A Study of the Yoga Ed Tools for Teachers Program
With 4 th Graders at
Public School # 198 in Bronx , NY 

Special Education Masters Thesis by Emily Davison
Sponsored by
City College
City University of New York
138Th and Convent Ave
New York , NY 10031  

Summary of Research

Hypothesis

Through the use of the Yoga Ed Tools for Teachers program, students in the experimental group, receiving yoga instruction and guidance, will show a reduction in the stress level (based on results from interviews, State/Trait Inventory and anecdotal records) and an increase in test scores for the New York City Princeton exam.

Population

The research participants are fourth grade public school children from an underachieving elementary school. All of the children are from a high-density, low socio-economic neighborhood in South Bronx, New York City. A large percentage of the population suffers from upper-respiratory disease, although the exact number is not available. The student population is African-American, Puerto Rican and Dominican. The students are English dominant. Some of the population may have a vague idea of yoga but no one has ever had any formal training in yoga or relaxation techniques.

Methodology

Yoga Ed approaches yoga in an active and playful manner within the academic setting. Introduced into The Accelerated School’s (TAS) integrated curriculum, Yoga Ed is designed to use yoga to support children in exploring physical and mental challenges in order to learn experientially about how to work well with both mind and body. The testimonials of this particular program from teachers exclaim the immediate and long-term effects yoga has on concentration, behavior and ability to learn.

Conclusions

The practice of Yoga Ed. helps children better understand their bodies, their self-perception and their personal connection to the world around them. Quantitative as well as qualitative data shows that participation in Yoga Ed.:

• Raises self-esteem
• Calms and relaxes the self in the face of feared testing situations
• Develops a sense of compassion, empathy and concern for others

Standardized tests create a culture of failure which is indicated by the first survey in which the majority of students reported as having little to no self esteem and extremely high anxiety for the tests that continuously illustrate to the students that they are not good enough to pass. After just a few weeks of Yoga Ed., students show a boost in self-esteem, highly agreeing with statements such as I have self-confidence, I am good enough and I feel like a success.

Not only do the coping mechanisms learned through Yoga Ed. sessions combat the effect of the stressor, they also confirm that through Yoga Ed., students gain a sense of compassion, empathy and concern for others that the teachers reported was not previously present. Before the testing, students were heard coaching each other saying, “remember to breath”, “just breath” and “stop and chill out of a few minutes if you need to.”

Although the students did not show significant improvement on their tests overall, two students did fall into higher percentile brackets. This can be attributed, in part, to truancy issues that worsened as the year wore on as well as the level of test difficulty rising considerably from the first to the second tests. Had Yoga Ed been an everyday experience and begun from September, the students would very likely have had more distinguished results with larger gaps in their surveys and possibly improved in their test scores.