Research On The Construction And Implementation Of An Evaluation Indicator System For Puhui Kindergarten In China

In 2010,the Central Government of China issued two important policy directives:“Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium-and Long-term Education Reform and Development(2010–2020)” and “Several Views on the Current Development of Preschool Education by the State Council”.In particular,the Plan ordered the establishment of puhui kindergartens(Ph Ks)all over the country as a national strategy to address the ‘3A’ problems(accessibility,accountability,and affordability)and to achieve the target of universal early childhood education.Despite the tremendous advances we have made in developing Ph Ks by positive trial and error over years,the concept of Ph Ks has not been clearly defined;thus,it is still under debate.Its effectiveness has not been rigorously evaluated as there are no reliable and valid rating scales.To fill these gaps,this study firstly developed and validated the Puhui Kindergarten Rating Scale(PKRS),based on the new public service theory,social equality theory,and socialistic modern education system with Chinese characteristics “Running Education to the Satisfaction of the People”,with a national survey study.Stratified random sampling was employed to recruit 28,732 parents,4709 teachers,and 1365 principals from Ph Ks for this national survey study.Altogether 34,806 participants from seven provinces to represent eastern,central,and western China were surveyed by questionnaires.Then,all of the survey data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 22.0 and MPLUS 7 software.The psychometric properties were analyzed using item analysis,exploratory factor analysis(EFA),confirmatory factor analysis(CFA),and reliability test to explore and verify the indicator system’s construct validity and reliability.The PKRS was indicated to be a reliable and valid scale with five constructs,12 dimensions,and 53 indicators.The five constructs include Allocation,Accessibility,Assorting,Administration,and All-in.The 12 dimensions include basic funding,focused funding,participation conditions,selection scope,regulations,tuition fees,environment and resources,child development,teacher qualification,teacher development,public-oriented,and educational compensation.The PKRS is based on multi-perspectives and places the satisfaction of people at the center.Such an indicator system not only helps to interpret comprehensively and systematically the intension and extension of Ph Ks from both theoretical and practical levels,but also provides a reference for policymakers to design,evaluate,and supervise Ph Ks.Secondly,this study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of Ph Ks from the perspective of stakeholders including parents,teachers,and principals using the PKRS,which measures the extent to which the public believes they receive(or lack)the ECE service.Through the descriptive analysis,Chi-square test,variance analysis,latent profile analysis,and logistic regression analysis,the overall status of Ph Ks development were understood.The study found that the scores of five constructs ranked from high to low were Assorting(4.24),Administration(4.14),Accessibility(4.10),All-in(4.04),and Allocation(3.97).The quality of Ph Ks was positively evaluated and the tuition fees had effectively decreased while the imbalanced structure of financial allocation,weak function in educational compensation for disadvantaged children,the Matthew Effect between different kindergartens,the quality and turnover issues of kindergarten teachers,the unsatisfied needs to access nearby from parents,and contradictions of resource structural supply in economically developed regions were still ongoing challenges.To support the in-depth and sustainable development of Ph Ks in the next stage,this study put forward the following policy recommendations in response to the above issues:(1)Establish a scientific per-student public expenditure financial allocation system of Ph Ks;(2)Support disadvantaged children together with priority admission system and funding system;(3)Re-identify the nature of Ph Ks and promote the integrated development;(4)Gradually weaken the kindergarten hierarchy and promote the kindergarten system reform;(5)Focus on the construction of the quality of kindergarten teachers and improve the welfare of them;(6)Use Geographic Information System(GIS)to scientifically allocate institutional resources;(7)Innovate the system to expand the channel of ECE resource supply.