Randomized Experiment of Playworks

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Playworks has an impact on student and school outcomes such as physical activity, behavior, and academic performance.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Focus on Physical Activity, Recess, and Play
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Playworks

Detailed Description

Playworks is a school-based program that places full-time coaches in low-income schools to organize games and activities during recess. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and its subcontractor, the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (JGC) at Stanford University, to conduct a rigorous evaluation of Playworks. Twenty-nine schools interested in implementing Playworks, across six cities in the United States, were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups during the 2010-2011 (cohort 1) or 2011-2012 (cohort 2) school year. Random assignment was conducted within matched groups of schools within each city. In total, there were 12 blocks of matched schools. For each block, one school was randomly assigned to the control group and the rest to the treatment group.

During the one-year study period for each cohort, treatment schools received Playworks and control schools were not eligible to implement Playworks. Data from student surveys, accelerometers, and teacher surveys were collected from 4th- and 5th-grade students, teachers, and school staff roughly seven months after Playworks was first implemented in treatment schools.

For the student survey, students were asked to complete a 30-minute student survey in the spring of their study year about their experiences at school. A team of experienced survey administration staff administered the survey in the students' classrooms. In addition to the student survey, teachers were asked to complete a teacher survey that asked teachers about their students' experiences at school.

A subsample of students that were asked to complete the student survey also wore accelerometers during one or two school days. During the accelerometer data collection period, the research team arrived at participating classrooms at the beginning of the school day. Team members described the function of the accelerometer and then attached one to each consented student's hip, using an elastic belt. The accelerometer data was then processed with the ActiLife 5 software package.

The impact of Playworks on study outcomes was estimated by comparing the average outcomes in treatment and control schools using regression models customized to the unit of analysis (teacher or student). The regression models used for analysis included indicators for random assignment blocks to account for the blocked design and school-specific random error terms to account for school-specific effects not attributable to the treatment. Covariates were also included in some models to account for significant differences between treatment and control groups in demographic characteristics. Models for continuous and binary outcome variables were fit using least-squares estimation and logistic regression estimation, respectively. Standard errors for the estimated impacts on teacher- and student-level outcomes accounted for clustering at the school level using generalized estimating equations. Model-based p-values and effect sizes were calculated based on the estimated impacts and corresponding standard errors and multiple comparison adjustments accounted for correlations among the multiple tests. Sampling weights were used when estimating impacts. The weights were constructed to account for both the selection probabilities of students and teachers into the sample and nonresponse.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 2278
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Jersey
    • Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 08543-2393
      • Mathematica Policy Research

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students in low-income schools in urban areas
• Students in schools where at least 50 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Playworks; Playworks was implemented during the entire school year, and outcome measures were collected in spring of the school year.	Other: Playworks; The Playworks program places full-time coaches in low-income schools to provide opportunities for organized play during recess and throughout the school day.
No Intervention: Control; Playworks was not implemented at these schools.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Mean Number of Accelerometer Intensity Counts Recorded Per Minute During Recess	8 weeks
Mean Number of Steps Taken Per Minute During Recess	8 weeks
Mean Percentage of Accelerometer Wear Time During Recess Spent in Sedentary Activity	8 weeks
Mean Percentage of Accelerometer Wear Time During Recess Spent in Light Activity	8 weeks
Mean Percentage of Accelerometer Wear Time During Recess Spent in Moderately Intense Activity	8 weeks
Mean Percentage of Accelerometer Wear Time During Recess Spent in Vigorously Intense Activity	8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Percentage of Students Who Participate in Recess Activities That Make Them Sweat and Breathe Hard "Sometimes" or "A Lot"	8 weeks
Percentage of Teachers Who "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" That Their Students Participate in Physical Activities That Make Them Sweat and Breathe Hard During Recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Participated in a Sports Team After School or on the Weekend During the School Year	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Participated in Dance, Gymnastics or Martial Arts Lessons After School or on the Weekend During the School Year	8 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Participation in Individual Activities During Recess Scale Score	8 weeks
Participation in Games During Recess Scale Score	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That the Following Happens "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Adults help them play games and sports during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That the Following Happens "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Their teacher helps them play games and sports during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That the Following Happens "Sometimes" or "A Lot": They talk with friends during recess	8 weeks
Recess Behavior and Readiness for Class Scale Score	8 weeks
Recess Misbehavior/Discipline Scale Score	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Ask an adult to help them solve a conflict during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Get teased about not being good at games or sports during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Get into an argument with other students during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Fight or hit other students during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Work out problems with other students during recess without fighting	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Say encouraging things to other students during recess	8 weeks
Enjoyment of Recess Scale Score	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Agree "A Little" or "A Lot" That They: Like to play games and sports at recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Agree "A Little" or "A Lot" That They: Feel like they can join other kids in a game on the playground	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Agree "A Little" or "A Lot" That They: Feel left out at recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Get to play a game that they want during recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Students Who Report That They Do the Following "Sometimes" or "A Lot": Have to play a game that adults want them to play during recess	8 weeks
Games and Sports Self-Concept Scale Score	8 weeks
Percentage of Teachers Who "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" That Their Students: Look forward to recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Teachers Who "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" That Their Students: Enjoy adult-organized activities at recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Teachers Who "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" That Their Students: Would be upset about missing recess	8 weeks
Percentage of Teachers Who "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" That Their Students: Feel ownership over their activities during recess	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Susanne James-Burdumy, Mathematica Policy Research; Study Director: Martha Bleeker, Mathematica Policy Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 14, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 14, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): July 16, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 16, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 14, 2014
• Last Verified: July 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical activity; Accelerometer; Play; Recess
• Other Study ID Numbers: MPR-06758; 12-177 (Other Identifier: New England Institutional Review Board)