STRUCTURAL QUALITY IN PRESCHOOLS: ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS

Yıl 2014, Cilt: 2 Sayı: 1(ÖZEL), 128 - 134, 22.11.2014

Belkıs Tekmen

Öz

Using ecological systems theory as a framework, to study in the early childhood education field there should be an understanding of links between structural indicators of quality and children’s development. There is a need to understand the mechanisms by which structural quality affects process quality, which requires examining what actually happens in the early childhood education care centers.

Due to the recognition of the significance of early childhood years worldwide, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of early childhood education programs in Turkey. However, the increase in the quantity of such programs brings the question of quality. As in every system in which early childhood education and care can be considered as one, for the continuous improvement, quality characteristics of these centers should be continuously licensed and inspected by the supervisor institutions. More emphasis should be given to the educational and developmental evaluation of the children enrolled in the centers, to understand the effect of the education and care received from the center.

In terms of quality, structural factors are easier to observe than process factors and thus, easier to measure and regulate, but they are considered to impact the desired outcomes for children. This study aims to understand the structural quality of these centers based on the Developmentally Appropriate Practices. Provider Survey –Organized Facility (Group Setting) Section I: Director Questionnaire and section II: Teacher / Caregiver Questionnaire developed for the International Association for the Evaluation of the Educational Achievement (IEA) Preprimary Project, Phase 2 are administered as the data collection tool and descriptive analysis is conducted to the results of self-reported questionnaire from 55 early childhood education centers. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Preschool education centers, structural quality, process quality, developmentally appropriate practices

STRUCTURAL QUALITY IN PRESCHOOLS: ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS

Öz

Using ecological systems theory as a framework, to study in the early childhood education field there should be an understanding of links between structural indicators of quality and children’s development. There is a need to understand the mechanisms by which structural quality affects process quality, which requires examining what actually happens in the early childhood education care centers.

Due to the recognition of the significance of early childhood years worldwide, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of early childhood education programs in Turkey. However, the increase in the quantity of such programs brings the question of quality. As in every system in which early childhood education and care can be considered as one, for the continuous improvement, quality characteristics of these centers should be continuously licensed and inspected by the supervisor institutions. More emphasis should be given to the educational and developmental evaluation of the children enrolled in the centers, to understand the effect of the education and care received from the center.

In terms of quality, structural factors are easier to observe than process factors and thus, easier to measure and regulate, but they are considered to impact the desired outcomes for children. This study aims to understand the structural quality of these centers based on the Developmentally Appropriate Practices. Provider Survey –Organized Facility (Group Setting) Section I: Director Questionnaire and section II: Teacher / Caregiver Questionnaire developed for the International Association for the Evaluation of the Educational Achievement (IEA) Preprimary Project, Phase 2 are administered as the data collection tool and descriptive analysis is conducted to the results of self-reported questionnaire from 55 early childhood education centers.

 

Key Words: Preschool education centers, structural quality, process quality, developmentally appropriate practices.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Okul öncesi eğitim kurumları, yapısal kalite, işlevsel kalite, kalite göstergeleri, gelişime uygun programlar

Kaynakça

• Bredekamp, S. (Ed.) (1987). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. Washington, DC: NAEYC.
• Bronfenbrenner, U. (1989). Contexts of child rearing: Problems and prospects. American Psychologist, 34, 844-850.
• Ceglowski, D., (2004). How Stake Holder Groups Define Quality in Child Care. Early Childhood Education Journal/.32,(2),101-111.
• Love, J. M., Schochet, P. Z., & Meckstroth, A. L. (1996). Are they in any real danger? What search does and doesn’t tell us about child care quality and children’s well-being. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
• Morrison, G. (1991). Early Childhood Education Today. 5th edition, Macmillian Publishing Company: NY.
• Novick R. (1996). Developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive programs: Theory in Practice. Portland: Northwest ed. Laboratory.
• Olmsted, P.P. (2002). Data collection and system monitoring in early childhood programs: UNESCO Early Childhood and Family Policy Series 5.
• Olmsted P.P., & Montie, J. (Eds.) (2001). Early Childhood Settings in 15 countries: What are their structural characteristics? Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Press.
• Tekmen, B. (2005). A study on the structural and process quality of early childhood education and care centers in Ankara. Master Thesis submitted to METU.