Classroom chaos and program quality in early child care and education programs: A study from Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to better understand the construct of classroom chaos in relation to child care program quality and examine its association with child externalizing problems and social competence. Towards this end, two studies were conducted at child care programs in Turkey. Study 1 was qualitiative and relied on eight focus group interviews with 24 Turkish teachers to gain a deeper understanding of what is meant by quality and chaos. Study 2 included 49 teachers and 251 preschoolers as participants to investigate the concurrent relations of classroom chaos and quality with children's socioemotional functioning. Results of multilevel linear modeling analyses revealed that teachers’ increased perception of classroom chaos was associated with higher levels of externalizing problems and lower levels of social competence in children, even after controlling for program quality, child age, gender, and temperamental effortful control. Teacher-rated classroom chaos was also associated with mother-reported externalizing problems. On average, program quality was rated as minimal and showed no significant relations with externalizing problems and social competence. The implications of these findings were discussed with respect to the intervention targets in early child care and education programs.