2. DESCRIPTION OF SELECTED STUDIES

The following sample studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the Transcendental Meditation program and its applicability to a wide variety of educational settings.

1. Improved academic achievement, cognitive abilities, creativity, and self-esteem. Research in primary and secondary schools has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation program by elementary and secondary students significantly improves academic achievement on national standardized tests (17, 18); develops cognitive abilities (12); and improves field independence, an indicator of broad comprehension and the ability to focus sharply (13).
   
   Longitudinal research at the post-secondary level has also found development of intellectual ability, creativity, field independence, academic achievement, and self-esteem (3, 4, 7, 15, 20, 21, 50); as well as reduced stress and development of personality among minority students (62); improved self development to uniquely high levels (50); and increased self-actualization (38 - 40).

2. Increased intelligence and reduced anxiety among high school students. Four secondary schools in North York, Ontario, Canada participated in a study of longitudinal change in high school students practicing the Transcendental Meditation program (2). After a 14-week period, results found that students practicing the Transcendental Meditation program improved significantly in intellectual performance, creativity, and seven personality factors, in comparison to randomly assigned controls.
   
   
3. Increased intellectual abilities and self-concept of children in a depressed urban area. A 45-week study of inner city children, who began the Transcendental Meditation program through a social service agency (74), found significant improvement in analytical intelligence, self-concept, and general intellectual performance in this group, as compared to a matched control group of children participating in other educational and recreational activities in the same organization. In addition to practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique, the class participated in a one-year course to give deeper intellectual understanding of the development they were experiencing through the Transcendental Meditation program in relation to their subjects of academic study. Almost all of the children in both groups were African-American or Hispanic. Many came from homes with one or no parents present, and all were subject to the kind of stress that has become endemic to the inner city.
   
   
4. Reduced substance abuse. Numerous studies with high school students, college students, and adults have shown reduction in substance abuse and antisocial behavior. A recent special issue of the journal Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly (80) contains a number of papers that review the many research studies showing significant effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique in reducing substance abuse for all classes of illegal drugs, as well as for alcohol, cigarettes, and prescribed drugs.

3. ACHIEVEMENTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS-BASED SCHOOLS

The research findings described above are reflected in the achievements of the students at Consciousness-Based schools worldwide. Over 20 years of experience has shown that any school in any nation whose students regularly practice the Transcendental Meditation technique enjoys the flowering of its students' potential.

Most of the data has been collected from Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, a Consciousness-Based school where faculty and doctoral students from nearby Maharishi University of Management (formerly named Maharishi International University) conduct research. The school (K - 12) was founded in 1974, and currently has over 600 students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. As in all such schools, its unique addition to the traditional curriculum is the systematic development of the students' consciousness through a program that includes the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique for a few minutes twice daily during school time.

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa
Recent Achievements

The School has a liberal admissions policy, and the standardized test scores of entering students are average. The extraordinary achievements of the students as they progress through this system of education are therefore particularly impressive.

1. Upper school classes (grades 9 - 12) consistently score in the 99th percentile in the nation on standardized tests of academic achievement. Lower school classes consistently score near the 90th percentile. This result is particularly notable in light of the data that when first admitted to the school, the students as a whole score at around the fiftieth percentile (average). No other school in the United States produces this great a change in its student body as a whole.
   
   
2. At the two state science and engineering fairs, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment students have won at least one of the two first prizes in the past seven years. At the 1995 fairs alone, 53 awards were won by these students, including four first place awards.
   
   
3. In 1995 and 1996 students won first place in the Iowa State History Fair - Group Media Competition senior division. At the National History Fair, their project was named the outstanding project among senior division entrants from Iowa.
   
   
4. Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment has had six National Merit Scholars in the past eight years selected from its senior class.
   
