Does Race, Income, or Child Disability Status Impact Parent Perceptions of School Recess?

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Elementary school recess is crucial for children’s social-emotional development and is one of the only unstructured parts of school day in which children can play and be physically active with their peers (Murray & Ramstetter, 2013). However, recess can also be an environment in which bullying and victimization can occur (e.g. Lodewyk et al., 2020). Moreover, children with disabilities may be more likely to be recipients of bullying and victimization at recess (McNamara et al., 2018). While children’s recess experiences are distinctly their own, parents have a unique role as advocates for their children’s needs and serve as significant stakeholders in the development and passing of school policies. Therefore, parents perceptions’ of their child’s recess, and if these perceptions differed based race, income, and children’s disability status were examined.

The current study used a cross-sectional survey design. Data collection was conducted through Prolific (www.prolific.co; Palan & Schitter, 2018), an online platform designed for researchers to recruit research study participants. Participants in the current study included 473 parents in the United States. Participants were stratified across six household income levels: <$20,000 (n= 36), $20,000-$44,999 (n=72), $45,000-$69,999 (n=96), $70,000-$94,999 (n= 99), $95,000-$119,999 (n= 74), and >$120,000 (n= 96). Three primary surveys were developed that assessed: perceptions of belonging and victimization, perceptions of recess policies, and perceptions of recess procedures.

Data were analyzed using latent variable modeling in MPlus v8.4 with the weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimator. The initial correlated latent-factor measurement models revealed a good fit for the data for the belonging and victimization scale (χ2= 234.52, p< .001; CFI= .968; TLI= .959; RMSEA= .098; SRMR= .042), the recess policy scale, (χ2= 156.40, p< .001; CFI= .986; TLI= .981; RMSEA= .067; SRMR= .031), and the recess procedures scale (χ2= 147.89, p< .001; CFI= .977; TLI= .969; RMSEA= .085; SRMR= .036). Model fit indeces remained virtually unchanged when predictor variables were entered into the model.

Regression analyses revealed that parents’ perceptions of their child’s belonging at recess did not differ based on race, income, or child disability status. Parents’ perception of their child’s victimization at recess was not predicted by race or income but was significantly predicted by disability status (b= .13, SE= .06, p= .05), with parents of children with disabilities reporting higher levels of victimization. Similarly, parents of a child with a disability were significantly more likely to believe that recess should not be withheld from students for behavioral or academic reasons (b= .171, SE= .07, p= .01), whereas race and income were not predictive of parents’ beliefs about withholding recess. Finally, having a child with a disability was also predictive of parents’ beliefs about student engagement at recess (b= .165, SE= .07, p= .02). Parents who indicated their child had a disability were more likely to agree that recess should include a variety of activities including physical activity, that teachers should encourage a positive culture at recess while supervising and playing alongside children, and that conflict resolution skills should be taught to children.

Authors

• Isabella Sciuto Ozenbaugh, Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)
  Presenting Author

• Janelle Thalken, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• William Vincent Massey, Oregon State University - Corvallis
  Non-Presenting Author