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Grant History
Varela Grant

Mindfulness and the reduction of racial disparities and disproportionality in school discipline

Lindsay Romano
Topics: Education | Mindfulness | Social Change

Teachers are the most important factor in determining student achievement compared to any other aspect of schooling. They operate on the front lines of society’s efforts to promote equity and play a pivotal role as gatekeepers of academic opportunities. Despite good intentions, teachers like the rest of society are racially biased. Studies indicate that teachers hold lower expectations and recommend harsher punishment for Black compared to White students, leading to vast disparities in outcomes. This project aims to evaluate if contemplative exercises can reduce racial bias in disciplinary decisions. Instead of targeting bias directly, we propose that a brief mindfulness training can shift the mental conditions that lead to biased behaviors. We will test the hypothesis that mindfulness can reduce the application of stereotypes and increase compassion, leading participants to recommend less severe punishments for Black students when exposed to school records. We will test this hypothesis through a double-blind, placebo-controlled field experiment. Our intervention is brief, free, and theoretically precise, enabling the causal test of mindfulness on disciplinary actions in the classroom. Should this intervention prove effective, it can become a scalable way to embed insights from contemplative science into teacher education to reduce bias and improve student outcomes.

Lindsay Romano

New York University

Grantee

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Mind & Life Institute
  • About
    • Mission and Values
    • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
    • 35 Years
    • Strategy
    • History
    • People
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Events
    • Inspiring Minds
    • Summer Research Institute
    • Dialogues and Conversations
  • Grants
    • Varela Grants
    • PEACE Grants
    • Contemplative Changemaking Grants
    • Awards
    • Mentoring
  • Online Learning
    • Mind & Life Podcast
    • Online Courses
    • Digital Dialogues
    • Academic Papers
  • Media
    • Blog
    • Documentaries
    • Books
    • Videos
  • Support
    • Why Give
    • Ways to Give
    • Annual Reports
  •