Efforts Appear Futile

• The efforts by these schools to increase test scores by increasing relevant classroom instruction time appear to be futile. After ten years of research, the Play, Policy, and Practice Interest Forum concluded that test scores did not increase when children were kept in class all day without recess. In fact, one school system devoted a third of the school day to non-academic activities such as art, music, and physical activity. The result was improved attitudes, increased physical fitness, and higher test scores. This shows that if schools want to increase their test scores, piling on more reading and math instruction at the expense of other activities is not the way to accomplish that.

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