This study evaluated the quality of early childhood education (ECE) environments, the quality of teacher-child interactions and the duration of free play in 22 ECE classrooms in the Valencian Community, Spain. Twenty-two ECE teachers of four- and five-year-old preschoolers participated in the study. The quality of ECE environments and teacher-child interactions were evaluated using the ECERS-3 and TSRS, respectively. The time children spent in free play and non-free play was also registered. The study concluded that the quality of ECE environments was minimal. The scores of teachers on emotional support were in the medium-high range and scores in instructional support were low, with direct instruction as the predominant teaching style. Indoor free play was positively related to the overall quality of ECE environments and the quality of teacher-child interactions. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to the results of other studies in the Spanish context.

Family-centered services are the recommended early intervention approach to develop and deliver services for children with disabilities and their families. This systematic review aims to identify and highlight what barriers service providers in family-centered early intervention perceive that prevent them from providing high-quality services focused on the family and the child's overall well-being. We identified 37 articles that met the selection criteria of the first initial search of 1858 articles. These studies provided insights from both service providers and families. The identified barriers were categorized into eight dimensions: family, child, knowledge, and application of the approach/model, professional beliefs, natural environment, service coordination, working conditions, and current legislation. The main barriers identified were family barriers, insecurities perceived by professionals and difficulties in their ability to provide services, changes in their attitudes and behaviors when they perceive that they are losing their role as experts, lack of knowledge and application of specific practices, and lack of skills needed to engage primary caregivers in natural settings. These findings should inform policy implementation at local and state levels in countries where family-centered service is established in early childhood programs.

This study looked at the effect of mother's educational level, child emotional difficulties, peer interactions, age, and gender on children's sophistication level of engagement. Eighty-six randomly selected children, aged between 36 and 72 months, and 20 teachers from 5 early childhood education centers in Valencia, Spain, participated in the study. Teachers reported on children's sophistication levels of engagement, interaction with peers, and emotional difficulties. Mothers reported on their highest educational level. The results indicated a direct effect of age, emotional difficulties, peer interactions, and mother's educational level on sophistication level of engagement. Emotional difficulties mediated the relation between mother's educational level and children's sophistication level of engagement, and peer interactions mediated the relation between sophistication level of engagement and age. Our results and those of other studies suggest promoting children's interactions with peers and emotionally secure environments as best practices for supporting children's higher sophistication levels of engagement in early childhood education routines.

This study evaluated the functioning of children in early childhood education classroom routines, using the 3M Functioning in Preschool Routines Scale. A total of 366 children aged 36 to 70 months and 22 teachers from six early childhood education centers in Spain participated in the study. The authors used the Rasch model to determine the item fit and the difficulty of the items in relation to children's ability levels in this age range. The Rasch Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analysis by child age groups showed that the item difficulty differed according to the children's age and according to their levels of competence. The results of this study supported the reliability and validity of the 3M scale for assessing children's functioning in preschool classroom routines. A few items, however, were identified as needing to be reworded and more difficult items needed to be added to increase the scale difficulty level to match the performance of children with higher ability levels. The authors introduced the new and reworded items based on the results of this study and the corresponding ICF codes per item. Moreover, the authors indicate how to use the ICF Performance Qualifiers in relation to the 3M scale response categories for developing a functioning profile for the child.

The most used assessment tool to measure family-centered care and the perception of the care process is the Measure of Processes of Care questionnaire. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the MPOC-SP, specifically by assessing the reliability of its item scores, testing whether its factor structure aligns with the original version, and examining differences in scores across professional profiles. The Spanish-adapted MPOC-SP questionnaire was completed by 278 early childhood service professionals across Spain. Analyses assessed internal consistency, construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis, and differences in scores across professional profiles. The Spanish MPOC-SP demonstrated strong psychometric properties, with Cronbach's Alpha values above 0.70 for total and dimensional scores. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the alignment of the data with the specified model. No significant differences in scores were found across professional profiles, indicating consistency in its application. The Spanish version of the MPOC-SP is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing family-centered care. It provides valuable insights for evaluating and improving family-centered practices in early childhood services, thereby contributing to the enhancement of care quality.