Research Initiatives

According to current scientific research, the most crucial time in a human life is early childhood. Children’s experiences in the early years provide the foundation for their futures.

From birth to age six, the brain develops at an incredible rate and children need stimulating environments to ensure their healthy development. In order to expand our knowledge about the early years, BC is committed to supporting a variety of academic research initiatives.

Human Early Learning Partnership

The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) is a consortium of four BC universities which, over the last five years, has partnered with MCFD to take a key research and leadership role in advancing early childhood development.

One of the key HELP projects is the implementation of the Early Development Instrument (EDI), which provides school districts and communities throughout BC with information about their preschool population.

The EDI is a survey administered to kindergarten children to gather data on five subscales of children’s development:

• Physical health and well-being – child is healthy, independent, ready each day, etc.
• Social competence – child plays, gets along with others and shares, is self-confident, etc.
• Emotional maturity – child is able to concentrate, help others, is patient, not aggressive or angry, etc.
• Language and cognitive development – child is interested in reading and writing, can count and recognize numbers, shapes, etc.
• Communication skills and general knowledge – child can tell a story, communicate with adults and children, articulate themselves, etc.

For further information on HELP research, visit www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/index.html

Below you will find links to other current research initiatives which are related to early childhood development:

• British Columbia Atlas of Child Development

• Canadian Northwest FASD Research Network

• Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF)

• Research on the Roots of Empathy Program