The HK-CHILD is a three-year panel study that aims to document comprehensive longitudinal information on Hong Kong children's holistic development, emotional and behavioral status, and physical health as they progress through preschool from K1 to K3. The study will also collect data on children's family and home environments, classrooms, and schools to better understand the constellation of contextual factors that promote or hinder early developmental outcomes.
Direct child assessment
During the first and third year of the study, participating children will spend around an hour completing various assessment activities on a one-on-one basis with a trained assessor to evaluate their holistic development.
Survey
Every year during the course of the three-year study, parents, teachers, and school principals of participating children will be asked to complete self-administered questionnaires that provide valuable insights into preschooler’s development, progress, and home and school experiences. Parents will be asked questions on their child’s development, learning, and family and home environments. Principals will be invited to provide information about the children's school setting and environments. Teachers will be asked about their teaching practices, classroom experiences, and children’s learning and progress.
Investing in the early years has been shown to yield long-term benefits. Effective early childhood policies and programmes are crucial to nurturing a competitive, creative, and healthy future workforce in Hong Kong, which aspires to be a knowledge-based economy and centre for innovation. Currently there is no representative large-scale database tracking the development of preschoolers in Hong Kong that can be used to guide early childhood research, practice and policy development. The HK-CHILD seeks to fill this fundamental information gap by building a longitudinal dataset that includes comprehensive information on children and their families to provide the quality and breadth of evidence necessary to monitor and evaluate child development in Hong Kong. The multifaceted information collected from children, parents, teachers, and principals provides researchers and policymakers with a valuable opportunity to identify how various family and school factors contribute to developmental outcomes during the critical years before formal education. Data and evidence generated from this research will be valuable to many stakeholders beyond academia, from children and families to schools, communities and society as a whole. Insights gained from this study will help inform Hong Kong's future policies and programmes on child development, early childhood education, family dynamics, social welfare, and much more. The findings will also serve as a valuable informational resource for parents, caregivers, practitioners, and educators to enhance early childhood experiences, promote healthy child development, and support children in achieving their full potential.
The HK-CHILD follows the development of a city-representative sample of approximately 3,000 Hong Kong preschool-aged children as they progress through kindergarten from K1 to K3. The children's parents, teachers, and school principals are also important participants in the study.
The first wave of data collection: will begin in August 2024 (when children start K1) The second round of data collection: will begin in January 2026 (when children are in the middle of K2) The third round of data collection: will begin January 2027 (when children reach the end of K3). All information collected from participants will be kept strictly confidential
HK-CHILD是一项为期三年的纵向调查，旨在全面记录香港学前儿童在幼稚园K1到K3的发展，并着重关注他们的整体发展、情绪和行为状况以及身体健康状况。我们亦将收集儿童的家庭、班级和学校环境的数据 ，以更好了解促进儿童早期发展的背景因素。
HK-CHILD 是一项面向本港学前儿童的纵向调查，我们会收集约三千名儿童由K1入学直到K3毕业的纵向发展数据。他们的父母、教师及学校也是本项目的重要研究参与者。
第一轮数据收集将于2025年上半年进行（孩子就读幼稚园K1时）。
第二轮数据收集将于2025/26学年期间进行（孩子就读K2时）。
第三轮数据收集将于2026/27学年期间进行（孩子就读K3时）。
儿童评估
在研究的第一年和第三年，经过训练的评估员将对受访儿童进⾏⼀对⼀评估。评估耗时约1⼩时，以衡量儿童的全⾯发展⽔平。
问卷调查
受访儿童的父母、教师及校长将填答问卷，以提供有关学前儿童发展及家庭和学校环境的重要资讯。
研究显示投资儿童早期发展可以带来长期效益。 随着香港致力成为知识型经济体和创新中心，制定有效的幼儿政策和计划对于培育具有竞争力、创造力和身心健康的未来新一代至关重要。可是，香港目前并没有一个全面和具代表性的大型儿童早期发展专题纵向数据库以用于指导幼儿研究、实践和政策制定。
HK-CHILD旨在开展香港首个具有城市代表性、关注儿童早期发展的大型纵向研究，为监测和评估本港儿童的发展状况提供高质量的数据基础。透过对儿童、父母、教师及校长多方面数据的收集，本项目使研究人员有机会深入探究影响学前儿童发展的家庭与学校因素。本项目的发现可为香港未来有关儿童发展、早期儿童教育、家庭养育及社会福利等方面的政策和服务制定提供依据；亦将为家长、监护人、教育工作者提供学术证据，以助各方共同致力更好支持儿童的健康成长与身心发展。
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