THE EFFECTS OF DAY CARE QUALITY ON FIRST GRADE CHILDREN’S SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The effects of pre-school care quality on the social competence and academic achievement of primary school children were investigated. 101 6 year-old children were selected from 13 different pre-schools. they were then followed at the end of the first semester of the first year in the primary schools. their social competencies were evaluated by teacher ratings and academic achievements were evaluated by both teacher ratings and school grades. the results showed that in terms of social competence, both square footage per child and developmentally appropriate activities in the pre-schools predicted aggression towards peers at the primary school. in terms of academic achievement, developmentally appropriate activities and teachers’ education predicted the teacher rated academic skills. in addition, turkish and mathematic grades were predicted by maternal education level.