Foundation & Design Research
The foundation of the Calm Classroom program was modeled after two separate research projects conducted by Harvard Medical School. One study involved a inner city middle school in Los Angeles, Ca. and the other was a High School located in New York.
The first study was a three year longitudinal research project that was conducted by Dr. Herbert Benson (Benson et al., 2000), measuring the results of implementing a relaxation response (RR) curriculum in a middle school setting. This program was based on one approach to reducing stress and promoting well-being, emotional awareness/regulation, attention regulation and pro-social behavior, through the practice of eliciting the RR within students.
Dr. Bensons three year study was conducted at a south central Los Angeles middle school called Horace Mann. Harvard Medical School – Benson, Herbert, Wilcher, Marilyn. (2000). Academic Performance Among Middle School Students After Exposure to a Relaxation Response Curriculum. Journal of Research and Development in Education Volume 33, Number 3, 2000
Full Research Report »
The results were statistically significant:
GPA’s for the group of students who were given the protocol four or more times each day ranged between 12% and 25% higher each year of the study than the group that had no exposure.
Cooperative behavior ratings for the group of students who were given the protocol four or more times each day ranged between 10% and 22% higher each year of the study than the group that had no exposure.
Work habit ratings for the group of students who were given the protocol four or more times each day ranged between 15% and 24% higher each year of the study than the group that had no exposure.
The results from this study provide evidence that a RR intervention can help to improve the academic performance of middle school children. Sixth through eighth grade students exposed to the RR curriculum obtained higher grade point averages and scored higher in work habits and cooperation than those students not exposed, or minimally exposed. A critical level of more than two exposures to semester-long classes incorporating the RR curriculum appeared to be necessary to produce these results. In addition, the results show that there were benefits to continuing the curriculum over several years. A second series of analyses showed that grades increased as well as improvements in work habits and cooperative behavior in students who had more exposure.
The Benson study was aligned with the decades of research that has generated a knowledge base that can be utilized to promote students emotional competence and to aid in the development of these competencies (Eisenberg, 2003; Ekman, 2004). However, until recently, neither teacher pre-service or in-service programs have utilized this rich source of material to help promote these social-emotional processes in teachers as well as the students.
The second study was conducted at a Lake Placid High School located in Lake Placid New York.
Harvard Medical School – Arthur Kornhaber, Carol Kornhaber, and Mila N LeChanu. Patricia Zuttermeister, Patricia Myers, and Ricahrd Friedman, Increases In Positive Psychological Characteristics With A New Relaxation-Response Curriculum In High School Students. Journal of Research and Development in Education – Volume 27, Number 4, 1994
Full Research Report »
Benson’s high school program took place over the course of 1994. Self-esteem and locus of control were evaluated in a group of high school students prior to, during and following a single academic year. Using a randomized crossover experimental design students were exposed to either a health curriculum (three times per week) based on elicitation of the relaxation response and then a follow-up period, or to a control health curriculum and then the relaxation -response based curriculum . Exposure to the relaxation-response curriculum but not the control curriculum. This resulted in significant increases in self-esteem and a tendency toward greater internal locus of control scores . Furthermore, teacher observations indicated a high degree of student acceptance of relaxation-response training. These results suggest the incorporation of the relaxation response into a high school curricula may be a practical and efficient way to increase positive psychological attitudes. The relaxation response techniques were limited to a progressive relaxation or body scan in which the students close their eyes and are instructed to feel different parts of their body and their breathing pattern as they relax. The demographics of this school were: 600 students, 94% white with 17% from low income families.
Although the rigor and depth of the High School study did not match the Middle School analysis both of these studies contributed to the development of the Calm Classroom model and the resulting success of the Calm Classroom curriculum at Samuel Gompers Middle School. The original modeling of the Calm Classroom on the Harvard research combined with a new school wide implementation strategy and on-going data collection have made Calm Classroom a continuing success in the schools it serves.
Share this page
Tweet