A comprehensive School Readiness Assessment Tool (SRAT) for preschool children

Year 2024, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 266 - 287, 31.07.2024

Selcuk Sirin , Tülin Guler Yıldız , Ruyam Canan Tugberk

https://doi.org/10.19128/turje.1459608

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the psychometric properties of the School Readiness Assessment Tool (SRAT), a new measurement tool for assessing school readiness. The measure aims to assess preschool children’s school readiness by estimating their academic, motor, social, emotional, and self-regulation skills. Both academic and motor skills are assessed through direct child observation while teacher ratings evaluate social-emotional and self-regulation skills. 228 children attending preschool participated in the study's first phase and 185 children in the second phase. The results show that the items of the new measurement tool had sufficient internal consistency. Both study phases also showed strong evidence of face (content) and construct validity (i.e., convergent and concurrent validity). Overall, the results show that SRAT is a promising new measure for school readiness among preschoolers in Türkiye. In addition to the evidence from randomized control trials, studies should be conducted to determine its psychometric properties with diverse samples, such as rural children and children not enrolled in preschool education.

Keywords

Scale development, School readiness, School Readiness Assessment Tool (SRAT), Self-regulation, Social-emotional readiness

Okul öncesi dönemdeki çocuklar için kapsamlı bir Okula Hazırlık Değerlendirme Aracı (OHDA)

Abstract

Bu çalışma, okula hazırbulunuşluğun değerlendirilmesinde yeni bir ölçme aracı olan Okula Hazırlık Değerlendirme Aracı (OHDA)’nın psikometrik özelliklerini belirlemek için tasarlanmıştır. Bu araç, okul öncesi dönemdeki çocukların akademik, motor, sosyal-duygusal ve öz düzenleme becerilerini tahmin ederek okula hazır bulunuşluklarını değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Hem akademik hem de motor beceriler çocuğun doğrudan gözlemlenmesiyle değerlendirilirken, sosyal-duygusal ve öz düzenleme becerileri öğretmen derecelendirmeleriyle değerlendirilir. Araştırmanın ilk aşamasına okul öncesi eğitime devam eden 228 çocuk ikinci aşamasına ise 185 çocuk katılmıştır. Sonuçlar, yeni ölçme aracının maddelerinin yeterli iç tutarlılığa sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca çalışmanın her iki aşamasında da görünüş (içerik) ve yapı geçerliliği (yani yakınsak ve eşzamanlı geçerlilik) konusunda güçlü kanıtlar mevcuttur. Genel olarak sonuçlar, OHDA'nın Türkiye'deki okul öncesi çocuklar arasında okula hazır bulunuşluk açısından umut verici yeni bir ölçme aracı olduğunu göstermektedir. Rastgele kontrol çalışmalarından elde edilen kanıtların yanı sıra kırsal kesimdeki çocuklar ve okul öncesi eğitime almayan çocuklar gibi çeşitli örneklemlerle psikometrik niteliklerini belirlemek için çalışmalar yapılmalıdır.

Keywords

Okula hazırbulunuşluk, Okula Hazırlık Değerlendirme Aracı (OHDA), Ölçek geliştirme, Öz düzenleme, Sosyal-duygusal hazırbulunuşluk

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