A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP MODEL OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ACCORDING TO THE LITTLE SCIENTIST PROJECT APPROACH UNDER SISAKET PRIMARY EDUCATION SERVICE AREA OFFICE 3

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) Study the of factors influencing the effective early childhood education management according to the guidelines of the little scientist project approach, Thailand, 2) Study the causal relationship of the factors. The research method used was a mixed methods research using quantitative research and qualitative research. The samples used in the research were 320 school administrators and teachers, and 10 experts were interviewed. The research instruments were questionnaires and interview forms. The statistics used for data analysis were mean and standard deviation, using structural equation modeling and Mplus data analysis. The research results found that 1) The level of factors influencing the effective early childhood education management according to the little scientist project approach, Thailand, was at a high mean level. 2) The causal relationship of the factors influencing the effective management of early childhood education is consistent with the empirical data, namely, the Chi-square value equal to 71.310 at the degrees of freedom (df) equal to 55, the probability value (p-value) equal to 0.0687, the Chi-square correlation value (χ2/df) equal to 1.29, which is less than 2.00, the CFI value equal to 0.997, the TLI value equal to 0.993, the SRMR value equal to 0.021, and the RMSEA value equal to 0.049. 3) From the interview on factors influencing effective early childhood education, it was found that early childhood development should be promoted to dare to express themselves and think systematically. Teachers are satisfied with their role as facilitators of ideas despite equipment limitations. Schools develop into learning organizations and continuously monitor and evaluate. Important factors are practical experimentation activities, organizational competence, executive leadership, and a school environment conducive to learning, along with cooperation with parents for the sustainability of the project.