Development of early childhood teachers’ digital play support competency scale

The purpose of this study is to develop a scale for assessing early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play. The research questions addressed are as follow: Firstly, what constitutes the structure of the scale for assessing early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play? Secondly, what are the validity and reliability of this scale? To achieve these objectives, a preliminary set of 50 items was derived from a comprehensive review of existing literature on digital play support. Content aspect validity verification and a pilot study were conducted, resulting in a refined draft of 40 items. Content aspect validity was assessed through analyses of item suitability and point-biserial correlation coefficients, confirming that all items were appropriate for the purpose. Empirical validity assessments demonstrated satisfactory levels of subject fit and a normal distribution pattern in the levels of subjects and item difficulty. Internal structure aspect validity confirmed the scale's fit with the Rasch model. Generalizability aspect validity testing indicated that the scale did not exhibit differential functioning across various groups of early childhood teachers. These results affirm that the scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring early childhood teachers' competencies in supporting digital play.