Teachers often cancel recess as a punishment. A growing number of states want to change that.

[Igel]

4. Districts around here treat it as response-to-intervention time.

You are absent and don't make up work, you don't turn in work or you fail a test, you stay behind to do the work you should have already done. (In a sense it's worse because the rest of the class has recess.)

In some schools with a large continent of students who fail the standardized tests, that's remediation time a few days a week as well.

Kids may view it as punishment, but admin and most teachers see it otherwise--if they don't keep the kids in to play catch up, they'll just fall further and further behind.