PERCENTAGE OF OBSERVED ON-TASK BEHAVIOR

1. Soles of the Feet: Mindfulness-Training to Improve Classroom Behavior Jacob Groff, Maxwell Morris, Wayne Wilson, Chirstabelle Moore, & Joshua Felver-Gant University of Oregon, School Psychology Program ABSTRACT Uncontrolled disruptive behavior in the classroom is often a barrier to safe, healthy, and productive educational environments. This poster details results from a clinical application of a mindfulness-based intervention, Soles of the Feet (SoF), to address these behaviors in an educational setting. This poster describes the SoF interventionand it's preliminary results, intending to promote future discussion around the utlity of mindfulness-based interventions in educatonal environments. THE SOLES OF THE FEET INTERVENTION All lessons follow a basic instructional format, including introduction of the daily topic, a review of the previous session, didactic instruction, practice, and discussion. Each lesson lasted ~20 minutes. Lesson 1: Introducing Soles of the FeetStudents are taught that the goal of SoF: to learn an easy way to stay calm when they are feeling upset. Instruction around the basics of SoF are given, and students practice the complete SoF procedure. Lesson 2: Practicing Soles of the Feet when HappyStudents are instructed on identifying the feeling of being happy. Students are led through an exercise where they remember a happy memory to elicit the emotion. Students then practice the SoF exercise to demonstrate how SoF can nullify a strong positive affective state. Lesson 3: Practicing Soles of the Feet when AngryProcess for the previous lesson was repeated with the emphasis identifying negative affective states (e.g., anger, annoyance). Lesson 4: Practicing Soles of the Feet on TriggersStudents are led through a guided exercise where they verablly report their trigger (i.e., antecedent) for their identified negative affect. Students practice SoF to effectively interrupt their automatic response (e.g., disruptive behavior) to their trigger. Lesson 5: Using Soles of the Feet in Daily LifeThis lesson integrates the previous four lessons and works towards promoting SoF practice and generalization. Students are instructed on the importance of practicing the SoF exercise as a way of improving their overall ability to self-regulate. PERCENTAGE OF OBSERVED ON-TASK BEHAVIOR MEAN STUDENT BEHAVIOR BY STUDY PHASE Maintenance BL SoF INTRODUCTION Easily implemented, low cost, and effective tools are needed in today’s schools. Previous research by Singh and colleagues (2003, 2007, 2008) found mindfulness techniques can lead to improved pro-social behavior among individuals with various psychosocial impairments. Given the emerging evidence base for SoF, the present study investigated the application of SoF in a classroom environment for children’s disruptive and on-task behavior. DISCUSSION The goal of the study was to investigate whether a functional relation exists between the SoF Intervention and student classroom behavior. The SoF Intervention demonstrated increased student on-task behavior and lower disruptive behavior. This is consistent with previous applications of the SoF Intervention in other settings and populations (Singh et al., 2007). This is the first effective application of the SoF intervention with elementary school aged children in a general education setting, contributing to the development of mindfulness interventions. A limitation of this study include constricted time-frame which precluded more observations during the maintenance phase. Soles of the Feet is a promising tool for educators due to its efficacy, ease of use, cost effectiveness, and social validity. Based on the promising effectiveness demonstrated in this pilot study, future research will focus on expanding the intervention to special education classroom settings, and for use with entire classroom populations. • METHOD Consecutive School Days • School aged children in grades 3, 4, or 5, displaying high levels of off-task behavior and not receiving any other educational services were eligible. • Multiple baseline single subject design. • Students observed using direct behavioral observation using Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools (BOSS) partial interval (15 second) for 20-30 minutes observation sessions. • Coded behaviors included passively engaged, actively engaged, off-task verbal, off-task motor, and off-task passive. • Inter-observer agreement was maintained above eighty percent. • Fidelity data was reported by interventionists during all sessions. TEACHER FEEDBACK Do you feel the SOF program was effective for your students? “Yes, both of my students were able to calm themselves several times” “Yes, he calmed down when frustrated” Would you recommend SOF to other teachers? “Yes, you could see the boys stop and concentrate” “Yes because it’s easy for teacher and student!” • STUDENT FEEDBACK As a student, what did you like best about SOF? “It didn’t get me as mad” “Everything!” “It helped me a lot in 2 weeks. I also use it at home” • CONTACT INFORMATION • Josh Felver-Gant • email: jfelverg@uoregon.edu