Playworks

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 11 claims (10 for, 1 mixed) · 3 studies (3 causal), q3 · 0 of 3 report an effect size · 11 claims rest on one study

Description

Playworks is a school-based programme run by the Playworks nonprofit that places trained full-time coaches in schools to organize inclusive, active play during recess and throughout the school day.

Components

• Playworks program (full-time recess coaches in low-income schools): Playworks is an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that "places full-time coaches in low-income schools to provide opportunities for organized play during recess and throughout the school day." The evaluation covered implementation and impacts across 25 schools using random assignment, conducted by Mathematica and the John W. Gardner Center at Stanford University. (Martha Bleeker et al. (2012))
• Playworks school-based recess program: Playworks is a school-based program that guides students in organized activities during recess and makes improvements to the recess play yard. In the evaluation described here, it was delivered for one school year in schools randomly assigned to receive it, and its effects on boys' and girls' physical activity were measured with accelerometers and recess observations. The article describes it as one of the "School-based programs, such as Playworks" that might increase physical activity, especially for girls. (Martha Bleeker et al. (2015))

Claims

• Teachers in Playworks schools reported significantly better student behavior at recess and readiness for class [+W]
• Playworks made transitions from recess to classroom learning less difficult, per teacher reports [+W]
• Playworks improved teachers' perceptions of students' safety and feeling included during recess in a randomized experiment [+W]
• Most teachers, students, and principals reported positive perceptions of the Playworks program [+W]
• Teachers in Playworks schools reported less bullying and exclusionary behavior during recess than control-school teachers [+W]
• Teachers in Playworks schools were more likely to report that students enjoyed adult-organized recess activities [+W]
• In a randomized controlled trial, children in Playworks schools spent more time in vigorous physical activity at recess than students at non-Playworks schools, and more teachers in Playworks schools reported students engaged in intense recess activity [+M]
• Playworks showed significant impact on some measures of girls' physical activity but no significant impact on measures of boys' physical activity [+M]
• Girls in Playworks schools had significantly higher accelerometer intensity counts and spent more time in vigorous physical activity than girls in control schools [+M]
• Girls in Playworks schools were less likely to be sedentary and more likely to engage in jumping, tag, and playground games during recess [+M]
• No significant accelerometer-based differences in physical activity were found for boys in Playworks schools compared with control schools [~M]

Related Products and Programmes

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Key Sources

• 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
• Martha Bleeker, Nicholas Beyler, Susanne James-Burdumy, Jane Fortson. (2015). The Impact of Playworks on Boys' and Girls' Physical Activity During Recess. Journal of School Health, vol. 85, no. 3. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/the-impact-of-playworks-on-boys-and-girls-physical-activity-during-recess

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	playworks
title	Playworks
description	Playworks is a school-based programme run by the Playworks nonprofit that places trained full-time coaches in schools to organize inclusive, active play during recess and throughout the school day.
status	review
moved_from	element/playworks-program-element, element/playworks-recess-program-element
product_kind	programme
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	2 — martha-bleeker-2012, martha-bleeker-2015

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