ATTITUDES OF YOUNG CHILDREN TOWARDS THEIR PEERS WITH DISABILITIES: THE ADAPTATION STUDY OF THE ACCEPTANCE SCALE FOR KINDERGARTEN- REVISED

ÇOCUKLARIN ÖZEL GEREKSİNİMLİ AKRANLARINA KARŞI TUTUMLARI: OKUL ÖNCESİ KABUL ÖLÇEĞİ-YENİLENMİŞ FORMU’NUN (OÖKÖ) UYARLAMA ÇALIŞMASI

Abstract

This study aimed to adapt the Acceptance Scale of KindergartenRevised (ASK-R) developed by Favazza and Odom (1996, 1999) to Turkish and to analyze the validity and reliability of the scale. The Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten-Revised (ASK-R) consists of a total of 18 items and a single dimension that determine the acceptance levels of pre-school children of their peers with special needs. The sample group of the study was determined by the criterion sampling method, and in accordance with the criterion of the presence of children with special needs who continue the inclusion program in the study, it was attempted to reach all of the children in the schools determined. Accordingly, the sample of the study consisted of 409 children with typical development needs, aged between 59-78 months, who are attending to the mainstreaming program in inclusive classes in preschool education institutions affiliated to Edirne Provincial National Education Directorate in the Spring Term of the 2016-2017 Academic Year. The mean age of the sample children was 67,62 months (sd = 3.17). The Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten (ASK) developed in 1996 and revised (ASK-R) in 1999 by Favazza and Odom and the general information form developed by the researcher were used as the data collection tools. During the data collection process, which started with the acquisition of the relevant legal permissions, the researcher performed individual applications with the children. As a first step, the scale was adapted to Turkish in terms of language and culture. The validity of the scale was measured by Confirmatory Factor Analysis and group point differences of upper and lower 27%. The internal reliability of the scale was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method. As a result of the Confirmatory Factor Analyzes, it was determined that the scale had a one-factor structure like the original scale: χ2(84)=180,809 CFI=0.93 RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.07, WRMR= 1,18 and the internal reliability coefficient was calculated as 0,75Friendships established during early childhood is an important foundation for children’s concurrent and future development and education. The presence of friends with special needs in the preschool classrooms may be an opportunity to develop acceptance by children with typical development. It has been stated that children with special needs who are educated in inclusive classrooms increase their social and verbal interactions with their peers, which in turn positively affects their cognitive development (Camargo et al., 2014; Guralnick and Groom, 1987; Walton and Ingersoll 2013; Williams, Sheridan and Sandberg, 2014). For children with typical development, being in the inclusive classroom and interacting with children with special needs help them to develop a realistic awareness by recognizing differences and experiencing special needs (Favazza, Ostrosky and Mouzourou, 2016; Ostrosky, Mouzourou and Dorsey, 2013). For this reason, there is a necessity to produce new scales related to the social acceptance of preschool-aged children or to adapt the existing scales valid in the literature to Turkish language and culture. With this in mind, this study aimed to adapt the Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten – Revised (ASK-R), which was developed by Favazza and Odom (1996 ASK, 1999 ASK-R) in order to assess social acceptance of children with typical development towards their peers with special needs during preschool years, into Turkish and to analyze the validity and reliability of the scale. The previous adaptation of this scale was made by Tekin Ersan, Ata and Kaya (2017). In this study, it is aimed to determine whether the factor structure found in the previous study (Tekin Ersan et al., 2017) and original study (Favazza and Odom, 1996) for the Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten – Revised is also valid for children living in another region of Turkey (Edirne). In addition, this study aims to expand the usability and the generalization of the scale to the general population by keeping larger sample size. Method This study aimed to adapt the Acceptance Scale of KindergartenRevised (ASK-R) developed by Favazza and Odom (1996, 1999) to Turkish and to analyze the validity and reliability of the scale. The Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten- Revised consists of 18 items and a single dimension that determine the acceptance levels of pre-school children of their peers with special needs. The sample group of the study was determined by the criterion sampling method, and in accordance with the criterion of the presence of children with special needs who continue the inclusion program in the study, it was attempted to reach all of the children in the schools determined. Accordingly, the sample of the study consisted of 409 children with typical development, aged between 59-78 months, who are attending to the mainstreaming program in inclusive classrooms in preschools affiliated to Edirne Provincial National Education Directorate in the Spring Term of the 2016-2017 Academic Year. The mean age of the children was 67,62 months (SD = 3.17). The Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten (ASK) developed in 1996 and revised (ASK-R) in 1999 by Favazza and Odom and the general information form developed by the researcher were used as the data collection tools. During the data collection process, which started with the acquisition of the relevant legal permissions, the researcher performed individual applications with the children. As a first step, the scale was adapted to Turkish in terms of language and culture. The validity of the scale was measured by Confirmatory Factor Analysis and group point differences of upper and lower 27%. The internal reliability of the scale was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method.We ran the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test validity of the scale. Following the Confirmatory Factor Analysis results, the model was retested by subtracting the items that were not significantly weighted from the scale. As the CFA model i

Özet

Bu araştırmada Favazza ve Odom (1996, 1999) tarafından geliştirilen Acceptance Scale of Kindergarten-Revised (ASK-R) Okul Öncesi Kabul Ölçeği-Yenilenmiş Formu'nu (OÖKÖ) Türkçe'ye uyarlamak, ölçeğin geçerlik ve güvenirlik analizlerini yapmak amaçlanmaktadır. Okul Öncesi Kabul Ölçeği-Yenilenmiş Formu; okul öncesi dönem çocuklarının özel gereksinimli olan akranlarını kabul düzeylerini belirleyen toplam 18 madde ve tek boyuttan oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın örneklem grubu ölçüt örnekleme yöntemi ile belirlenmiş olup; araştırmada kaynaştırma programına devam eden özel gereksinimli çocukların bulunması ölçütüne uygun olarak belirlenen okullardaki çocukların tamamına ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Buna göre araştırmanın örneklemini; 2016-2017 EğitimÖğretim Yılı Bahar döneminde Edirne İl Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü'ne bağlı okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında kaynaştırma programına devam eden özel gereksinimli çocukların bulunduğu sınıflarda eğitim öğretime devam eden, normal gelişim gösteren, 59-78 aylık toplam 409 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Örneklemi oluşturan çocukların yaş ortalaması 67.62'dir (ss= 3.17). Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak Favazza ve Odom tarafından 1996 yılında geliştirilerek 1999 yılında revize edilen Okul Öncesi Kabul Ölçeği (OÖKÖ) ile araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen genel bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. İlgili yasal izinlerin alınması ile başlayan veri toplama sürecinde araştırmacı, çocuklarla birebir uygulamalar yapmıştır. İlk adım olarak, ölçek dil ve kültürel açıdan Türkçe'ye uyarlanmıştır. Ölçeğin geçerliliği Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi ve alt grup-üst grup %27'lik puan dilimleri farklarıyla ölçülmüştür. Ölçeğin iç güvenirliğinin hesaplanmasında Cronbach's alpha katsayısı kullanılmıştır. Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizleri sonucu incelendiğinde; ölçeğin orijinal ölçekteki gibi tek faktörlü bir yapıya sahip olduğu belirlenmiştir: ?2(84)=180,809 CFI=0.93 RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.07, WRMR= 1,18 ve iç güvenirlik katsayısı 0,75 olarak hesaplanmıştır