Early childhood education for sustainable development: Development of a checklist based on the 7R framework

The aim of this study is to develop an observation-based checklist to assess young children’s (60–72 months) sustainable development behaviors based on the 7R framework proposed by the OMEP (Respect, Rethink, Reflect, Recycle, Redistribute, Reduce, Reuse) and to provide initial evidence of its structural validity. The study employed a quantitative research design, and the theoretically defined seven-dimensional structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Data were collected from 448 children evaluated through preschool teachers’ observations across Türkiye. The instrument, initially consisting of 51 items, was reduced to 35 items. Second-order CFA results indicated acceptable model fit (χ²/df = 3.03; RMSEA = .067; SRMR = .04) and supported the proposed structure.