The current research was planned to conduct a validity and reliability study of the Counting Principles Scale. The study was designed according to relational survey model, one of the general survey models. Turkish adaptation study of the Counting Principles Scale developed by Smith (2010) as one of the sub-scales of the Early Childhood Mathematical Skills, Number Concept and Number Sense Test was carried out. The study was conducted with the participation of 133 children aged at 54-72 months from a state kindergarten run under the control of the Ministry of National Education in the city of Kırklareli. It was found that on average, the children correctly responded to nearly 71% of the questions in the scale. Mean difficulty index (p) calculated for the test is 0.71 and this shows that it is easier than the average. Moreover, t values of all the subtests calculated in relation to means constructed to explain the concept of counting were found to be significant. When the regression coefficients of the Counting Principles Scale were examined, it was found that the sub-test explaining the scale to the greatest extent is one-to-one correspondence principle test (R2=0,53); it is followed by in stable order principle test (R2=0,47); and cardinality principle test (R2=0,33) and order irrelevance-abstraction principle test (R2=0,28). In order to determine the reliability level of the Counting Principles Scale, KR-20 coefficient, which is calculated for the data having two categories and giving the measurement of the internal reliability of the scale items, was calculated. As KR-20 coefficient was calculated to be 0.63 on the basis of the childrens responses during the adaptation process of the scale, the Counting Principles Scale can be considered to be reliable and valid.
Key words: Counting, the Concept of Number, Counting Principles, Pre-school Mathematics Education
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