ABSTRACT
Any effort to make a playground resilient will be more effective if it has broad support from the families, school, school district, and community that surround a classroom. Recess improvement efforts gain the respect of these audiences, and the support that accompanies respect, given recognition that the efforts are responsible for noteworthy improvements that are important for children’s school success. These four terms are deliberately italicized in the preceding sentence. Support builds for a project when it is evident to the audience that things have changed for the better (improvements), the improvements are of the type and size that matter (importance), the improvements are relevant to the core responsibilities of schools (school success), and all of these facts are clearly recognized by others. This recognition does not occur accidentally, and does not automatically accrue to any beneficial project. Instead, a combination of action research (providing evidence of the program’s impact) and marketing (so that important audiences know about the evidence) is essential for creating support for change. This chapter will describe the essential elements of both action research and project marketing.
