After months of hard work, we are thrilled to finally be able to share some results from the largest study

on mindfulness and children to date, involving 915 children and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland public schools. The randomized-controlled study showed statistically significant improvements in the children's behavior with just 4 hours of mindfulness training, which confirms what many of us know about the powerful potential of mindfulness. Please see below for details. Meanwhile, we are hard at work to serve you as you strive to bring mindfulness into education. We'll have more exciting updates for you in December, but for now we wish you a restful fall season as the holidays approach! We wish you the best with the helpful work you do. Sincerely, The Mindful Schools Team

Results from the Largest Study on Mindfulness and Children

In the 2011-12 school year, Mindful Schools partnered with the University of California, Davis to conduct the largest randomizedcontrolled study to date on mindfulness and children, involving 915 children and 47 teachers in 3 Oakland public elementary schools. The Mindful Schools curriculum (which has been taught to over 30,000 children) produced statistically significant improvements in behavior versus the control group (shown graphically below) with just 4 hours of mindfulness instruction for the students-a very small, low-cost dose. Further instruction through teacher training could produce even more long-term benefit (this will be evaluated in a future study).

Population Served
In addition to the studys size, it is notable for the population served and the environment around the schools. The diagram below (click to enlarge) shows the very high level of crime around the three elementary schools that were studied surroundings that add tremendous turmoil to childrens lives. In 2010, Oakland was ranked 5th in the United States in violent crime. In addition, 85% of the students in the study were on Free Lunch and 6% were on Reduced Lunch. 68% of the students were English Language Learners. 49% of the parents did not have high school diplomas.

Additional Information
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The treatment group received only 4 hours of mindfulness instruction over six weeks. The control group had class as usual (without any mindfulness instruction). Treatment and control groups were randomly chosen, stratied by grade level. The mindfulness teachers in the study had a strong mindfulness background, which is a key determinant of success when teaching mindfulness to others. The graph above shows the change in childrens behavior, scored on a teacher-rated scale (courtesy of Kinder Associates LLC, Wellness Works in Schools). The results show statistically signicant improvements in Paying Attention (p=.004) and Social Compliance (p=.026). Showing Care for Others was close to being signicant (p=0.165). The control groups large gain in Self Calming was probably due to the climate in the three schools, all of which were exceptionally calm compared to other schools we have been in. The studys power was limited by the small number of classrooms used, due to budget and timing constraints. These issues will be addressed in a future study. Standardized Z scores, signicance levels, and eect sizes are tabulated below the graph.

10 Ordinary Least Squares regression was used, controlling for gender and age in months. 11 The results show that mindfulness can impact childrens behavior in a short time at low cost. 12 The results show that mindfulness exercises can transcend the language barrier (68% of the children were English Language Learners). 13 A deep discussion of this study, its design, other results, and lessons learned is forthcoming. 14 We are grateful to the S.H. Cowell Foundation and the Julia Burke Foundation for funding this study. 15 Please send any questions or other correspondence to research@mindfulschools.org.

16 If you would like to contribute to hiring a research coordinator for Mindful Schools, or to fund a future study, please contact Randy Fernando.

Detailed Statistical Results

Paying Attention Self-Calming Social Compliance Care for Others Standardized Value Signicance Level (p) Eect Size (r) (Z) -2.89 0.004 -0.10 -0.25 0.800 -0.01 -2.23 0.026 -0.08 -1.34 0.165 -0.05