Assessment the Family and Teachers Characteristics in the Early Learning Environment in the Kindergarten in Jordan

 This research was designed with two- fold purpose. Firstly, it attempted to assess the status of the learning environment in government kindergartens in Jordan in terms of family and teachers characteristics. Secondly, the research also looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the learning environment. Further, it looked for the ways in which the level of the learning environment could be improved in terms of the family and teachers. The design of the research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The population of the study was the government kindergartens in Jordan. The sample consisted of 250 kindergartens in 12 provinces in Jordan which were involved in the main quantitative survey, and selected through random stratified sampling. In addition purposive sampling was used for interview; 8 teachers were interviewed to get in depth- information about the status of kindergarten in terms of family and teachers characteristics in these kindergartens. The responses from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations. Data from interviews were analysed qualitatively. The findings of this research indicated that the status of the level of the learning environment in terms of family and teachers characteristics is at medium level whereby it was found that one dimension of ECERS-R were at high levels, namely, families' needs. Moreover, this reearch also found five dimensions to be at medium level, and these were opportunities for professional growth, teachers interaction and cooperation, professional needs of teachers, personal needs of teachers, supervisions and evaluation of teacher. Finally, the findings from the qualitative portion revealed that to improve the level of the learning environment the kindergartens need to focus on training for kindergarten's teachers, the role of families and teachers in the field of early childhood education, increasing their salary, stricter licensing, upgrading the furnishings of kindergartens, improving and implementing new instructional strategies to be developed and implemented by the Ministry of Education.