DOES PRESCHOOL EDUCATION HELP IMMIGRANT CHILDREN REACH THEIR NATIVE PEERS’ ACADEMIC LEVELS?: A CASE OF TURKISH IMMIGRANT CHILDREN IN SWEDEN

Abstract

The disadvantages associated with immigration put the children of immigrant families at risk for academic failure. This study investigates the efficacy of educational support provided by the Swedish preschool system to the children of the Turkish families who migrated to Sweden. In this study non-equivalent control group design was used. The sample of the study consists of a total of 45; 5 years old preschool children, 23 Swedish children and 22 Turkish children receiving native language support. During the research both groups continued attending regular public preschool program. Bracken Basic Concept Scale – Revised Form was used as a data collection tool. The results demonstrated that the Swedish preschool education programme was effective in supporting Swedish and Turkish children’s concept acquisition and school readiness. Nevertheless, the programme was not able to close the gap significantly between the Turkish and Swedish children’s concept acquisition and school readiness observed prior to program implementation.