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School Recess: Benefits, Obstacles, And Policy, Amy Mcmullan

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The practice of school recess is explored including its benefits, obstacles, and policies. Academic literature provided research indicating a myriad of benefits including academic or cognitive, behavioral, health, and social emotional development, while challenges with implementing school recess are described as allocation of time as well as supervision, safety, and bullying. Current policies regarding recess are divided into two categories: requiring students be given a recess period and the issue of withholding recess. Original research was conducted with a mixed methods design by an electronic survey, where Minnesota elementary school principals were surveyed regarding recess in their schools. The data …