St. Paul Schools measured CalmConnect™ efficacy in reducing off-task behavior in the spring of 2017. Prevent staff, school counselors, and school social workers observed students in eight classrooms, four in each of two schools. The classrooms consisted of three levels 1 Montessori room (grades 1-3), three first grade, one second grade, and one fifth grade.
Observers catalogued each incident, which included the following behaviors: Not following instructions, distracting others, talking out of turn, inappropriately out of seat or area, and shut down or disengaged.
Observations were completed the week before CalmConnect™ was introduced to the classrooms, and after it was introduced at weeks one, three and five. Each observation lasted 30 minutes and was done for three days a week. The eight participating teachers all reported that they used the CalmConnect™ program with fidelity – using two video sequences at a time, and
playing the videos twice during each school day at a transition time.
The results were statistically significant.
Using CalmConnect™ reduced off-task behavior by an average of 58% in 8 classrooms.
Supporting Research:
Melinda Radcliff, an Early Childhood Specialist with Alton School District in Missouri, measured a 71%
reduction in off-task behavior for her graduate thesis. She used CalmConnect™ 4 minutes per day in her
mixed/ ASD PreK/K classroom, collecting data over 4 weeks.
