TY - JOUR
T1 - Examination of school readiness constructs in Tanzania
T2 - Psychometric evaluation of the MELQO scales
AU - Raikes, Abbie
AU - Koziol, Natalie
AU - Janus, Magdalena
AU - Platas, Linda
AU - Weatherholt, Tara
AU - Smeby, Anna
AU - Sayre, Rebecca
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - This study examines the development and learning of 684 Tanzanian children starting school, averaging 7 years of age. A primary goal was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a globally-informed measure of school readiness. Using multiple measures including newly-developed direct assessment, and teacher and parent reports of child development, we hypothesized that children's development and learning would demonstrate expected constructs of academic and social/emotional skills and associations with family and child characteristics. Children's direct assessment scores factored into five domains measuring pre-mathematics, pre-literacy, executive functioning, fine motor skills, and socioemotional knowledge. Teachers' reports of children's social/emotional abilities factored into three domains measuring children's social competence, attention/self-regulatory abilities, and problem behaviors. Structural analyses indicated that children's attentional/self-regulatory abilities were associated with their direct assessment scores. Future research should examine these constructs in other countries, with additional methodologies to examine cultural fit and relevance.
AB - This study examines the development and learning of 684 Tanzanian children starting school, averaging 7 years of age. A primary goal was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a globally-informed measure of school readiness. Using multiple measures including newly-developed direct assessment, and teacher and parent reports of child development, we hypothesized that children's development and learning would demonstrate expected constructs of academic and social/emotional skills and associations with family and child characteristics. Children's direct assessment scores factored into five domains measuring pre-mathematics, pre-literacy, executive functioning, fine motor skills, and socioemotional knowledge. Teachers' reports of children's social/emotional abilities factored into three domains measuring children's social competence, attention/self-regulatory abilities, and problem behaviors. Structural analyses indicated that children's attentional/self-regulatory abilities were associated with their direct assessment scores. Future research should examine these constructs in other countries, with additional methodologies to examine cultural fit and relevance.
KW - Early childhood development and learning
KW - Low-income countries
KW - Measurement
KW - Self-regulation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85061894199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85061894199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.appdev.2019.02.003
DO - 10.1016/j.appdev.2019.02.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85061894199
SN - 0193-3973
VL - 62
SP - 122
EP - 134
JO - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
ER -