When I was a child in Houston many, many moons ago, my public school had recess every day. It was unstructured play, and it was an integral part of the school day, like art, reading, writing, math, and music. We took tests that our teachers wrote and graded, but no standardized tests. That was long ago.
Twenty years ago, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind act based on the belief that standardized testing had produced a ”Texas miracle” that was raising test scores and closing achievement gaps. There actually was no Texas miracle, but the law was passed, requiring that every child must take tests in reading and math every year and promising that every child would score ”proficient” by 2014. Every child was tested every year, and every child continues to be tested every year, but universal proficiency is nowhere to be found. Sadly, failure has not daunted the belief systems of those who value standardized testing.
In the relentless drive for higher test scores, states invested billions of dollars in test prep, interim assessments, and data-driven accountability. Testing took up not only money but time. Some districts eliminated the arts. Many eliminated recess.
Now, it seems, it requires a state law to restore what should never have been taken away from children: the right to play.
Does your school have recess? In Illinois, parents activists pressed for a law guaranteeing The Right to Play. They won.
The state of Illinois passed The Right to Play act this year.
The law resulted from the strong advocacy work of Illinois Families for Public Schools.
THE RIGHT TO PLAY EVERY DAY: PUBLIC ACT 102-0357
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” –Fred Rogers
With the passage of SB654, the Right to Play Every Day bill, an initiative of IL Families for Public Schools, all students in kindergarten through 5th grade in IL public schools must have 30 minutes of daily play time. Time must be in increments of at least 15 minutes and can’t be taken away for punishment.
- FAQ: What parents and schools need to know
- Preguntas frecuentes completas: Lo que los padres y las escuelas necesitan saber
- Toolkit: how to ensure 30 min of play
Play is fundamental to the human experience. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by 190 nations, recognizes play as a basic right for children.
Play is a crucial component of education and development, enhancing a child’s social, physical and emotional health along with academic achievement and abilities. Play is learning.
MORE RESOURCES: WHY WE NEED PLAY IN SCHOOL
BOOKS
- Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive. Sahlberg and Doyle. 2019
- Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life Gray. 2013
- Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children. Elkind. 2007
- A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play. Paley. 2004
ARTICLES
- “A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do).” Sahlberg and Doyle. Washington Post. April 2020
- “Kids Need Play and Recess. Their Mental Health May Depend on It.” Hynes. Ed Week. Aug. 2018
- “From Playing to Play Advocacy: An Interview with Olga S. Jarrett “Journal of Play. Winter 2019
- “A Research-based Case for Recess.” Position paper from the US Play Coalition, American Association for the Child’s Right to Play (IPA/USA) and the Alliance for Childhood. 2019.
PODCASTS
- FreshEd Podcast: Let the Children Play (Pasi Sahlberg and William Doyle) Dec 2 2019
- WBAI’s Talk Out of School: “Whole Child Education and the importance of play” Feb 5 2020
- KQED Mindshift: “Childhood As ‘Resume Building’: Why Play Needs A Comeback” Sept 3 2019
Pasi Sahlberg, William Doyle, and other researchers: Thank you for defending the rights of children!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And doesn’t your childhood public school sound like Heaven. Teachers wrote the tests. Recess was for all. I bet the cafeteria food was homemade because pre-packaged corporate meals did not exist. Which meant young brains received actual nutrition.
This is not nostalgia but a glimpse at how far we have gone in the wrong direction. Newark, NJ offered free, after school piano lessons. East New York’s famous Thomas Jefferson HS was one of many receiving a M.P. Miller Pipe Organ in 1926, which was tossed out in the 1990’s. Public School library walls hung socially conscious WPA murals.
We are of a Fine Tradition.
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So nice to read about a parent group that actually contribute something positive to public school students. Recess! A measurable, positive improvement for public school students.
I’ve been reading Parents Defending Education – I read a lot of ed reformers- there are now hundeds of paid groups with thousands of paid activists in ed reform, broadly – and it is, like all ed reform, relentlessly and uniformly negative. There’s not even an effort to contribute anything positive to public schools or students. It’s another ed reform group led by people who make their living as professional public school critics – only public schools, mysteriously. Charter and private schools are always missing from their completely unbiased and very scientific critical analysis.
Public schools should break free from the ed reform echo chamber more often. I think they’ll find they’re actually able to improve some issues at schools for students if they look for advice outside the echo chamber.
