Associations Between the Early Development Instrument at Age 5, and Reading and Numeracy Skills at Ages 8, 10 and 12: a Prospective Linked Data Study

The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is collected at age 5 as a developmental census once every 3 years across the entire country. The AEDI is the Australian adaptation of the Canadian Early Development Instrument (EDI). The objective of this paper is to determine how well the EDI predicts a child’s later literacy and numeracy outcomes as assessed by the National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) standardised testing in primary school in Australia. Data integration undertaken by the Department of Education in Western Australia individually linked the first ever population coverage of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) in Australia with the children’s literacy and numeracy assessments at years 3, 5 and 7 (n = 1,823). The EDI predicts children’s literacy and numeracy outcomes throughout their primary school years. The association is equally as strong in predicting scores at years 3, 5 and 7 (ages 8, 10 and 12). A child’s skills, development and attributes at school entry (as measured by the EDI) predict their latter literacy and numeracy skills (as measured by NAPLAN) throughout primary school. This is the first paper to investigate the relationship between the EDI and the national standard school assessments in Australia. The implications are two fold; firstly the results provide confidence in Australia’s use of the AEDI as a national progress measure of human capability formation and secondly it reinforces the importance of having all children entering school with the skills and developmental capacity to take advantage of schooling.