Structural and process predictors of Chinese parental satisfaction toward early childhood education services

CITATION

Hu, B.Y., Yang, Y., Wu, H., Song, Z. and Neitzel, J. (2018) Structural and process predictors of Chinese parental satisfaction toward early childhood education services, Children and Youth Services Review, 89, pp.179-187

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ABSTRACT
This study examined structural and process predictors of Chinese parental satisfaction toward early childhood
education (ECE) services in the Chinese sociocultural context. The two-level hierarchical linear model was used
to investigate the structural and process predictors of parents' satisfaction toward ECE services among 532
parents coming from 48 kindergarten classrooms in a southern China province. Findings indicated that educational
level and annual income on parent-level were positively related to their satisfaction. Although classroomlevel
variables altogether explained a large percentage of parental satisfaction, only the structural quality predictors
of teachers' teaching experiences and class size, as well as the process quality predictor of the emotional
support, were identified to be significant predictors of parental satisfaction toward multiple dimensions of ECE
services. Implications for ECE service providers, policymakers, and professionals are discussed.

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