The Early Child Development Mapping Project gathered and analyzed information about early childhood development in Alberta and built community capacity to support families and young children.
Who We Are
The Early Child Development Mapping Project (ECMap) was contracted by Alberta Education for a five-year period (ending in 2014) to:
- conduct the first province-wide, population-based study of early childhood development (ECD) in Alberta,
- produce community, regional and provincial maps and reports of ECD, facilitate the development of ECD coalitions to interpret and
- share community results and respond to local needs, and make recommendations to government
ECMap was part of the Government of Alberta's Early Child Development Mapping Initiative and was led by the Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth and Families (CUP), which is based in the Faculty of Extension at the University of Alberta.
During the course of the project, ECMap analyzed Early Development Instrument (EDI) data on more than 70,200 kindergarten-aged children, creating the first baseline early development results for Alberta. ECMap community development coordinators mobilized community coalitions across the province to work with the data and support positive outcomes. One hundred coalitions are now active throughout Alberta, raising public awareness about the importance of the early years and making a positive, informed contribution to discussions of how policies, programs and other supports can be improved to promote the well-being of young children and families.
This website will continue to display research data and other information developed by ECMap as long as the site is still useful to visitors.
Website content will not be updated after January 2015, however.