But that was before a battery of national and state testing was initiated, educators say. “Now schools are so accountable to test scores,” Dr. Clements said.

Irving Primary School has a 45-minute lunch period, and the time can be used for both eating and recess; when the weather is good, all students go outside. After that, recess is at the discretion of teachers.

“With No Child Left Behind, there is so much more that we have to fit into the day,” said Nancy Romano, Irving’s principal. “The children do need to go outside and they do need to run around.”

The Highland Park superintendent, David Ottaviano, said that schools grappled with fitting everything into the schedule and giving time for academics and play. But with the federal government expecting schools to have all children testing at the proficient level in science, language arts and math by 2014, the school day has less time for free play. The average school day in the region is six and a half to seven hours.

“What schools have done, unfortunately, is that we have to bow to these testing pressures,” Dr. Ottaviano said. But he also pointed out that time in the classroom does not mean that children are not moving around during instruction. “Our teachers are also schooled in the use of movement in the classroom,” he said.

Research shows that recess benefits students, Dr. Clements said. In a 2002 article in the ERIC Digest from the Educational Resources Information Center at the University of Illinois, recess was defined as a break in the day’s routine, and the article said for some children it was their only chance to play with other children.

In a summary of studies in the article, Olga S. Jarrett, an associate professor of early childhood education at Georgia State University, concluded that more research is needed but that recess is a positive aspect of the school day. “The available research suggests that recess can play an important role in the learning, social development and health of elementary school children,” she wrote. “While there are arguments against recess, no research clearly supports not having recess.”