Inclusive education as a dimension of educational quality in early childhood: construction and conceptual analysis of a subscale derived from international instruments

Abstract

Inclusive education is a fundamental principle of contemporary educational systems and an essential component of educational quality in early childhood education. The aim of this study was to identify, integrate, and analyze inclusive education indicators embedded in international educational quality assessment instruments in order to examine their conceptual convergence and assess their potential incorporation as a cross-cutting dimension of educational quality. A documentary, analytical, and instrumental study was conducted based on a previous investigation focused on the development and validation of a hybrid instrument for assessing educational quality. The analysis was carried out using the ECERS-R, ITERS-R, HOME, CLASS, and ISO 9001:2015 frameworks applied to educational settings. The procedure included documentary identification of indicators, thematic coding, and conceptual convergence analysis. The results led to the identification of 28 indicators associated with accessibility, equity, participation, attention to diversity, family-school collaboration, and inclusive institutional management. In addition, three complementary levels of organization of the inclusive education construct were identified: conceptual, operational, and empirical. The indicators were grouped into six categories: physical accessibility and materials, diversity and equity, inclusive interactions, individualized support, family participation, and inclusive institutional management. The chi-square test revealed no significant differences in the distribution of indicators across categories (chi(2) = 1.86, p = .87). It is concluded that inclusive education can be conceptualized and analyzed as a cross-cutting dimension of educational quality in early childhood education.