United Way Maps Early Childhood Development - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

The North Texas Area United Way presented the most recent results from the Early Development Instrument Community Profile for Wichita Falls and Burkburnett on Thursday.

The EDI community profile provides local-level information on children's developmental outcomes during the Kindergarten year. The information is then mapped back to neighborhoods in order to help understand possible factors contributing to the observed outcomes in children. Over time, the data in the profile can be tracked to help assess the impact of investments made on behalf of young children and families and to demonstrate the importance of sustaining resources dedicated to early childhood education in our community.

The original EDI data, presented in 2009, was used to form United Way's School Readiness Project. This grant-funded project helps our community ensure children ages birth to five are developmentally ready to succeed when they enter Kindergarten.

United Way is providing the EDI data to parents, leaders and related organizations to raise community awareness of the importance of school readiness, encourage residents to become involved in improving their neighborhoods for children, and build collaborations among organizations to create better outcomes for school readiness.

The EDI is part of the national initiative, Transforming Early Childhood Community Systems (TECCS), developed to help match proven school readiness solutions with the unique needs faced by communities. TECCS represents a partnership between the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities and United Way Worldwide. The TECCS initiative is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the communities in which TECCS is being implemented.