De Facto Leaders

Recess is often thought of as an “extra” activity in the school day. Sometimes it’s even taken away from students as a punishment. 

But some schools think about recess as an integral part of the school day, where students get the opportunity to connect, practice important social and problem-solving skills they’ll need for life.

Others are taking it a step further and using it as a tool to help students feel more connected to their school experience, and to decrease chronic absenteeism and establish a school culture where kids feel like they belong at school. 

That’s why I was so excited to connect with Elizabeth Cushing from Playworks.

Elizabeth Cushing is CEO of Playworks, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of play to bring out the best in every child. Elizabeth joined Playworks in 2004 and was named President and COO in 2011 and CEO in 2020. She leads Playworks' Executive Team and is responsible for the organization's strategy, operations and fiscal health. During her tenure Elizabeth has played a lead role in designing Playworks’ national scaling strategy including engaging national investors. Alongside founder, Jill Vialet, Elizabeth led the organization through a sustained period of growth from a San Francisco Bay Area-focus to a national organization with 14 teams across the country. As a result of strategic expansion, Playworks shares its unique brand of play and physical activity with 1,000 elementary schools reaching more than 1M children annually. For more than 30 years Elizabeth has served in leadership roles in nonprofit organizations focused on youth development, children's advocacy and women's issues. Elizabeth is a product of Oregon public schools, Stanford University and the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ Simple ways educators can set expectations and rules to create structure and a sense of safety around recess

✅ How to use play as a reset and a preventative measure, instead of something that’s taken away from kids as a punishment

✅ How training kids as peer coaches can help decrease disruptive behaviors and help kids discover their own leadership potential

You can learn more about Playworks on their website at: https://www.playworks.org/

Resources mentioned in this interview include:

Comprehensive Game Guide that Outlines Games Across Grade Levels: https://www.playworks.org/indiana/game-guide/

The sister website for Playworks with tools for assessing the health of your school’s recess: https://www.recesslab.org/

In this conversation, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.