An investigation of elementary schools in terms of schools' readiness

This study aims to holistically determine elementary schools' readiness for children who are starting school and to determine teacher qualifications, which are featured in the dimension of schools' readiness for children, based on the quantitative and qualitative data obtained from classroom teachers. This study was performed in the city of Çanakkale, Turkey in the 2018-2019 school year by employing a convergent parallel mixed-method design, which is one of the mixed method designs. The data in the quantitative part of the study were obtained by means of "Consent Forms" and "Information Forms" filled in by a total of 617 classroom teachers, selected out of 881 classroom teachers through a stratified sampling method, and by means of "Elementary Schools' Readiness Assessment Tool (ESRAT)" designed by Kartal and Güner (2019). The quantitative data obtained were analyzed using frequency, percentage, average, the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey's honestly significant difference test. The qualitative data of the study were collected through interviews with 20 first-grade classroom teachers. The analysis of the qualitative data was performed by following a descriptive analysis method. The quantitative findings obtained from classroom teachers by means of ESRAT demonstrated that the elementary schools in this study were ready for children who are starting school. The sub-dimensions with the highest average level of participation from the classroom teachers were respectively "Implementations of transition to school", "Physical arrangements in common use areas (PACUA)", "Physical security measures" and "Teachers' preparations." Furthermore, the variable of the level of education had a significant impact on the average scores of the classroom teachers on ESRAT. Yet, the study found that the variables of professional seniority, first-grade teaching experience, grade level and the socio-economic level of the school environment had no significant effect on the average scores of the classroom teachers on ESRAT. Moreover, the average scores of the classroom teachers in the sub-dimension of "Teachers' preparations" varied according to professional seniority and first-grade teaching experience. The quantitative findings of the study regarding teachers' preparations was that schools should be supported in establishing communication between families and first-grade teachers before school starts. The qualitative findings of the study regarding teachers' preparations showed that two out of five of the first-grade classroom teachers make the preparations without any support or without collaborating with other staff and families. The qualitative findings of the study regarding implementations of transition to school demonstrated that there were a few problems that revolve around several issues in implementations of transition to school and the most notable one was the lack of funding for the transition to school process in the schools included in this study. Also, the quantitative and qualitative findings on physical security measures indicated that more physical security measures should be taken for the small-age group in the interiors of the elementary schools included in this study. However, the elementary schools analysed in this study were ready for children who are starting elementary school, based on the quantitative and qualitative findings of the study that are congruent with each other. The study suggested the development of the Support Program for Elementary Schools' Readiness (SPESR) to focus particularly on the setbacks in the dimensions of "Physical security measures" and "Teachers' preparations" as well as to overcome the school-related problems that are experienced by children who are starting elementary school. The study lastly suggested the development of a School-Based Transition Model (SBPD) that places the focus of school readiness on the concept of "school".