Mindfulness Instruction as a Tier One Strategy in an Urban High School Dr. Mary Stone Assistant Professor of Psychology-Marist College Mary.Stone@marist.edu Dr. Scott Silverman Assistant Principal-John Adams High School (JAHS) ssilver13@schools.nyc.gov Mr. Scott Tierney Restorative Justice Teacher-JAHS Mr. Brenden Walsh Mindfulness Teacher-JAHS
John Adams High School
School website: johnadamsnyc.org Principal: Daniel Scanlon Grades served: 09,10,11,12,SE Enrollment: 2366 Average SAT: 906/1600 Shared space: Yes Admissions methods: Ed. Opt., Screened, Zoned Guarantee Student Demographics Asian: 36% Graduation Black: 24% 4-Year Graduation Rate Hispanic or Latinx: 32% 82% White: 3% of the class of 2019 graduated within four years English language learners: 14% Comparison Group*: 77% Students with special needs: 14% Queens: 80% Staff Experience City: 77% Years of principal experience at this school: 7.1 4-Year Grad Rate by Subgroup Teachers with 3 or more years of experience: 66% (number of students in subgroup is in parentheses) Attendance Comparison Group for studentsin subgroupAsian Student attendance: 87% (City: 89%) (210)81%Black (113)84%Hispanic or Latinx (182)82%White Students chronically absent: 38% (City: 31%) (18)78%English LanguageLearners (114)74%Students Teacher attendance: 96% withSpecial Needs (72)67%
Mindfulness Impact at John Adams High School 2012- 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016- 2017- 2018- 19-20 **CEP Benchmarks 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Goals Attendance Rate 79 81 82.5 84.3 85.7 86.4 87.1 88.1 Graduation Rate 52 55 62 65.9 71 72.4 82 82.5 **College and Career Readiness Post Secondary Enrollment 40 34 36 40.8 45 46 47 50 **College Readiness Index 15 14 20.2 21 32 42.2 55.4 56 10+ Credits in 9th Grade 77.6 78 81 85.8 89 89 *88 90 **College and Career Preparatory Course Index 23 20 32 35.6 34.3 37 47 48 **Regents Completion Rate 37 39 43 41 50.8 56.8 56 57.5
Mindfulness
Current Research Base • Many studies looking at educational applications of mindfulness-based interventions are conducted with largely homogenous and privileged groups. • Metz, Frank, Reibel, Cantrell, Sanders, and Broderick (2013) • Broderick & Metz (2009) • This is changing to some extent, however, investigations of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions with underserved groups remains under-investigated. • Blair and Raver (2014)
Related Research • There is also some related research that suggests that adolescents exposed to higher levels of environmental stressors are at higher risk for academic failure and emotional/behavioral regulation difficulties (i.e. Blair et al., 2011; DePrince, Weinzierl & Combs, 2007) and stand to benefit the most from instruction designed to increase mindful awareness (Diamond, 2012).
Broderick (2013)
Tier 1
Ninth Graders (Stone, Silverman, & Broderick, in preparation) Total Sample “At-Risk” Sample All 628 9 th grade students participated 58 (25%) participants were considered “at risk” based on self-reported history in the program and 245 (39%) of academic failure, negative school consented to participate in a program perceptions, and exposure to violence evaluation. in the community.
