The Quality of Puhui Early Education Services in Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives: Evidence from a National Validation Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. The Quality of Puhui Early Education Service
2.2. Service Quality Evaluation by Teachers
2.3. The Context of This Study
- What are the psychometric properties of the service quality evaluation tool?
- How do Chinese teachers view the quality of Puhui early education services?
- What are the factors influencing Chinese teachers’ quality evaluation?
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Participants
3.2. Puhui Early Education Service Quality Scale (PEESQ)
3.3. Procedures
4. Results
4.1. Psychometric Properties of PEESQ
4.2. Descriptive Analysis of Teachers’ Evaluation of the Quality of Puhui EES
4.3. Factors Affecting Teachers’ Quality Evaluation
5. Discussion
5.1. PEESQ Is Reliable and Valid
5.2. Teachers Appreciated the Quality of Puhui EES
5.3. Factors Influencing Teachers’ Quality Evaluation
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Puhui Early Education Service Quality Scale
Dimension | Definition | Indicators |
Service adequacy | Service adequacy refers to the resource investment adequacy of the Puhui EES. | Child–teacher ratio |
Percentage of teachers with ECE qualification certificate | ||
Percentage of degree holders | ||
Building area per child | ||
Outdoor activity area per child | ||
Picture books per child | ||
Toys and teaching aids per child | ||
Service balance | Service balance refers to the resource distribution balance of the Puhui EES. | Financial investment for early childhood education |
Early childhood education funding per child | ||
Special funding for early childhood education | ||
Staff investment | ||
Salary guarantee for disadvantaged teachers | ||
Balanced development of urban and rural kindergartens | ||
Expand Puhui resources in rural areas | ||
Financial support for rural kindergartens | ||
Balanced development of different types of kindergartens | ||
Support for Puhui private kindergartens | ||
Support for disadvantaged kindergartens | ||
Governance of kindergartens in urban communities | ||
Public service welfare | Public service welfare refers to the output benefits to children and society of the Puhui EES. | Scientific education and care activities |
Effective teacher–child interaction | ||
Provide family parenting | ||
Convenient transportation to kindergartens | ||
Equal admission of children with local household registration | ||
Affordable for most local families | ||
Suitable pick-up time in line with parents’ normal working hours | ||
Gross enrollment rate for children aged 3–6 | ||
Percentage of children in public kindergartens | ||
Address the “3A” problems | ||
Coverage rate of Puhui kindergartens | ||
Construct public kindergartens in townships | ||
Support for children from low-income families |
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Demographic Characteristics | N | % |
---|---|---|
Age | ||
<20 | 563 | 56.6% |
20–29 | 291 | 29.3% |
30–39 | 112 | 11.3% |
≥40 | 28 | 2.8% |
Teaching experience | ||
<2 | 448 | 12.8% |
3–5 | 316 | 45.1% |
6–8 | 102 | 31.8% |
9–15 | 39 | 10.3% |
≥16 | 89 | 9.0% |
Educational background | ||
Junior high or below | 42 | 4.2% |
Senior high | 381 | 38.3% |
Junior college | 422 | 42.5% |
Undergraduate or above | 149 | 15.0% |
School tenure | ||
Yes | 424 | 42.7% |
No | 570 | 57.3% |
Job position | ||
Ordinary teacher | 768 | 77.3% |
Monitor | 34 | 3.4% |
Grade leader | 58 | 5.8% |
Director | 49 | 4.9% |
Principal | 85 | 8.6% |
Kindergarten rating | ||
Exemplary KG | 688 | 69.2% |
