Development and validation of assessment tools for literacy and numeracy skills in early childhood education

Abstract

This study focuses on developing and validating a tool to assess literacy and numeracy skills in young children. A total of 137 children from five kindergartens participated. The tool was first evaluated for content validity through a review of existing literature and further refined by expert feedback. Then, its construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis, and its reliability was assessed using McDonald's Omega (ω) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α). The data were analyzed using SPSS to confirm the validity and reliability of the tool for each skill set. Both literacy and numeracy components showed high validity with a p-value of 0.000. The reliability for the literacy tool was also high, with Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega both around 0.797. For the numeracy tool, reliability was acceptable, with Cronbach's alpha at 0.713 and McDonald's Omega at 0.705. The results confirm that the questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating literacy and numeracy skills in early childhood. This research contributes to the creation of two tools that can aid educators in various institutions interested in enhancing literacy and numeracy education at the kindergarten level. Further exploration of additional aspects is suggested for future research.