Assessing Educator Responsivity in Outdoor Early Childhood Education and Care Settings

Outdoor time is essential in early childhood education, yet quality assessments that are specifically focused on outdoor settings remain limited. Existing indoor measures primarily evaluate environment-level quality while neglecting educator-child interactions and the educators’ central role in children’s central learning. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the Responsive Interactions for Learning – Outdoor Environment (RIFL-OE), designed for efficient assessment of outdoor interactions. RIFL-OE offers an efficient way for practitioners to evaluate educator-child interaction quality in outdoor settings, providing insights to enhance outdoor learning environments and inform policies on outdoor education practices.