Findings from a Randomized Experiment of Playworks: Selected Results from Cohort 1

ii Recess periods often lack the structure needed to support physical activity and positive social development (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2010). The Playworks program places full-time coaches in low-income schools to provide opportunities for organized play during recess and throughout the school day. Playworks activities are designed to engage students in physical activity, foster social skills related to cooperation and conflict resolution, improve students' ability to focus on class work, decrease behavioral problems and improve school climate. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractor, the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (JGC) at Stanford University, to conduct a rigorous evaluation of Playworks. Twenty-five schools interested in implementing Playworks were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received Playworks in the 2010–2011 school year or to a control group that was not eligible to implement Playworks until the following year. We collected data from students, teachers and school staff in spring 2011 to document the implementation of Playworks and assess the impact of the program on key outcomes in six domains: (1) school climate, (2) conflict resolution and aggression, (3) learning and academic performance, (4) recess experience, (5) youth development and (6) student behavior. Ultimately, four additional schools will be added to the study and further analyses will be released. The following significant, positive impacts of Playworks were found: There was a positive impact of Playworks on teachers' perceptions of students' safety and the extent to which teachers reported students felt included during recess. Teachers in treatment schools reported less bullying and exclusionary behavior during recess than teachers in control schools. Teachers in treatment schools were less likely to report difficulties in transitioning to classroom learning activities after recess and reported significantly less time to transition from recess to learning activities than teachers in control schools. Treatment students were also more likely than control students to report better behavior and attention in class after sports, games and play. Treatment teachers reported significantly better student behavior at recess and readiness for class than control teachers and were also more likely to report that their students enjoyed adult-organized recess activities. The following key implementation findings were observed: Strong implementation occurred in seven of 14 treatment schools and moderate implementation occurred in another five schools. Two schools had weak implementation. Playworks implementation was stronger in schools that had recess in the past and when …