The Inventory of Quality in Early Intervention Centres for Service Providers: Preliminary Validating Study in a Spanish Sample

Abstract

Evaluating the service quality in early intervention (EI) from the perspective of professionals with knowledge in this area is essential for the improvement of EI centres. In this study, we aimed to test the reliability and validity of the adapted Inventory of Quality in Early Intervention Centres-P (IQEIC-P) in a sample of professionals who worked in EI centres. Three hundred and twenty-four professionals of 85 EI Spanish centres were recruited for this research. Various psychometric analyses were used to evaluate the factorial structure, the internal consistency, factorial validity and construct validity. A 5-dimension structure was obtained in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The results showed an adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha values between 0.71 and 0.83, and composite reliability (CR) values higher than 0.70), as well as satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity (average variance extracted (AVE) values above 0.50). In the confirmatory factor analysis, good model fit indicators were observed. The IQEIC-P showed adequate psychometric properties, demonstrating to be a valid instrument for the evaluation of service quality in EI centres from the perspective of professionals. The benefits will influence the professionals themselves, and they will have a positive and direct impact on the families that are attended to in these centres.

The Level of Early Childhood Teachers’ Knowledge Regarding the Practices of Early Intervention for Children at Risk of Learning Disabilities

“…From an educational and psychological standpoint, the earliest years of a child's life are critical in determining their future, and they become much more significant if some indicators of developmental learning disorders arise at this period (Campana et al, 2020). Between the ages of 3 and 8 years, the child goes through various biological stages of basic psychological processes such as thinking and cognition (Abdel-Baqi et al,2019), which have a significant impact on his later years and serve as the foundation for lifelong learning.…”