Recess boosts academic performance, but NCLB forcing schools to cut out recess

From the Food Research and Action Center, which advocates for the poor and hungry in America:

Children Need Recess to Learn, But Minority Students Missing Out(Macon.com, October 14, 2008)In order to bolster math and reading scores, many predominantly-minority schools have cut recess in favor of extra class time. For some schools, recess is cut because the schools lack playground equipment or are in unsafe neighborhoods. In Macon, Georgia's Hartley Elementary, third-grade students go directly from lunch to the computer lab for math instruction. Across the region, students get an average of 15 to 30 minutes of recess each school day, while other students get less or none, according to a survey conducted by the Macon Telegraph. Recess is necessary, say education experts, as it provides an outlet that helps students focus in the classroom. According to a Center for Public Education report, schools across the country provided more recess in the years before the No Child Left Behind act required school testing and accountability measures. The Act had the effect of reducing recess for a reported 20 percent of schools, replacing that time with English and math instruction. While recess still remains in many schools, "There exists a recess gap," said Patte Barth, director of the Center for Public Education. According to the report, children attending the highest poverty, highest minority schools "are the least likely to get recess at all." Some statistics showing the trend: Approximately 14 percent of high minority elementary schools and 18 percent of high poverty schools don't give first graders recess. Only 2 percent of low-minority elementary schools and 4 percent of low-poverty rate schools lack recess.