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Education outside the classroom increases children’s reading performance: Results from a one-year quasi-experimental study

Authors: Otte, C. R., Bølling, M., Stevenson, M. P., Ejbye-Ernst, N., Nielsen, G. & Bentsen, P. · Year: 2019 · Tier: quasi · DOI/URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.01.009

Primary school (grades 1–6) Lower secondary (grades 7–9) Learning outside school

Links to claims

Limits (1)

Claim	Basis
C28	Abstract: quasi-experiment, 20 outdoor-teaching classes vs 10 parallel comparison classes, grades 3–6, more than 2.0 hours a week for one school year; reading pre- and post-tested. "A small positive impact on test scores." No effect size in the abstract. Same research programme as OUT-008 (maths, no difference).

Review state: first-pass draft, pending human review.

Source note

Syntes: Otte, Bølling, Stevenson, Ejbye-Ernst, Nielsen & Bentsen (2019) — regular outdoor teaching went with a small reading gain

Källa: Otte, C. R., Bølling, M., Stevenson, M. P., Ejbye-Ernst, N., Nielsen, G. & Bentsen, P. (2019). Education outside the classroom increases children’s reading performance: Results from a one-year quasi-experimental study. International Journal of Educational Research 94, 42–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.01.009

Verified content

[abstract] Quasi-experiment: 20 education-outside-the-classroom intervention classes and 10 parallel comparison classes, grades 3–6, regular participation more than 2.0 hours a week for one school year.
[abstract] Reading tested before and after. "Exposure to EOtC had a small positive impact on test scores."

Limits

[assessment] Abstract only; "small" is not given as an effect size. Same research programme as the maths paper (OUT-008), so subject (reading vs maths) may matter. Not randomised.

Why it is in the library

From the same Danish programme as the maths paper: regular outdoor teaching went with a small reading gain after a year. Together the two papers suggest the C28 average of about half a standard deviation may not hold the same way for every subject.

Added 2026-11-08 by the project (weekly source sweep, kind: old; read: abstract). [abstract] = from the published abstract; [full text] = read in the full text; [assessment] = the project's own assessment.

Metadata as recorded

ID: OUT-009
Tier: quasi
Titel: Education outside the classroom increases children’s reading performance: Results from a one-year quasi-experimental study
Författare: Otte, C. R., Bølling, M., Stevenson, M. P., Ejbye-Ernst, N., Nielsen, G. & Bentsen, P.
År: 2019 (International Journal of Educational Research 94, 42–51)
Källa/DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.01.009
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.01.009
Typ: quasi-experiment, 20 education-outside-the-classroom intervention classes and 10 parallel comparison classes, grades 3–6, regular participation more than 2.0 hours a week for one school year; reading tested before and after
Åldersgrupp: grundskola-lag, grundskola-hog
Teman: larande-utanfor-skolan
Hämtad: 2026-11-08
Paywall: closed (abstract read)
Tillagd: source sweep 2026-11-08 (kind: old); links pending human review

The original files (PDF or abstract) are kept in the project archive and are not published here.