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Just to give you an idea how pervasive the negative coverage of public schools and the negative approach to public schools is in ed reform, every single top echo chamber article in The 74 about public schools is negative. The charter stories? 100% positive.
https://www.the74million.org/article/covid-schools-kentucky-counselors-student-mental-health-academic-coaches-2/
It’s true across the ed reform orgs. They offer absolutely nothing that is positive to public schools or public school students. I think public schools should review hiring ed reformers as consultants and taking direction from them. What have they accomplished that serves students in public schools? Shouldn’t that be the measure?
Ed reform measures and evaluates public schools. Public schools should measure and evaluate the work of the ed reform movement. If public schools don’t do it, no one will. They sure as heck don’t evaluate their own work and they’re charter and voucher cheeleaders. Charters and vouchers aren’t going to criticize their political allies. If public schools don’t question it, no one will.
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We finally got the ed reform “movement” to put in some work on public schools, but only when it furthers their political Party:
https://www.aei.org/education/the-virginia-governors-race-has-upended-education-politics-overnight/
I guess Republican political campaigns conducted out of public schools are their latest “innovation”. Chalk up another win for the “movement”. If you’re still waiting for this echo chamber to perfom some productive, practical work to “improve public schools” you are going to be waiting a long time. Twenty years, and….nothing.
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Restore the right to play outside with masks on.
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Two professional, paid ed reform factions battle it out in public schools- do all public schools suck because of critical race theory or is it because of other reasons?
https://www.the74million.org/article/free-speech-vs-violent-threats-partisan-feud-pits-school-board-members-safety-against-parents-first-amendment-rights/
Which will prevail? Does it matter? As long as the echo chamber remain reliably and specifically anti-public school I think they can remain in their usual lockstep agreement. Same larger goal. Get rid of public schools. That’s something they can all agree on.
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“I’m up on the tight wire
One side’s ice and one is fire
I’m up on the tight rope
One side’s hate and one is hope”
Forgive them NOT for they know what they do…
OR
Forgive Them for They Know Not What They Do…
In a word, COGNITION,
“The mental action or process of acquiring
knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience, and the senses”.
Should one expect more of others than
they expect of themselves?
If it didn’t occur to me, untill I was 69
that the free-market slant of Ed-reform
was WRONG, could I rightfully expect
younger ones to “get it”?
If it didn’t occur to me, untill age 72,
that testing was wrong, could I rightfully
expect younger ones to “get it”?
Sure, unmet expectations seem to be the
root of anguish, but are they realistic?
Not a free pass for the “bungle in the jungle”
but it seems you can’t SCOLD the light on.
Expectations take two.
If one were to “Hire” a reformer, should one
expect the reformer to validate the form they
were “Hired” to reform?
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Reblogged this on Politicians Are Poody Heads and commented:
All children should have recess every day. Play is one of the major ways children learn. It helps their social and emotional growth. And it helps their physical skills, as well.
Plus it’s fun, and provides a needed break from sitting in a chair all day.
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Bravo! And thank you for championing this, Diane.
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I work at a public ECE-5 school in Denver. I can’t imagine kids not getting recess every day!
The teachers actually count on it – both as part of their planning or break time, and just to let the kiddos burn off some energy. They are far easier to engage in the classroom if they have been out running around in the fresh air. Not only do we have recess after lunch, but there is also an extra 15-minute recess period each day. Only when the weather is very cold or raining hard do we keep them inside. We do occasionally take it away as punishment, but this is a fairly rare occurrence involving maybe 2-3 students per month (out of nearly 500).
Part of my duties involve monitoring students at recess, and (although I sometimes complain when the weather is unpleasant) it’s a good time to get to know the students and how they interact with each other. Plus, it probably does me some good to get out in the fresh air as well!
I hope recess is never removed from those who still have it, and restored for those who don’t!
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Do kids have to wear masks at recess at your school? They do in NYC schools.
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The older kids need time to eat and learn through socializing too. Hey, adults need time to eat and rest. The idea that everyone should stare at a screen every waking minute is dystopian and counterproductive in every level and type of school and business. Billionaires are stupid. Constant work causes mistakes and slows productivity. Recess is for all of us.
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Great news. Now Illinois needs to join the other states that have done away with using data as part of the teacher evaluation process. 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation depends on test scores. SMDH
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