Ninth Graders (Stone, Silverman, & Broderick, in preparation) Cognitive Control (n = 182) ● Inhibition ○ NIH Toolbox: Flanker (Gershen, ■ Wagster, Hendric, Fox, Cook, & Nowinski, 2013) Attention Shifting ○ NIH Toolbox: Dimensional Change ■ Card Sort (Gershen, et al., 2013) Working Memory ○ NIH Toolbox: Picture Sequence ■ Memory (Gershen, et al., 2013) Emotional Control (n = 172) ● Mindfulness ○ Children and Adolescent ■ Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) (Greco, Baer & Smith, 2011) Stress ○ Adolescent Stress Questionnaire ■ (Byrne, Davenport, & Mazanov, 2007)
Cognitive Control - Inhibition (Gershen et al., 2013)
Cognitive Control - Inhibition (Gershen et al., 2013)
Cognitive Control – Attention Shifting (Gershen et al., 2013)
Cognitive Control – Attention Shifting (Gershen et al., 2013)
Cognitive Control – Working Memory (Gershen et al., 2013)
Emotional Control (Greco et al., 2011 & Byrne et al., 2007) Stress Mindful Awareness • Children and Adolescent Mindfulness • Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (Byrne, Measure (CAMM) (Greco, et al., 2011) Davenport, & Mazanov, 2007) • 25 item measure of mindful awareness • 56 item scale measuring stress in 10 domains • Observance of internal experience • Home Life • Acceptance of experience without judgement • School Performance • Acting with awareness • School Attendance • Romantic Relationships • Strong psychometric properties with diverse • Peer Pressure samples of adolescents • Teacher Interaction • Future Uncertainty • School-Leisure Conflict • Financial Pressures • Emerging Adult Responsibility • Strong Psychometric Properties • Empirically linked to academic achievement
Ninth Graders (Stone, Silverman, & Broderick, in preparation) Cognitive Control (n = 182) Emotional Control (n = 172) 125 125 120 120 115 115 110 110 105 105 100 100 95 95 90 90 85 85 80 80 75 75 September January June September January June Fall Spring Fall Spring
Ninth Graders at Increased Risk (Stone, Silverman, & Broderick, in preparation) Emotional Control (n = 52) 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 September January June Fall Spring
Lessons Learned • Do it more than you talk about it (experiential exercises are more helpful than dialogue) • Developmental Considerations • Differential benefits based on baseline levels of emotional regulation and risk levels • Importance of consistency & modeling • It is a practice – not something that is mastered • It can be helpful to have teachers learn alongside their students • Trainers should have a personal mindfulness practice
Current Data Perceived Stress Scale Teen Stress Survey N = 1,176 M = 18.24 Moderate N = 1091 2019-2020 Baseline PSS Scores • Highest reported sources of stress: 30 Low (0-13) Moderate (14-26) High (27-40) • Grades 25 • Regents exams • Waking up early 20 • Living up to expectations 15 • Family “drama” • Death of family member 10 • Loss of friendships 5 • Weight 0 Health Resorative Mindfulness Physical Justice Education
Tier 3 Tier 2
Electronic Tier 2 & 3 Referral Form
Questions?
References Blair, C., Granger, D. A., Willoughby, M., Mills-Koonce, R., Cox, M., Greenberg, M. T.,Kivlighan, K. T., Fortunato, C. K., & the Family Life Project Investigators. (2011). Salivary cortisol mediates effects of poverty and parenting on executive functions in early childhood. Child Development, 82 , 1970-1984. doi: 10.1111/j.1467- 8624.2011.01643.x Blair, N. & Raver, C. C. (2014). Closing the achievement gap through modification of neurocognitive and neuroendocrine function: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial of an innovative approach to the education of children in Kindergarten. PLOS ONE, 9 (11). Broderick, P. C. (2013 ). Learning to BREATHE: A Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents to Cultivate Emotion Regulation and Performance. Oakland, CA: Ne Harbinger. Broderick, P. C. & Metz, S. (2009) Learning to BREATHE: A pilot trial of a mindfulness curriculum for adolescents. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 2 (1), 35-46. Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R., "A Global Measure of Perceived Stress," in Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24 (1983), 385-396. DePrince, A. P., Weinzierl, K. M., Combs, M. D. (2007). Executive function performance and trauma exposure in a community sample of children. Child Abuse and Neglect, 33, 353-361. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.08.002 Diamond, A. (2012). Activities and programs that improve children’s executive functions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21 (5), 335-341. doi: 10.1177/0963721412453722. Gershan, R. C., Wagster, M. V., Hendrie, H. C., Fox, N. A., Cook, K. F., & Nowinski, L. J. (2013). NIH toolbox for assessment of neurological and behavioral function. Neurology, 11 , S2-6. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182872e5f. Greco, L. A., Baer, R. A., & Smith, G. T. (2011). Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). Psychological Assessment, 23(3), 606. Metz, S. M., Frank, J. L., Reibel, D., Cantrell, T., Sanders, R., & Broderick, P. C. (2013). The effectiveness of the Learning to BREATHE program on adolescent emotion regulation. Research in Human Development, 10 ( 3), 252-272. Doi: 10.1080/15427609.2013.818488 Stone, M., Silverman, S. & Broderick, P. (in preparation). Universal mindfulness instruction as a tier one intervention in an urban high school.
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