Curriculum Evaluation of a Novel Health and Wellness Program Within New York City Schools

GPA was calculated as the numeric average of course scores of all courses taken by the student weighted by credit load of each course using a standard process within NYC public schools.

A 57-item self-report questionnaire that was used as a measure of emotional regulation We examined two of the five constructs (24 of the 57 items) within the RSQ as these were most directly theoretically relevant to expected changes due to yoga practice: voluntary engagement and involuntary engagement. Higher values represent higher levels of negative stress responses. Values for the voluntary engagement subscale represent the mean value across 9 questions on the survey and values for the involuntary subscale represent the mean value across 15 questions on the survey. Values for each item range from 0-3, trherefore the total mean values reported as outcomes range from 0-3.

A 14 item self-report measure assessing subjective well-being (1-5 scale). Higher values represent more positive mental well being. The summary measure is a sum of the 14 questions (not a mean). Summary values therefore range from 14-70.

A 10 item self-report measure assessing mindfulness skills (Scale 1-4). Items are reverse scored and summed (not mean). Higher scores mean more positive mindfulness skills. Min and maximum scores are 0-40.

An 80 item self-report questionnaire assessing executive function and self regulation. The BRIEF-SR measures 8 non-overlapping clinical scales that measure different aspects of executive functioning with the Inhibit, Shift, Emotional control and Monitor subscales combining to create a Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and the Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials and Task Completion combining to create a Meta Cognition Index. These two indices combine to create a Global Executive Composite (GEC). Only the GEC was used within this study for analysis. Raw scores were converted to T scores (using gender and age for population norms) wherein a score of 50 represents the mean and a difference of 10 from the mean indicates a difference of one standard deviation.

Teacher reported 87 item questionnaire on students executive function and self regulation. The BRIEF for teachers measures 8 non-overlapping theoretically and empirically derived clinical scales that measure different aspects of executive functioning with the Inhibit, Shift, Emotional control and Monitor subscales combining to create a Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and the Working Memory, Plan/Organize, Organization of Materials and Task Completion combining to create a Meta Cognition Index. These two indices combine to create a Global Executive Composite (GEC). Only the GEC was used within this study for analysis Raw scores were converted to T scores (using gender and age for population norms) wherein a score of 50 represents the mean and a difference of 10 from the mean indicates a difference of one standard deviation.