Students in Playworks schools reported better behavior and attention in class after sports, games, and play¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2012 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Students in Playworks schools reported better behavior and attention in class after sports, games, and play than students in control schools. → Martha Bleeker 2012

Evidence¶

Martha Bleeker 2012¶

Martha Bleeker, Susanne James-Burdumy, Nicholas Beyler, Allison Hedley Dodd, Rebecca A. London, Lisa Westrich, Katie Stokes-Guinan, Sebastian Castrechini. (2012). Findings from a Randomized Experiment of Playworks: Selected Results from Cohort 1. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research and Stanford, CA: John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, Stanford University. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/findings-from-a-randomized-experiment-of-playworks-selected-results-from-cohort-1

q3 · i? · causal · r?

Student-reported outcome from the cohort 1 randomized experiment: treatment students reported better in-class behavior and attention after play compared with control students, per the report summary. No effect size printed.

"Students in Playworks schools reported better behavior and attention in class after sports, games, and play than students in control schools."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Attention — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Classroom physical activity increases children's on-task behaviour, with no consistent gain on attention or other cognitive tests — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Teachers in Playworks schools reported significantly better student behavior at recess and readiness for class — related
• Teachers in Playworks schools reported less bullying and exclusionary behavior during recess than control-school teachers — related
• Playworks showed significant impact on some measures of girls' physical activity but no significant impact on measures of boys' physical activity — related
• Game structures, role playing, and the physical environment are identified as factors shaping students' thinking in AR game play — related
• Action, strategy-intelligence, role-playing and sport traditional game genres positively predict social problem-solving scores — related
• Playworks made transitions from recess to classroom learning less difficult, per teacher reports — related