Direct and moderating impacts of the CARE mindfulness-based professional learning program for teachers on children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes

AbstractMindfulness based interventions (MBIs) for teachers can improve classroom interactions, teacher mindfulness, and well-being, yet whether teacher focused MBIs also benefit children remains largely unexplored. This cluster randomized trial with 36 urban elementary schools, 224 K-5th grade teachers (Mage = 41.5) and 5200 children (Mage = 7.7 years, tested direct and moderated effects of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) professional development program on eight child academic and social emotional outcomes, most teacher-reported. Positive effects of CARE were found for engagement in learning, motivation for learning, and reading competence. CARE was unexpectedly related to increased conflict. CARE teachers initially low in mindfulness reported children as higher on engagement, motivation, reading competence, and math competence compared to children of control group teachers low in mindfulness. Unexpectedly, CARE teachers high in mindfulness at baseline reported children as lower in social skills compared to high mindfulness teachers in the control condition. AcknowledgmentsWe thank the teachers, children, and administration in the New York City schools and the New York City Department of Education. Without your participation and support, this work would not have been possible.Disclosure statementThe authors report there are no competing interests to declare.Data availability statementData not available due to ethical/legal restrictions. Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.Figure A1. Study design and timeline.Display full sizeFigure A2. CONSORT flow diagram for child sample. This figure represents the progress through the phases of the present randomized controlled trial.Display full sizeNotes1 Pennsylvania State University IRB # 39045 and New York City Department of Education IRB study #131.2 At the time of recruitment, the New York City schools were beginning to transition to a new model intended to support efforts to include students with disabilities in the general education classrooms by assigning special education teachers as co-teachers with general education teachers. The limitations of our research design did not allow us to include teachers working in classrooms with a co-teacher.Additional informationFundingThis study was supported by Grant Award [R305A120180] from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education (USDE). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of IES or the USDE. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Institute of Educational Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education.