The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a powerful tool to understand early childhood development in our community, and our goal is to ensure that this data is accessible to all of our community partners for data-driven advocacy efforts. Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and Oakland Starting Smart and Strong (OSSS) have shared the 2020 EDI results with many community partners over the past few months. Here are three examples of what we’ve done so far: 
​

• Early Childhood Systems: We shared the EDI data with OSSS’s Lead Planning Team (LPT), which includes leadership from non-profits, local government, advocacy groups, and funders. Based on the EDI results in the Language and Cognition developmental domain, many LPT members highlighted the need to strengthen partnerships and resource coordination for Dual Language Learners (DLLs). In response to this concern, OUSD’s Early Childhood Education and English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement (ELLMA) programs are working together to improve support for Oakland’s youngest DLLs and learning about multilingual assessment tools to measure early childhood development in culturally relevant ways. We also learned about Personalized Oral Language Learning (POLL Strategies), a professional development tool for teachers to better support DLL children and their families. 

​

• Parent Advocates: We shared the EDI data with San Antonio Family Resource Center’s Parent Action Research Team, a group of parent advocates who use research and data for equitable change for their children and community. Upon reviewing the EDI results for their neighborhood, parents brought up important questions regarding the EDI survey prompts and implicit bias against Black children, the English-only measures of the Language and Cognition domain, and how to account for the role of gentrification in their neighborhood. We discussed how the EDI is an important tool for understanding school readiness and advocacy for more community investment to support early childhood development. San Antonio FRC parents also gave us important feedback on how to make the EDI results more accessible - thanks to their ideas, we developed a tutorial for the EDI dashboard.  

 

• Program Partners: Oakland Literacy Coalition (OLC) invited us to introduce the EDI to its coalition members, a range of local service providers who work to meet the literacy needs of the city. With a focus on early childhood literacy, we shared an overview of the EDI results and ways to use the EDI to inform program content, curriculum development, and advocacy.​

Through these conversations, we’ve made headway into using the results for local advocacy. We thank Keith Welch, OUSD Data Analyst, for sharing the EDI with these groups. If you’d like for us to share the EDI with your organization, please request a presentation or email Trisha Barua (trisha@oaklandsmartandstrong.org). 

In the November 2020 election, Oakland voters supported ballot initiatives that would uplift equity for children and families. Measure W will fund services for people experiencing homlessness; Measure QQ enables youth to vote in school board elections; and Measure Y approved bonds to fund OUSD construction. We’re proud that our local community prioritizes much-needed social services, youth civic engagement, and a long-term commitment for school infrastructure. 

Statewide election results show that we have to continue to mobilize for equitable systemic change.

While Oakland voters overwhelmingly supported the passage of Schools & Communities First (Proposition 15), Restoring Affirmative Action (Proposition 16), Youth Voting (Proposition 18), and Rent Control (Proposition 21), these statewide ballot initiatives did not win the support of the majority of California voters. With its narrow margin of loss, Proposition 15 is still the most successful challenge to  Proposition 13 budget cuts in the past 40 years, signaling that there is more voter willingness to invest in public education. A response to the Proposition 209 (1996) ban on affirmative action in public universities, Proposition 16 would have reinstated affirmative action for Black, Latinx, and Native Americans who face systemic barriers in accessing higher education. This loss suggests that we need to have more political education on the importance of affirmative action in systems change efforts, and on the devastating impact that Prop. 209 had in blocking pathways for educational and economic mobility for many Californians. 

In 2021, Oakland has the potential to lead on racial equity priorities in early childhood at a statewide level, especially in response to the newly released California Master Plan for Early Learning and Care. 

Oakland Starting Smart and Strong understands that early childhood is at the intersection of many issues, including education, health, quality employment, housing justice, and community-based leadership. Our Policy & Advocacy Agenda centers investment in our youngest learners, parent and family leadership, and equity for early childhood educators. The good news is that our local electorate and many of our elected leaders reflect these values, and it’s our responsibility to bring these values to state and national policy conversations. Oakland is fortunate to have seasoned community advocates who prioritize racial and economic equity for our children and families. We congratulate the winners of the Oakland City Council and School Board races, and look forward to sharing our policy agenda with them in the coming months.