Evaluation of normative scores of Neuropsychological Skills Teacher Form Questionnaire of preschool children

Abstract

Introduction: Neuropsychological skills are required to learn the prerequisite concepts of reading, writing and mathematics in the preschool period. Aim: The aim of this study was evaluation of normative scores of Neuropsychological Skills Teacher Form Questionnaire of preschool children. Method: The research method was mixed (qualitative-quantitative). Thematic analysis was used for the qualitative section and the descriptive-survey method in the quantitative section. The statistical population included all preschool children of Isfahan in the academic year of 2020-2021. After obtaining permission from the Education Organization, the researcher-made neuropsychological skills questionnaire was completed online by 410 preschool teachers selected by the two-stage cluster sampling method. Data were analyzed by exploratory factor analysis through principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis by SPSS-22 and AMOS-23. Results: The normative results of the participants responses to the questionnaire revealed that the raw scores ranged between 1.7 and 4, Z scores ranged between 2.24 and 1.77, t scores ranged between 27.57 and 67.89, and percentage scores were from 0.2 and 100%; furthermore, the factor loadings (p=0.476, Δx2=12.64) were equal among girls and boys. The reliability coefficients of the questionnaire estimated by Cronbach’s alpha (0.921) and split-half (0.843) were acceptable. The clinical cut-off point was 2.86, and factor loadings of all items obtained from confirmatory factor analysis were higher than 0.4 and significant (p<0.001). But the difference between the mean scores of neuropsychological skills of preschool girls and boys was not significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: The researcher-made Neuropsychological Skills Questionnaire can be used as a valid tool to assess the neuropsychological skills of preschool children.