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是一項爲期三年的縱向調查，旨在全面記錄香港學前兒童在幼稚園K1到K3的發展，並著重關注他們的整體發展、情緒和行為狀況以及身體健康狀況。我們亦將收集兒童的家庭、班級和學校環境的數據 ，以更好瞭解促進兒童早期發展的背景因素。
HK-CHILD 是一項面向本港學前兒童的縱向調查，我們會收集約三千名兒童由K1入學直到K3畢業的縱向發展數據。他們的父母、教師及學校也是本項目的重要研究參與者。
第一輪數據收集將於2025年上半年進行（孩子就讀幼稚園K1時）。
第二輪數據收集將於2025/26 學年期間進行（孩子就讀K2時）。
第三輪數據收集將於2026/27 學年期間進行（孩子就讀K3時）。
兒童評估
在研究的第一年和第三年，受過訓練的評估員將對受訪兒童進⾏⼀對⼀評估。評估耗時約1⼩時，以衡量兒童的全⾯發展⽔平。
問卷調查
受訪兒童的父母、教師及校長將填答問卷，以提供有關學前兒童發展及家庭和學校環境的重要資訊。
研究顯示投資兒童早期發展可以帶來長期效益。 隨著香港致力成為知識型經濟體和創新中心，制定有效的幼兒政策和計劃對於培育具有競爭力、創造力和身心健康的未來新一代至關重要。可是，香港目前並沒有一個全面和具代表性的大型兒童早期發展專題縱向數據庫以用於指導幼兒研究、實踐和政策制定。
HK-CHILD旨在開展香港首個具有城市代表性、關注兒童早期發展的大型縱向研究，為監測和評估本港兒童的發展狀況提供高質量的數據基礎。透過對兒童、父母、教師及校長多方面數據的收集，本項目使研究人員有機會深入探究影響學前兒童發展的家庭與學校因素。本項目的發現可爲香港未來有關兒童發展、早期兒童教育、家庭養育及社會福利等方面的政策和服務制定提供依據；亦將爲家長、監護人、教育工作者提供學術證據，以助各方共同致力更好支持兒童的健康成長與身心發展。
Website Developer | Creed Creatives
