Development and validation evaluation of the professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China

Development and validation evaluation of the professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Development and validation evaluation of the professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China Fengjuan Tian, Qiuzhu Chen, Liepeng Huang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objective The professional competence level of pre-service childcare teachers influences the quality of future childcare services. However, due to the lack of necessary assessment tools, this study aims to develop a professional competence scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China. Methods First, the qualitative data, including domestic and international policy texts, field interviews, and existing research findings, were subjected to three-level coding using Nvivo14 software to construct the dimensions of the Professional Competence Scale for Pre-service childcare teacher in China and preliminarily draft the items. Second, the expert consultation method was employed to test content validity. Two rounds of consultations were conducted with 22 experts using A Delphi software to refine the item content. Finally, Items analysis,exploratory factor analysis, reliability testing, and convergent validity testing were performed on data from 558 pre-service childcare teachers using Spss 27.0 software, while confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on data from 534 pre-service childcare teachers using Mplus 8.0 software. Results The professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China comprises four dimensions—Competence to practice teachers' morality, Responsive caregiving competence,Early development support competence, and Health management competence—with a total of 48 items. Content validity testing indicated that the scale items are comprehensive, clearly worded, and expressed in accessible language, effectively covering the professional competency requirements of pre-service childcare teachers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated good model fit for the scale. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each factor exceeded 0.500, Composite Reliability (CR) exceeded 0.700, and factor loadings ranged between 0.750 and 0.917. The scale achieved a Cronbach's α of 0.988, and all split-half reliability coefficients were above 0.700, meeting established psychometric standards. Conclusion The Professional competency scale for pre-service childcare Teachers in China demonstrates stable psychometric properties and is suitable for use as a measurement tool for assessing the professional competence of pre-service childcare teachers. pre-service teacher professional competence Early Development Childcare Services Scale Development Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8698391","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":602491409,"identity":"8a7f69a7-9d3f-4a7a-a2e7-b3b4ccd5368b","order_by":0,"name":"Fengjuan Tian","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAq0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDAC5gOJD6BMA+J08LAlJMOUEq+FTYI0LfZsDM8qf+64k9jA3rxNgqHmDjG2MKTd5j3zLLGB51iZBMOxZ0RokW9Iu83YdjixQSLHTIKx4TBxthT+BGmRf0OCFgZesC08xGo5xpAsDdRi3MaTVmyRcIwILextPIkfgQ6T7Wc/vPHGhxoitADtSQBTbCAigRgNQHsOEKduFIyCUTAKRi4AAO7gNX/PX5ENAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Shaanxi Normal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fengjuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Tian","suffix":""},{"id":602491412,"identity":"e8726f77-8f23-488b-b086-82fbff9c2f31","order_by":1,"name":"Qiuzhu Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shaanxi Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qiuzhu","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":602491415,"identity":"7b9c6d57-ac18-4bfd-8980-7360d573d9d9","order_by":2,"name":"Liepeng Huang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shaanxi Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liepeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-26 08:55:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106972982,"identity":"64c296ae-3149-4209-baa9-544e2aaf7d11","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-15 10:25:41","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":789831,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptID24187eedcafd48f591158b0b2a.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8698391/v1_covered_b198704f-44a7-428f-95b7-adc356b156dd.pdf"},{"id":104364597,"identity":"985505eb-ae7c-43d4-8973-b4280d84e066","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 02:47:52","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":116075,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8698391/v1/601af5010186680c8955fab9.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Development and validation evaluation of the professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"pre-service teacher, professional competence, Early Development, Childcare Services, Scale Development","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjective\u003c/strong\u003e The professional competence level of pre-service childcare teachers influences the quality of future childcare services. However, due to the lack of necessary assessment tools, this study aims to develop a professional competence scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e First, the qualitative data, including domestic and international policy texts, field interviews, and existing research findings, were subjected to three-level coding using Nvivo14 software to construct the dimensions of the Professional Competence Scale for Pre-service childcare teacher in China and preliminarily draft the items. Second, the expert consultation method was employed to test content validity. Two rounds of consultations were conducted with 22 experts using A Delphi software to refine the item content. Finally, Items analysis,exploratory factor analysis, reliability testing, and convergent validity testing were performed on data from 558 pre-service childcare teachers using Spss 27.0 software, while confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on data from 534 pre-service childcare teachers using Mplus 8.0 software.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e The professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China comprises four dimensions—Competence to practice teachers' morality, Responsive caregiving competence,Early development support competence, and Health management competence—with a total of 48 items. Content validity testing indicated that the scale items are comprehensive, clearly worded, and expressed in accessible language, effectively covering the professional competency requirements of pre-service childcare teachers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated good model fit for the scale. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for each factor exceeded 0.500, Composite Reliability (CR) exceeded 0.700, and factor loadings ranged between 0.750 and 0.917. The scale achieved a Cronbach's α of 0.988, and all split-half reliability coefficients were above 0.700, meeting established psychometric standards.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e The Professional competency scale for pre-service childcare Teachers in China demonstrates stable psychometric properties and is suitable for use as a measurement tool for assessing the professional competence of pre-service childcare teachers.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Development and validation evaluation of the professional competency scale for pre-service childcare teachers in China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-11 02:47:48","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8698391/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"cfaacd97-9934-4503-86d0-fc402dc3f83c","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 11th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-15T10:12:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-11 02:47:48","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8698391","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8698391","identity":"rs-8698391","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}