The Level of Early Childhood Teachers’ Knowledge Regarding the Practices of Early Intervention for Children at Risk of Learning Disabilities

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the level of knowledge of early childhood teachers regarding the early intervention strategies for children at risk of learning disabilities. A questionnaire was designed comprising (22) items distributed in (3) dimensions, namely the practices related to pre-academic skills, basic operations and psychological concepts. This was applied to a random sample of (340) female early childhood teachers. The results indicated a high level of knowledge of early intervention practices in all three dimensions among teachers, and also statistically significant variations in the level of knowledge of early intervention practices attributed to the educational stage which is in favor of the pre-primary stage. The results also showed no statistically significant differences attributable to academic qualification, academic specialization and years of experience. Based on the outcome, the researchers recommended developing training programs to enable early childhood teachers to implement their expertise and utilize it as early intervention methods.

Received: 13 October 2021 / Accepted: 15 November 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022