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
The HK-CHILD is a three-year panel study that aims to document the development of young children in Hong Kong as they progress through the kindergarten years from Kindergarten Level 1 (K1) to Kindergarten Level 3 (K3), focusing particularly on their holistic development, emotional and behavioral status, and physical health. 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 early developmental outcomes.
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 round of data collection will be conducted during the first half of 2025 (when children are in K1).
The second round of data collection will be conducted during the 2025/26 school year (when children are in K2).
The third round of data collection will be conducted during the 2026/27 school year (when children are in K3).
Direct child assessment
During the first and third year of the study, participating children will spend around 1 hour completing a one-to-one assessment conducted by a trained assessor to evaluate their holistic development.
Survey
Parents, teachers, and school principals of participating children will be asked to complete questionnaires that together will provide valuable insights into children’s development, and home and school experiences.
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 as the city strives 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 conducting the first-ever city-representative early childhood longitudinal study in Hong Kong to develop a robust database of 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 with a valuable opportunity to identify how various family and school factors contribute to developmental outcomes during the early years. Insights gained from this study will serve as a foundation for informing Hong Kong's future policies and programmes on child development, early childhood education, family dynamics, social welfare, and much more. It is hoped that the findings will also serve as a valuable informational resource for parents, caregivers, and educators to support and promote children's healthy growth and development.
Website Developer | Creed Creatives
