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October 23, 2009
Reducing vulnerability is key
Positive environment for children builds a strong foundation.
MICHELLE DODEK
For every one percent of the population that emerges from early childhood with significant social, emotional and intellectual vulnerabilities, the gross domestic product (GDP) suffers by one percent. If that statistic isn't enough to get governmental and nongovernmental agencies to cooperate and buy into initiatives to support early childhood development (ECD), how about this: disparities in the environment in which children develop until the age of five have predictable results in areas as broad as educational success to physical health and longevity.
These were the findings presented at a parent education evening at Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS), held on Oct. 13. Organized by principal Rebecca Coen, the evening featured professor Dr. Clyde Hertzman who is, among other responsibilities, the director of the Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Hertzman discussed his groundbreaking research into the importance of supporting families with young children in order to give them the best possible start in life, and how a concentration on birth to age five is crucial in laying the foundation for a successful life.
In order to measure this foundation, Hertzman developed a tool called the Early Development Instrument (EDI) that is used by kindergarten teachers to assess students' baseline entering school. It focuses on the "whole child," examining social competence, physical health and well-being, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, as well as communication and general knowledge. Hertzman's data, first collected from 2000 to 2004, showed that 26.1 percent of children in British Columbia were vulnerable, or at risk, in the areas tested.
In this longitudinal study, Hertzman followed his subjects from kindergarten to Grade 4, when they took the provincially administered Foundation Skills Assessment.
Of the results, Herzman said, "The state of development is depressingly predictable. There is an exponential failure rate for those vulnerable in kindergarten to their achievement in Grade 4." Not only did those students identified as vulnerable early on have limited success a few years later, so did their classmates who had not been deemed particularly vulnerable a few years earlier. "Vulnerabilities put a brake on the development of [the whole] class," he said.
Hertzman noted that following the release of the data in 2004, there was a flurry of activity across the province, with more than 500 initiatives suggested or launched to improve the lives of the very young. In 2008, a second wave of data was released that showed that despite the local programs introduced in 2004, by 2008, 26 school districts had more vulnerable students, while only seven districts showed any improvement; the province-wide vulnerability rate had risen to 29.6 percent.
Hertzman used the town of Revelstoke's unusual marked improvement as a model for what could be done across the country. This small, geographically isolated town created a coalition to intervene in all areas of early childhood vulnerability. The meetings for the coalition were attended by those holding the proverbial purse strings, including the head of the health authority, the mayor and the superintendent of schools, who were able to provide immediate funding focused on ECD. The result was a change, over four years, from a vulnerability rate of 23 percent down to four percent.
Hertzman felt that this approach was achieved in the context of this particular small town because of the small size of the town and because of the willingness of all levels of government to buy into interventions completely and to cooperate effectively. Larger centres face different challenges but also have greater resources that, with the proper coordination, could be channeled to support families with young children to reduce vulnerability rates. He lamented the vagaries inherent in Canadian politics, which cause huge pendulum-like swings in policy at every level when there is a change in government. For instance, the federal Liberals had bought into Hertzman's call for universally accessible, high-quality child care before they were replaced by the Conservative government in 2006. The current government provides a benefit to families of $1,200 per child instead.
While Nordic countries spend more than one and a half percent of their GDP on ECD, Canada spends three-tenths of one percent. As an economic model alone, Hertzman said this is a poor strategy for the future. An investment in young children is an investment in the future workforce, the physical and mental health of Canadians and the country's ability to thrive in an increasingly competitive world, according to Hertzman.
His presentation left the impression that little can be done to change the direction of a child's life once the early foundation is laid, but Hertzman did open the floor to comments and questions, and parents heard his ideas of how they can still work to influence their children's development. Encouraging a child's interests and aptitudes is enormously helpful, according to Hertzman, and summer and after-school programs that children enjoy that instil confidence and build skills are best. He stressed that when engaged in activities they love, children are more likely to thrive in all areas.
Michelle Dodek has two children still under the age of five.
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