Practicing Transcendental Meditation technique is associated with higher graduation rates, according to a new study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal “Education.”
Analysis of school records for 235 high school senior students at an East Coast urban high school was conducted to determine on-time graduation, and findings showed a 15 percent higher graduation rate for the entire meditating group compared to the non-meditating control group, after taking into account student grade point average, according to the study. Subgroup analysis further indicated a 25 percent difference in graduation rates when considering only the low academic performing students in both groups.
“These results are the first to show that the Transcendental Meditation program can have a positive impact on student graduation rates,” Sanford Nidich, Ed.D, co-author and professor of education at Maharishi University of Management said in the study. “The largest effect was found in the most academically challenged students. Recently published research on increased academic achievement and reduced psychological stress in urban school students may provide possible mechanisms for the higher graduation rates found in this study.”
Researchers say the findings also showed significant differences for dropout rates and college acceptance, as meditating students were less apt to drop out from school or go to prison, and were more likely to be accepted to post-secondary institutions.
“While there are bright spots in public education today, urban schools on the whole tend to suffer from a range of factors which contribute to poor student academic performance and low graduation rates,” said lead study author, Robert D. Colbert, Ph.D., associate professor, and director of Neag School of Education’s Diversity Council at University of Connecticut.
“Students need to be provided with value-added educational programs that can provide opportunities for school success. Our study investigated one such program, Transcendental Meditation, which appears to hold tremendous promise for enriching the lives of our nation’s students.”
I enjoy the practice of TM, and it’s a great thing for any child to get to do. The last paragraph of the article sums it up nicely:
“Students need to be provided with value-added educational programs that can provide opportunities for school success. Our study investigated one such program, Transcendental Meditation, which appears to hold tremendous promise for enriching the lives of our nation’s students.”
In my mind there is no doubt that students who practice TM have a higher likelihood of graduating though it is heartening to see there is research and evidence supporting this. Personally TM was played a huge benefiting factor when I was in grad school and has since been a powerful stress relief technique in day to day life!