School readiness and adaptation preblems of primary school students starting school at different ages

The aim of this research is to determine adaptation problems and readiness levels of primary school students starting primary schools in the 2017-2018 school years. Furthermore, it is aimed to examine the reflections of the application of starting school at different ages on students, teachers and teaching process according to teachers' opinions. In this research, embedded mixed method design was used. The sample of the research consists of 909 first year primary school students and 30 classroom teachers determined using stratified purposive sampling method. In this research, in order to determine primary school readiness of primary school students "Primary School Readiness Scale" was used, "The School Adaptation Scale" was used to determine primary school adaptation problems and semi-structured interview form was used to determine teacher opinions. In this research, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), differential analysis (MANOVA, ANOVA, t test), Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and stepwise regression analysis were used and descriptive analysis technique was used for qualitative data. The results of the research are presented below: 1. Primary school readiness levels of 60-65 months first year primary school students were found to be at moderate level; 66-71 and 72-84 months students were found to be at high level. 2. Primary school readiness was found to be higher in female students, 66-71 and 72-84 months students, students studying in the provinces of Gaziantep, Kayseri and Istanbul, students taking preschool education, the students whose parents have a high level of education, students with fewer siblings, students with high family income. 3. It was determined that 60-65 months of primary school students sometimes experienced adaptation problems, while the students of 66-71 and 72-84 months almost never experienced adaptation problems. 4. Primary school adaptation problems was found to be lower in students studying in the provinces of Gaziantep, Kayseri and Istanbul, students taking preschool education, the students whose parents have a high level of education, students with high family income. 5. It was concluded that there is a high level, negative and significant relationship between primary school readiness levels and adaptation problems of primary school students. It was determined that primary school students' readiness concerning affective (54.4%), psycho-motor (4.4%) and cognitive (0.5%) skills accounted for 59.3% of the variance in school adaptation problems. It was concluded that the students' readiness for self-care skills did not contribute significantly to the variance in school adaptation problems. 6. It was determined that the teachers' general beliefs about the application of starting primary school at different ages are negative because the students who are 60-65 months of age are not ready for primary school and have adaptation problems. Teachers stated that as their students' ages increased, their primary school readiness increased and school adaptation problems decreased. 7. It was concluded that the general beliefs of the teachers concerning the reflections of the application of starting school at different ages on students, teachers and teaching process are negative.