Volume 29, Issue 10 (12-2022)                   RJMS 2022, 29(10): 337-346 | Back to browse issues page

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Ansari N, Mohammad Esmail E, Esteki M, Ramezani A. Validation of Developmental Standards for Measuring Cognitive, Physical-Motivation, Language and Literacy Skills, Approach to Learning and Social-Behavioral-Emotional Skills of 3-4 Year Old Children. RJMS 2022; 29 (10) :337-346
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-7946-en.html
Assistant Professor, Exceptional Children's Research Institute, Tehran, Iran , el_moh_es@yahoo.com
Abstract:   (511 Views)
Background & Aims: Today, many thinkers consider the years before elementary school to be the most fruitful years for education and learning. They believe that a young child learns at a faster rate than he will be able to later and his early mental connections and associations are so stable that in the following years such it does not last. In most cases, preschool children's growth is unbalanced in different growth areas, so growth in one area may be faster than growth in other areas. In addition, children's growth is irregular in most cases. For example, a child may not make much progress in a relatively long period in the field of development, and after that, almost overnight, he will reach sufficient maturity in a series of skills or show more mature characteristics. Also, the growth of children is strongly influenced by the environment, and the settings in which children of this age live are very variable. Family, recreational and educational environments of young children are very different according to the values and characteristics that are strengthened in them; therefore, the skills, abilities, and characteristics that this group of children show may be caused by environmental influences before it is an indication of their abilities. All these factors contribute to the increase of individual differences between children, differences that specialists in the field of preschool and early childhood education acknowledge should be anticipated and considered valuable. The existence of these individual differences between children does not have much effect on the dissemination of standards that show similar expectations of children's development or are even designed to lead to more uniform outcomes in children. A child's growth begins before birth and continues throughout life. In the early years of development, the child's brain connections become very complicated, and the interference of these connections can have long-term effects on his development. At the beginning of birth, babies are actively involved in discovering and learning their surroundings due to adequate nutrition and a rich environment. The sensitive period for most human abilities ends before elementary school and reaches a lower sensitivity of brain neurons. Abilities such as vision, hearing, emotional control, and methods of responding to stimuli reach the lowest level of brain sensitivity at the end of early childhood. Other areas of development, such as language development, numerical and mathematical skills, and social skills, have the highest level of brain sensitivity in this period compared to other periods of life. Also, at birth, the size of a baby's brain is one-quarter of an adult's brain, but by the age of three, this size is three times. It becomes its initial size and this brain size growth is closely related to the amount and quality of its interactions with the environment and different experiences. By summarizing the results of research and studies, it can be concluded that physical-motor, cognitive, social-emotional, behavioral, and learning approaches are not separate from each other, and one should pay attention to all aspects of the child's development and consider the child's personality as a whole. Many environmental factors affect the child's development in the early years of life. Around the world, increasing attention is being paid to the importance of the early years of childhood, with an emphasis on the development and use of developmental and learning standards. Advanced countries develop accurate growth indicators for their children and use them for educational planning. The need for this category is also felt in our country. In our society, children are mostly screened in terms of development and by doctors, not in terms of evolution (cognitive growth and learning); Therefore, considering the importance and necessity of the existence of developmental standards for children to evaluate them in different developmental areas and to know their strengths and weaknesses to provide timely interventions to reach their maximum developmental potential, the purpose of this research is to validate developmental standards for children aged It is 3 to 4 years.
Methods: The research method was a descriptive-correlational research design and applied research in terms of purpose. The statistical population includes all 3-4 year old children in Tehran. The sample size in each growth area is 100 children aged 3 to 4 years and their teachers and parents, which was obtained through cluster and matrix sampling in kindergartens. The sample was selected from 5 geographical regions according to the economic, social, and cultural characteristics of Tehran, including northwest and east, southwest and east, and the center (regions 3, 5, 6, 14, 16). The data collection tool includes scales for measuring developmental capabilities in cognitive, language, and literacy domains, an approach to learning, physical-motor, and social-behavioral-emotional for 3 to 4-year-old children, which was developed using the standards available in different countries. These scales include the following: the developmental standards of different American states, including the developmental standards of Washington (2012), which has five areas of cognition, language, and literacy, an approach to learning, physical-motor, social-behavioral-emotional, and Nebraska developmental standards (2018). Which have seven fields science, mathematics, creativity, language, physical-motor, approach to learning, and social-emotional. Data analysis including descriptive statistics and validity assessment through content, formal and cultural validity, and validity check through the validity of assessors, internal consistency of the instrument, Cronbach's alpha, and retesting were determined by correlation method.
Results: The findings of the research indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between the cognition scale and the subscales of logic, arithmetic, science, and studies, between the physical-motor scale and the subscales of gross motor skills and fine motor skills, between the approach to learning scale and the subscales Curiosity and interest, stability of attention, contemplation and creativity between the language and literacy scale with the subscales of receptive or receptive language, expressive language, reading and writing and between the emotional-behavioral-social scale with the subscales of self-concept, self-regulation, interaction with peers and adults and with social behavior, which indicates the construct validity of the scale (of internal consistency). Also, the research findings show; The reliability of the cognitive scale is equal to 0.94, the reliability of the physical-motor scale is equal to 0.74, the reliability of the total approach to learning scale is equal to 0.85, the reliability of the language and literacy scale is equal to 0.93 and in the emotional-behavioral-social scale It was equal to 0.85, which indicates the optimal reliability of the scale.
Conclusion: In this research, the difficulty coefficient (the percentage of respondents to each question based on a three-level spectrum) is presented. The findings of the research indicate that the difficulty coefficient of the physical-motion scale (the percentage of answers to each question option) in the area of gross motor skills and fine motor skills is 29 at the yes level; therefore, the difficulty coefficient of the physical-motion scale questions shows the moderate to high ease of the questions. In questions about the approach to learning at the level of curiosity and interest, the questions are in the yes range. In the field of attention stability, the difficulty coefficient of most questions is at the yes level. The area of creativity and the area of contemplation is at the level of Yes; therefore, the difficulty coefficient of the approach to learning questions shows the medium to high ease of the questions. The difficulty coefficient of language and literacy scale questions, comprehension language, and expressive language questions is in the yes criterion. The reading difficulty coefficient is sometimes at the yes level and the questions of the writing area are at the yes level, except questions 50, 52, and 54. In general, it can be said that the difficulty coefficient of the language and literacy scale questions shows the average to high ease of the questions. In social-emotional questions in the behavioral domain of self-concept, self-management, and social behavior, the difficulty coefficient of most of the questions is at the yes level, therefore, the difficulty coefficient indicates the medium to high ease of the questions; Therefore, based on the findings of the research on the difficulty factor of the questions, the majority of the questions indicate the medium to high ease of the questions. In explaining the findings of the research, it can be stated that the list has high reliability in all areas, this proves the reproducibility of this list in society. It shows that it is consistent with similar foreign and domestic studies. Because reliability is a necessary condition for validity. In other words, if a measure does not have reliability, it cannot show the correct and real value of a phenomenon; Considering the appropriate validity and reliability of the list of cognitive, language and literacy, physical-motion, approach to learning, social-behavioral-emotional developmental skills, it is suggested that to evaluate the developmental skills of cognitive, language and literacy, physical-motor, approach to learning, social-behavioral-emotional children of 3-4 years old in different regions and cultures of Iran should use this list.
 
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Type of Study: Research | Subject: Clinical Psychiatry

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