   
5. In the 1996 Regional division of the nationwide Mathcounts competition, an 8th-grade team won first place as a team, and one student placed first individually. In 1996 Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment ranked first in Iowa Class 1A in the American School Mathematics Exam and, in 1997, first in Iowa in Class 2A. Three Middle School students placed in the top 1% in the 11th Annual American Junior High School Math Exam, taken by students from 25 countries. One student placed first in Iowa, and in the top .05% in the world.
   
   
6. In 1988, 1994, 1995, and 1996 Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment groups won first-place awards in all-state speech competitions; in 1995 and 1996 students were named "Young Writer of the Year" in Iowa, and "Young Poet of the Year" in 1996.
   
   
7. In 1995 Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment won first place in the Iowa Poetry Association's high school contest.
   
   
8. In 1995 and 1996 the school was the winner in all three categories of the National Scholastic Art Competition.
   
   
9. In 1994 to 1996, teams from the 7th and 8th grades won first place in a state problem-solving competition, the Iowa Odyssey of the Mind competition, qualifying the School to represent Iowa at the World Finals for a third year in a row. One team then went on to finish 6th in the world at the world finals.
   
   
10. Students have also won many state awards in the areas of art, computer programming, music, photography, spelling, and chess competitions.
    
    
11. Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment is one of only three private schools in Iowa to be granted college preparatory status by the Iowa Department of Education, the criteria being the percentage of graduating students who continue on to higher education. Over the past five years 95% of the graduates have gone on to attend four-year colleges and universities around the country.
    
    

Sports Achievements

1. The Boys' Tennis Team won the 1991 Iowa state championship in both singles and team competition. In both 1992 and 1993, they won first place in doubles competition. In 1995 and 1996 they won the State Class 1-A singles tennis title, and 1995 Prep Illustrated's Iowa Class 1-A Player of the Year award.
   
   
2. In 1995 Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment fans, athletes, and coaches received the highest sportsmanship ratings in the State.
   
   
3. The students were State champions Class 1-A Team golf in 1996, and individual golf State champions in 1995.
   
   

Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in England
Recent Achievements

The school has 100 elementary and secondary students. Objective measures of the school's academic, creative, and intellectual achievements include the following:

1. According to Department for Education and Employments figures, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment is in the top 2% of schools in the country academically.
   
   
2. In 1995 and 1996, the performance of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment on the national examinations of the Department for Education and Employment ranks the school academically in the top 2.5% of all schools in the nation. This includes both selective and non-selective schools, which makes the achievement even more impressive. This School ranks number one among the thousands of schools in the county.
   
   
3. On the national public examinations for 16-year-old students (GCSE) in 1995, in the areas of mathematics, science, and English, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment students scored 90% of passes at the top three of seven grading levels, in comparison to the national norm in 1995 of 45%. The school had 42% of grade A passes, compared to 13% nationally.
   
   
4. In 1997, a student won the Heinemann "Get Published" Competition with a book that Heinemann will edit and publish with professional illustrations.
   
   
5. In 1995 and 1996, students on nine occasions won the national Times Educational Supplement Young Poet of the Week competition. Only one other school has won this competition more than twice. Of the three students in the nation who have won this award more than twice, two are from Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment.
   
   
6. In a 1994 national poetry competition for all schools in the country, sponsored by Puffin Books, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment students won two of the three first prizes, and two of the five second prizes. In 1996, the school won a special award, the Wondercrump Award, for the 'variety and originality' of poems submitted at the Roald Dahl Poetry Competition in London. Students have also won numerous awards and commendations for their writing and poetry in many competitions throughout the country.
   
   
7. In 1994 the students scored at the 87th percentile in verbal skills on the nationally standardized Richmond Tests of Basic Skills.

In summary, the achievements of the students of Maharishi Schools of the Age of Enlightenment worldwide, together with the results of the hundreds of scientific research studies on the Transcendental Meditation program and educational experience of nearly four decades, indicate that any school in any nation whose students and teachers regularly practice the Transcendental Meditation program will experience the blossoming of the students' creative potential in a healthy, harmonious, creative school environment.