What Is “Too Cold?” Recess and Physical Education Weather Policies in Maine Elementary Schools

This research investigated weather policies concerning outdoor recess and physical education in Maine elementary schools. Data were gathered through a statewide survey of Maine elementary school principals, interviews, and an analysis of existing policies and 10 years of historic weather data. Survey data revealed a significant correlation between geographic location and minimum cutoff temperature for outdoor recess. No relationship was found between minimum cutoff temperatures and poverty levels. There were substantial differences between the reported number of missed outdoor recess days and the estimated weather data numbers. The findings of this research are important for three reasons. First, it uncovered the vast differences in weather policies for outdoor recess and physical education in Maine. Second, there appears to be a gap in understanding about the actual number of missed outdoor recess days per year. Third, these findings may help administrators understand how changes to recess policies could increase outdoor time for students. O play and exercise are often considered ubiquitous parts of childhood, found in every environment in which children move: playing in the backyard at home, riding a bicycle around a neighborhood, swinging at a playground at school, building forts in the woods. It seems to be innately understood, though perhaps not always fully respected: children need to move and play outside. This study explored some of the policy barriers and facilitators that affect students’ outdoor time in Maine elementary schools. Before we launch into the findings and implications of that study, we will set the stage with background about the benefits of and affordances for outdoor physical activity in youth in the United States. BACKGROUND—GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! A often lament that “kids these days do not go out and play enough.” Although these refrains may be colored by nostalgia, they are unfortunately backed up by research. Indeed, kids these days are not active enough. Even though the benefits of adequate physical activity are well understood, only 42 percent of 6to 11-year-old children in the United States meet the recommended daily levels of physical activity (Troiano et al. 2008). The causes of this population-level insufficiency in physical activity levels are complex. A variety of influences including environmental factors (Skala et al. 2012), school policies (Turner, Chriqui, and Chaloupka 2013), geography (Turner, Chaloupka, and Slater 2012), and social relationships (Stanley, Boshoff, and Dollman 2012) have all been correlated with rates of daily physical activity in US children. It is clear that there are numerous barriers to sufficient daily physical activity in children despite its well-understood importance. Since the benefits of physical activity are well established and concern about inadequate levels is prevalent, research has turned to the question of how to increase physical activity at both population and individual levels. In the fields of education and health, efforts that increase physical activity in children are considered an important, though not singular, component of addressing the issue of obesity in the United States. With this in mind, we shift focus slightly to consider the effects of environmental variables on activity levels. Research has shown that youth who spend more time outdoors engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity and are less likely to be overweight than their peers who spend less time outdoors (Cleland et al. 2008). Additionally, preschool and elementary school children engage in much more physical activity outdoors RECESS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION WEATHER POLICIES MAINE POLICY REVIEW • Vol. 28, No. 1 • 2019 50 than indoors (Cooper et al. 2010; Vanderloo et al. 2013). A 2015 review of existing research showed consistent correlations between children’s increased time outside and higher levels of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness (Gray et al. 2015). Although it is possible that outdoor time is more often set aside specifically for physical activity and indoor time is more frequently used for sedentary activities, differences in physical activity levels have been found consistently between indoor and outdoor physical education classes, a context in which physical activity should be inherent no matter the location. A study of 211 elementary physical education (PE) classes in Texas demonstrated that students get more vigorous physical activity in outdoor PE settings than in indoor ones (Skala et al. 2012). In another study, elementary students who took part in more outdoor PE classes had significantly higher endurance performance than students who were in a control group (Pasek, Michalowska-Sawczyn, and Nowak-Zaleska 2014). Although questions remain about how environmental factors affect physical activity, the existing body of evidence points strongly towards a correlation between increased outdoor time and higher levels of physical activity. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND THE SPECIAL ROLE OF SCHOOLS P schools play a unique and important role in providing youth with opportunities for physical activity. School is accessible to nearly all American children, and it is where children spend a large proportion of their waking time. Schools also have the opportunity to promote physical activity in a multipronged fashion. Beforeand after-school activities, physical education (PE) classes, recess, in-school activity breaks, and summer programming can all be part of public school schedules and priorities. In the United States, school-based outdoor active time often takes the form of recess. (Though PE classes also provide opportunities for outdoor activity.) Recess, traditionally defined as unstructured but supervised free-play time, is a unique opportunity for physical activity during the school day. It is often the only time in school that children can choose exactly how they play, what they play, and with whom they play. It provides opportunities for students to independently gain and practice social skills and conflict resolution, as well as take part in physical activity (Pellegrini 2008). However ubiquitous it may seem to most of us, daily outdoor recess is not a universal part of the school experience for all students in the United States. Differences in access to daily recess correspond with geography, socioeconomic status, grade level, and school size. Students enrolled in larger or urban schools typically have less recess time than do students in rural schools (Fernandes and Sturm 2010). Generally, schools with higher poverty rates schedule less recess time (Ramstetter, Murray, and Garner 2010). Similarly, students attending public schools in the United States have unequal access to high-quality physical education. Only 20 percent of US schools meet SHAPE America’s recommendation of 150 minutes of physical education per week, a rate that is highly variable between geographic regions of the country (Turner, Chaloupka, and Slater 2012). A separate study showed a large range of allocated time for physical education, with a reported average of 62.5 minutes per week, but a standard deviation of 30.5 minutes (Lounsbery et al. 2013). The state of Maine, in which this study took place, mandates the offering of physical education, but does not have minimum time requirements. Clearly, both physical education and recess time allocations are highly variable. There is a final point about the important role schools play in providing all students with physical activity opportunities: students living in rural areas often have limited opportunities for outdoor physical activity compared to their urban peers. This may seem counterintuitive, but the longer distances between services in rural areas often means that students cannot walk or bike reasonably or safely to schools and other locations of interest. Research on this issue in Maine found that students consistently reported accessing most of their regular opportunities for physical activity at school through recess, organized sports, and PE classes. The authors suggested, “finding ways to increase Public schools play a unique and important role in providing youth with opportunities for physical activity. RECESS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION WEATHER POLICIES MAINE POLICY REVIEW • Vol. 28, No. 1 • 2019 51 opportunities for physical activity at schools should continue to be a top priority for rural school administrators, policy makers, and researchers” (Yousefian et al. 2009: 229). BUT, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE! D the existence of considerable research into many of the barriers and facilitators to physical activity, weather policies related to outdoor recess and PE classes have not been well studied. In colder climates, including northern states such as Maine, it is common practice to cancel outdoor recess or outdoor PE classes due to weather conditions. But what weather conditions typically lead school officials to cancel outdoor recess? Who decides and what information do they use to design these recess-cancellation policies? If outdoor recess is cancelled, are kids still able to engage in physical activity indoors? Moreover, are PE classes held to the same weather policies as recess? In Maine, these policies—if they exist at all—are entirely under local control, leading to wide variation around the state. The study that we discuss in the remainder of this article investigated Maine elementary school weather policies as they pertain to outdoor recess and PE classes. Using a statewide survey of elementary school principals and semistructured interviews, we explored the existence and in-practice implementation of these policies. In addition, using historical weather data and the school weather policies in six geographically representative schools in Maine, we estimated how many days per school year, on average, students are kept inside for recess or physical education. The target population of the research included all Mai