in the school kindergarten program prior to grade one.
Knowledge Transfer
Activities which move the products, knowledge developed and lessons learned from a project beyond the project team to a range of audiences who can benefit from this material. It is more than disseminating a final report. It can include sharing of lessons learned in workshops and newsletters, development and sharing of fact sheets at events such as conferences, or posting of tools and information on a Web site.
M-30 - Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil executive (for organizations from Quebec)
An authorization, as indicated by the Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (R.S.Q., chapter M-30), that any organization (e.g. municipal bodies, school bodies or public agencies) in Quebec whose operations are partially or fully funded by the province of Quebec must obtain before signing any agreement with the Government of Canada, its departments or agencies, or a federal public agency.
Minimum Number of Children
A minimum number of 300 senior kindergarten children, registered at the participating school boards in a given UEY community, required in order to implement meaningful quantitative research.
National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY)
A comprehensive, longitudinal survey designed to measure and track the well-being and life experiences of Canada's children and youth as they grow up. The survey is conducted by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), in partnership with Statistics Canada.
Outputs
Products of UEY project activities in the form of tangible items as required by the Contribution Agreement such as the Community Mapping Report, the Community Action Plan, and other brochures and documents for community use.
Parent Interviews and Direct Assessments of Children Survey (PIDACS)
A survey conducted with a representative sample of kindergarten children in a community to examine the relationship between children's development and various family and community factors that could influence that development. The survey interviews parents about the child's development and the child's experiences in the family and community, and administers three direct assessments with the child which look at children's receptive vocabulary, early literacy skills, and number knowledge.
Place-Based Community
For the purposes of the UEY initiative, this refers to a community definable by recognizable, continuous geographical boundaries (i.e., not a virtual community or a community of interest); an area where the residents share a sense of belonging or ownership and identify with all or parts of the geography (for instance, parents share affiliations to social landmarks such as parks, to social groups such as their children's sports teams, and/or to social institutions such as their children's school) or with similar linguistic or ethno-cultural characteristics in a set geographical area.
Projected Enrolment Figures
Number of kindergarten children expected to be registered at the participating school boards in the year when the UEY project is scheduled to commence.
Research Report
A report that presents the findings relating to the school readiness of children, and the family and community factors that play important roles in early years' development, based on the analysis of the research data collected through the teacher assessments (EDI), parent interviews and direct assessments of children (PIDACS) in a given UEY community.
Researcher
Person hired by the sponsoring organization of a UEY community to manage local research on the community's resources, coordinate data collections with the contractors responsible for EDI and PIDACS studies, and develop research reports on resource and community mapping to inform community action. The researcher and the Community Coordinator can be the same person if she or he is able to take on both the coordination and research roles.
School Boards
For the purposes of UEY, the term "school board" is inclusive of school districts, independent schools, and band-operated schools.
School Readiness
A child's ability to meet the various demands of learning in a classroom and school environment, to benefit from the educational activities at school, as well as the ability to interact with and get along with others, including teachers and other children. For UEY, "school readiness" refers to a child's readiness for grade one (and, thus, is measured in kindergarten).
Social Development Activities
Activities conducted to address issues related to social development (e.g., homelessness, poverty, childhood development).
Sponsoring Organization
A legally incorporated and non-profit organization with a mandate focusing on social development issues that applies for a UEY project and, if the application is approved, enters into the Contribution Agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. The sponsoring organization is accountable for the management and delivery of the project, within the budget allocations and project timelines, and responsible for project results and deliverables. This includes supervising the local UEY project, hiring the UEY co-ordinator and researcher, and adhering to the Agreement, including financial and activity reporting to Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Teacher Replacement Cost
The cost paid to replace or reimburse a teacher for the time needed to complete the Early Development Instrument (EDI) for all the children in his/her classes. The cost includes a half day spent on related EDI training.
