Initial Development of a National Survey on Remote Learning in Early Childhood During COVID-19: Establishing Content Validity and Reporting Successes and Barriers

Abstract

This article describes the development and administration of a survey to identify early childhood educators’ successes and barriers when delivering remote instruction (e.g., online whole or small group instruction) during the COVID-19 pandemic to children 2–5 years old. The survey was developed using procedures outlined by the commonly accepted stages of an instrument development process. Content validity was established using four approaches: (a) identification of the purpose of the survey, (b) creation of a blueprint of items, (c) cognitive interviews, and (d) expert panel review. A total of 1,053 early childhood educators began the survey, with 808 (77%) of the responses included because educators met the inclusion criteria of working in the United States and responding to at least one question related to remote instruction. The survey contained 37 closed-ended and six open-ended items covering eight domains: (a) demographic information; (b) preparation, guidelines, and materials for remote learning; (c) caregiver communication and engagement; (d) assessment; (e) instruction; (f) educators’ levels of confidence before and after remote learning; (g) access to services (i.e., wraparound and/or special education); and (h) planning for the return to face-to-face instruction. Both quantitative (descriptive, t-test, regression, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests) and consensual qualitative research analyses were applied to summarize the survey results. Findings from this survey indicated that even with limited or no guidance from administrators, educators successfully adapted to remote instruction and their levels of confidence increased over time. Ongoing improvements need to be made to sustain regular communication with all families, to offer access to technology (i.e., devices and internet), to administer assessments or universal screeners, and to provide cohesive guidelines and expectations. Results from this study begin to shed light on early childhood educators’ adaptation to remote instruction as a result of COVID-19. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-021-01216-y.

“The whole experience is still very high touch for parents”: Parent moves to support young children’s remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For families with access, pandemic-situated remote learning was offered in variety of modalities, including synchronous online lessons shared live and/or asynchronous pre-recorded video lessons/instruction shared via digital platforms (e.g. video-calls, social media interactions, email, text messages, phone calls), and/or instructional worksheets or packets shared digitally, mailed, or physically delivered to families (see Byun and Slavin, 2020; Dias et al, 2020; Dong et al, 2020; McKenna et al, 2021; Soltero-González and Gillanders, 2021; Washington Post, 2020; Yıldırım, 2021). In some countries, educational content was also provided via televised educational activities (Byun and Slavin, 2020; Pellegrini and Maltinti, 2020).…”

Remote Use of Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) for Infants and Toddlers

“…Although progress has been made in telehealth services (Behl et al, 2017; Landry et al, 2021; Poole et al, 2020), there have been fewer advances in remote assessments essential to determine children’s progress and outcomes due to services. Only 8% ( N = 788) of early educators reported administering an assessment or screener during March to June 2020 closures (McKenna et al, 2021).…”

Persepsi Pendidik PAUD Terhadap Aplikasi EduGame MARU sebagai Alternatif Media Pembelajaran Jarak Jauh

“…Metode ini bisa dilaksanakan dengan lebih sederhana (Memon et al, 2020) dan analisis data bisa dilakukan dengan analisis statistika deskriptif (Turney & Wildeman, 2017). Metode survei dikembangkan dengan menggunakan prosedur yang dimulai dengan pengembangan instrumen untuk pengambilan data (McKenna et al, 2021). Sampel penelitian ini terdiri dari 35 responden pendidik anak usia dini, diambil dari seluruh populasi guru PAUD.…”