FORT WORTH, Texas — Research spearheaded by a Texas Christian University professor shows students can benefit academically from having an hour of outdoor play per day. But convincing educators to budget this much time into the school day is a challenge.
Professor Deborah J. Rhea’s LiiNK Project — which stands for Let’s inspire innovation ‘N Kids — focuses on providing students with four outdoor breaks daily during the school week with each break spanning 15 minutes. The unstructured free play in this format allows students to focus better in the classroom and creates a pace that curbs learning fatigue, Rhea said.
The research is based on data of about 60,000 students in Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan, including at TCU’s Starpoint School for students with learning differences and disabilities. The research shows students’ test scores improving by 10% by fourth grade.
“The neurons that we’re trying to build in the brain, those neurological highways are hugely impacted when we’re not out moving as kids,” Rhea said. “The kids are more focused, and they’re writing well. They’re reading well. Things are so much better in the classroom. Discipline issues go down to almost zero.”
In addition to outdoor play, the research supports pairing the outdoor time with a 15-minute daily lesson of social-emotional learning that teaches students about empathy, respect and self-esteem. As recess is one of the most active places for bullying to take place, Rhea wanted to counteract that trend.
“What we found is that it really is the glue to the recess piece and to school in general. Kids are treating each other with respect. They are empathizing with each other. You see them apologizing on the playground if they run into each other instead of blaming each other,” she said.
What Texas law, Tarrant County school districts say
Texas law requires school districts to provide at least 30 minutes per day of “moderate to vigorous physical activity” to elementary students. This can be provided through physical education class or “structured activity during a school campus’s daily recess.” School districts can shorten this time to 135 minutes per week, or 27 minutes per day, if the 30-minute threshold is considered “impractical due to scheduling concerns or other factors.”
As state takeovers of Texas school districts become more widespread, including in Tarrant County, educators are focused on using as much instructional time as possible to ensure students are performing on grade level. Rhea says the dividends of outdoor play speak for themselves in the classroom.
“When you do four recesses a day, you save two hours of distraction time in the classroom,” Rhea said.
State takeovers of the Fort Worth and Lake Worth school districts went into effect earlier this year after both districts struggled with ongoing, poor academic performance. When asked if they would consider extending recess time to one hour per day, Fort Worth officials noted the value of the research for future discussions, but it was currently unfeasible to provide one-hour recess. Lake Worth did not respond to requests for comment.
“We value the role of recess in helping students move, connect with peers, and return to the classroom ready to learn. While our current campus master schedules do not allow for expanding recess to an hour per day at this time, research like TCU’s can help inform future conversations about how we structure the school day to support student success,” Fort Worth officials said.
Other officials of large Tarrant County school districts such as Arlington noted the same concern of scheduling obstacles for a one-hour recess, although students do receive 10-15 minutes of social-emotional learning per day. Mansfield and Keller did not respond to requests for comment.