First-class KG | 183 | 18.4% |
Second-class KG | 68 | 6.9% |
Third-class KG | 55 | 5.5% |
Kindergarten type | ||
Public KG | 795 | 80.0% |
Puhui private KG | 199 | 20.0% |
Geographical area | ||
Urban city | 234 | 23.6% |
County | 477 | 48.0% |
Village | 203 | 20.4% |
Countryside | 80 | 8.0% |
Item | Factor Loading | Commonality | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Service Adequacy | Service Balance | Public Service Welfare | ||
Q1 | 0.72 | 0.57 | ||
Q2 | 0.73 | 0.57 | ||
Q3 | 0.69 | 0.56 | ||
Q4 | 0.83 | 0.70 | ||
Q5 | 0.85 | 0.72 | ||
Q6 | 0.84 | 0.74 | ||
Q7 | 0.87 | 0.79 | ||
Q8 | 0.85 | 0.76 | ||
Q9 | 0.85 | 0.78 | ||
Q10 | 0.87 | 0.77 | ||
Q11 | 0.81 | 0.66 | ||
Q12 | 0.88 | 0.78 | ||
Q13 | 0.87 | 0.78 | ||
Q14 | 0.86 | 0.75 | ||
Q15 | 0.88 | 0.81 | ||
Q16 | 0.86 | 0.79 | ||
Q20 | 0.80 | 0.81 | ||
Q29 | 0.81 | 0.75 | ||
Q17 | 0.85 | 0.69 | ||
Q18 | 0.86 | 0.64 | ||
Q19 | 0.83 | 0.77 | ||
Q21 | 0.85 | 0.81 | ||
Q22 | 0.89 | 0.77 | ||
Q23 | 0.87 | 0.73 | ||
Q24 | 0.85 | 0.71 | ||
Q25 | 0.83 | 0.67 | ||
Q26 | 0.80 | 0.73 | ||
Q27 | 0.84 | 0.73 | ||
Q28 | 0.82 | 0.71 | ||
Q30 | 0.80 | 0.72 | ||
Q31 | 0.84 | 0.72 | ||
Q32 | 0.83 | 0.69 | ||
Total Explained Variance | 72.39% |
Construct | M | SD | Cronbach’s Alpha (α) | Split-Half Reliability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Service adequacy | 4.46 | 0.64 | 0.91 | 0.82 |
Service balance | 4.29 | 0.75 | 0.97 | 0.90 |
Public service welfare | 4.50 | 0.61 | 0.97 | 0.80 |
Overall reliability | 4.41 | 0.63 | 0.98 | 0.90 |
Variables | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Total teacher evaluation score | —— | ||||||
2. Age | −0.116 ** | —— | |||||
3. Educational background | −0.009 ** | −0.332 ** | —— | ||||
4. Job position | −0.241 ** | 0.396 * | −0.108 ** | —— | |||
5. School tenure | 0.132 ** | −0.004 ** | 0.332 ** | −0.145 ** | —— | ||
6. Kindergarten rating | 0.230 ** | 0.060 ** | 0.124 ** | 0.119 ** | 0.104 ** | —— | |
7. Geographical area | 0.191 ** | 0.090 ** | −0.215 ** | 0.103 ** | 0.207 ** | 0.255 ** | —— |
Variable | β | R2 | ΔR2 | F Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Step 1 | 0.016 | — | 8.02 *** | |
Age | −0.133 *** | |||
Educational background | −0.053 *** | |||
Step 2 | 0.116 | 0.112 | 25.95 *** | |
Age | −0.039 *** | |||
Educational background | −0.030 *** | |||
Job position | −0.185 *** | |||
School tenure | 0.119 *** | |||
Kindergarten rating | 0.222 *** | |||
Step 3 | 0.18 | 0.174 | 30.98 *** | |
Age | −0.05 *** | |||
Educational background | −0.032 *** | |||
Job position | −0.162 *** | |||
School tenure | 0.104 *** | |||
Kindergarten rating | 0.148 *** | |||
Geographical area | 0.215 *** |
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Wang, Y.; Jiang, Y.; Li, H.; Zhou, Y.; Liu, X. The Quality of Puhui Early Education Services in Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives: Evidence from a National Validation Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 10870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710870
Wang Y, Jiang Y, Li H, Zhou Y, Liu X. The Quality of Puhui Early Education Services in Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives: Evidence from a National Validation Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(17):10870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710870
Chicago/Turabian StyleWang, Yifang, Yong Jiang, Hui Li, Yu Zhou, and Xinxin Liu. 2022. "The Quality of Puhui Early Education Services in Chinese Teachers’ Perspectives: Evidence from a National Validation Study" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 17: 10870. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710870