Cathy O.Y. Hung, Ye Zhang, Ruoyu Wen, Dan Dan Zhang, Hao Han, Ruifeng Pan, Ping Shi, Allan H.K. Yuen

• Integrated Model of ECEC Quality was proposed to conceptualize the quality of ECEC.
• Items of the CKQRS were developed and reviewed using Delphi method to establish content validity.
• Concurrent validity was established by the significant associations with two validated evaluation tools.
• There are five factors resulted from the exploratory factor analysis.
• The psychometric equivalence of the rating scale was established by examining the measurement invariance between two sub-groups.

The present study aimed to develop a new measure to assess the quality of kindergartens in terms of the proximal features, programme characteristics, and administration and management.

The research involved multiple procedures to develop and validate the new measure, Chinese Kindergarten Quality Rating Scale (CKQRS). Firstly, in the development stage, the ecological system model, Integrated Model of ECEC Quality, was adopted as a conceptual framework to develop the items of CKQRS. The items were reviewed by an expert review panel composed of 18 ECEC experts to thoroughly review the content and assure the content validity of the new measure by means of a Delphi method. Secondly, one hundred and twelve kindergartens were evaluated through on-site observation by different measures, including the CKQRS, Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R), and Programme Administration Scale (PAS) in order to assess the concurrent validity of the CKQRS. Thirdly, the CKQRS was further examined for the factorial structure, the psychometric equivalence of the rating scale across sub-groups (i.e. measurement invariance), and the internal consistency.

The results from the Delphi method showed that the CKQRS items have good content validity based on the relevance rating by the expert panel. The results showed that the CKQRS items are significantly associated with ECERS-R and PAS items, which demonstrated a good concurrent validity. The exploratory factor analysis results showed that the CKQRS has a good fit with a five-factor model. That is, the quality of ECEC can be evaluated by five components: (a) proximal features, (b) learning and development support, (c) programme planning, (d) physical space, health and safety, and (e) administration and management. The measurement invariance was examined between two sub-groups by school size. The measurement invariance assessment result showed that there is an identical factor structure (i.e. configural invariance), identical factor loadings (i.e. metric invariance), and identical intercepts (i.e. scalar invariance) between the two sub-groups.

This measure provides empirical evidence on the quality of ECEC through the perspective of ecological system theory and may inform policy making on identifying the supports needed in enhancing the quality of ECEC.