Profiles of teacher-child interactions in Chinese kindergarten classrooms and the associated teacher and program features

•Latent profile analysis showed four profiles of teacher-child interactions in Chinese kindergartens.•Low Quality Profile (24.4%, n = 43); Medium Quality with Lower Instructional Support Profile (47.1%, n = 86); Medium Quality with Higher Instructional Support Profile (14.4%, n = 25); and High Quality Profile (14.1%, n = 26).•Both kindergarten-level variables (e.g., teaching experience) and teacher-level program features (e.g., annual government funding) are associated with process quality.

This study examined the quality of teacher-child classroom interactions in Chinese kindergartens and associated program- and teacher-related features. In examining 180 classrooms from randomly selected kindergartens in a southern China province, latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinctive profiles of teacher-child interactions. Significant associations were found between teacher-child interaction quality profiles, teacher and program features. Lower teacher-child interaction quality profiles were associated with less desirable program-and teacher-related features, suggesting that programs serving communities where families were most socioeconomically disadvantaged were least likely to receive them.