Theory and Practice of a Chinese Pre-primary Education Indicator System

It is an urgent and significant matter to build a Chinese pre-primary education indicator system. This system is expected to have both Chinese standpoints and international perspectives, and to be used to systematically guide and scientifically evaluate pre-primary education in China. This study, based on the internationally popular CIPP evaluation model, describes, explains, juxtaposes, and compares the pre-primary education indicator systems from the OECD, the UNESCO, the US, the UK, and other major international organizations and countries. The authors propose the theoretical framework of a Chinese pre-primary education indicator system, which includes factors such as background, input, process and output, the 10 first-level indicators (demographic characteristics, social welfare, the management system, resource allocation, curricular activities, kindergarten management, the teaching force, family support, the popularization of education, and child development), and 63 second-level indicators. In conclusion, the theoretical framework offers a value-oriented instrument for establishing the development goal of pre-primary education development in China, a structural instrument for a complete understanding of the current situation of China’s pre-primary education, a methodological instrument for the scientific supervision and evaluation of China’s pre-primary education, and a universal instrument for China’s international exchanges and cooperation in the field of pre-primary education.