Investigation of preschool teachers' attitudes towards developmental assesment of young children

In this study; It was aimed to reveal the attitudes of preschool teachers working in preschool education institutions towards developmental assessment practices and to examine their attitude levels towards developmental assessment practices in terms of various variables. In this study designed with a mixed method, the quantitative data of the research were obtained through the Child Recognition and Evaluation Techniques Attitude Scale. Research data was collected through Google form, a web-based data collection tool, from 181 preschool teachers determined by purposeful sampling method. In order to create the qualitative data of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the five teachers who received the highest score from the Child Recognition and Evaluation Techniques Attitude Scale (ÇTDTTO) and the five teachers who received the lowest score. The quantitative data obtained in this study were analyzed through the SPSS 22 package program. Due to non-normally distributed data, comparisons between three or more groups; Kruskall Wallis H Test is used in comparisons between pairs due to normally distributed data; independent t-test was used, and ANOVA test was used for comparisons between three or more groups. Descriptive statistical method was used when evaluating the study data. 0.05 was used as the significance level, and if p<0.05, it was stated that there was a significant difference/relationship, and if p>0.05, it was stated that there was no significant difference/relationship. The qualitative data of the research were analyzed with the descriptive analysis method. Descriptive analysis technique was used to analyze the qualitative data of the research. First, the data obtained from the interviews with the teachers were deciphered by the researcher. Then, the coding process was included. Within the scope of validity and reliability, quotations from the information obtained from the participants are included and the data is presented to the readers in a simple manner, making as few changes as possible. According to the findings; There is a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of preschool teachers towards child recognition and evaluation techniques according to the gender variable; It was determined that there was no significant difference between age, graduation, postgraduate education, professional seniority and average number of students. When the developmental evaluation strategies used by pre-school teachers working in pre-school education institutions during the education process are examined, the most common ones are; It is seen that they use observation, interview, portfolio, home visit, game and anecdote recording techniques. When the points that pre-school teachers working in pre-school education institutions pay attention to in developmental assessment practices are examined, the most common points are; They emphasized categories such as individual differences, child-centered approach, family participation, and natural environment. When the areas where preschool teachers working in pre-school education institutions use the data obtained from developmental assessment practices are examined, the teachers' most common use is; They touched upon the categories of family information, referral to necessary units, development support and event planning. The opinions of pre-school teachers working in pre-school education institutions about the suitability of the developmental assessment strategies they use are mostly focused on the suitability for the purpose.