Lailatul Zakiyah, Rivo Panji Yudha, Intan Yusmarini
This study aims to critically evaluate whether the practice of early childhood education (PAUD) accreditation in Indonesia serves as an effective quality improvement tool or is merely an administrative formality. Using a mixed-method program evaluation design, the study involved 240 kindergartens (TK) from four regions (Serang City, Jombang Regency, Surabaya City, and Bekasi City), 48 BAN PAUD assessors, and 120 school principals. Data were collected through questionnaires, document analysis, interviews, and field observations, then analyzed using statistical techniques (inter-rater reliability, ANOVA, Rasch model) and thematic analysis. The results revealed a significant gap between accreditation scores and the actual conditions of the institutions, especially in Process Standards, Facilities and Infrastructure, and Management (gap >15 points). Accreditation had a much greater impact on administrative aspects (87.5%) than on learning practices (33.7%), and gave rise to adaptive phenomena such as "Mutual Cooperation Accreditation" and "Model Space." Thematic analysis identified "Documentation Formality" (84.5%) and "Administrative Burden" (81.0%) as the dominant issues. Institutions with high socioeconomic status were 2.33 times more likely to receive an A accreditation than those with low status. The study concluded that the PAUD accreditation system in Indonesia functions more as an administrative formality than an effective instrument for improving educational quality, necessitating reforms that emphasize evaluation based on direct observation and oriented towards impact on child development. Copyright (c) 2025 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Postgraduate School, State University of Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia; Abdi Pertiwi Foundation, Banten, Serang City, Indonesia
