Middle Years Development Instrument

The Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI) is a questionnaire that is completed by elementary students in Grade 4 and Grade 7. It measures five areas of development (physical health and well-being, connectedness, social emotional development, school experiences and use of after-school time), which are strongly connected to well-being, health, and academic achievement. There are two indexes that use data from the MDI questionnaire – the Well-Being Index and the Assets Index. The Well-Being Index combines five measures from the MDI:

  • Optimism
  • Self-esteem
  • Happiness
  • Absence of sadness
  • General health

Depending on how many “positive” and “negative” responses children report in the five areas of well-being, they have a result that is either “thriving,” “medium to high well-being,” or “low well-being.”

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) and schools evaluate MDI results annually to assess health and well-being trends of students in those grades. The expectation is that, as the NWT Junior Kindergarten to Grade –12 (JK-12) school system becomes better able to reflect the cultures of the NWT and support students to flourish as capable and healthy persons, MDI “thriving” scores should increase.

It is important to note that MDI “thriving” scores are affected by more than just students’ school experiences. Students’ lives and experiences outside of school also affect their sense of well-being and have an effect on how students feel when they arrive at school.

It is important to note that MDI “thriving” scores are affected by more than just students’ school experiences. Students’ lives and experiences outside of school also affect their sense of well-being and have an effect on how students feel when they arrive at school.

This data helps to inform the annual Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 Performance Measures reports, which looks at the current state of the NWT education system.