69传媒

Equity & Diversity

Mindset a Key Factor In Student Success

By Evie Blad 鈥 August 02, 2016 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Having a growth mindset may help buffer students from low-income families from the effects of poverty on academic achievement, researchers found in a first-of-its kind, large-scale study of 168,000 10th grade students in Chile.

But poor students in the study were also less likely to have a growth mindset than their higher-income peers, researchers found.

69传媒 with a growth mindset believe that skill and academic strength can be developed through effort and practice, said Stanford University researcher Susana Claro, who co-wrote the study with Stanford professors David Paunesku and Carol Dweck.

That鈥檚 contrasted with students with a fixed mindset, who believe their intelligence and skill sets are unchangeable, like eye color. Dweck鈥檚 previous research has found that interventions that help students develop more of a growth mindset can have positive effects on their academic achievement.

This new study expands on those findings, showing for the first time that they hold true in a national sample, and exploring how academic mindsets interact with family income to affect student achievement.

While students from low-income households typically score lower on standardized tests, researchers found that poorer Chilean students with higher levels of growth mindset had similar average test scores to their fixed-mindset peers from higher-income families.

Relationship Between Mindset and Poverty

While research has found that a growth mindset may offset the effects of poverty, data from a large-scale study in Chile suggests that poor students are more likely to have a fixed mindset.

BRIC ARCHIVE

鈥淪trikingly, students from low-income families (the lowest 10 percent) who had a growth mindset showed comparable test scores with fixed-mindset students whose families earned 13 times more (80th percentile),鈥 says the study, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers used test scores and student survey responses from an entire class of students enrolled in public schools in Chile during the 2012 academic year to reach their conclusions. They measured mindsets by asking students to agree or disagree with two statements: 鈥淵ou can learn new things, but you can鈥檛 change a person鈥檚 intelligence,鈥 and, 鈥淚ntelligence is something that cannot be changed very much.鈥 Claro, who is Chilean, worked with the country鈥檚 ministry of education to include the questions on an existing student survey, Paunesku said.

The results are the first to show on such a large scale that the relationship between mindset and achievement 鈥渋s comparably strong鈥 with that between family income and achievement, the authors wrote.

Effects on Achievement

Researchers also found that a growth mindset was a greater predictor of success for poor students than it was for their higher-income peers. But students from the lowest-income households were also twice as likely to have a fixed mindsets than their wealthiest peers. The findings suggest that the systemic problems that poor students face, like a lack of a quiet place to study or adequate nutrition, may be compounded by psychological factors, Paunesku said.

鈥淏y virtue of their economic deprivation, [low-income students] can鈥檛 get a lot of things that we know are important to learning,鈥 he said. 鈥淗aving a fixed mindset makes it even harder for them to overcome these barriers. ... If you have a fixed mindset, you鈥檙e more likely to interpret a setback or something that鈥檚 hard as a sign that you can鈥檛 do it.鈥

Critics of schools that emphasize concepts like growth mindset, grit, and persistence argue that such work can fail to take into account systemic factors that contribute to poor achievement. Some label this a 鈥渂ootstraps mentality.鈥

鈥淭o be clear, we are not suggesting that structural factors, like income inequality or disparities in school quality, are less important than psychological factors,鈥 the authors wrote. And growth-mindset interventions are not a replacement for systemic efforts, they added.

But, as schools address systemic issues, they should also be mindful that a student鈥檚 difficult life circumstances can affect the way they approach learning, struggle, and failure in the classroom, Paunesku said.

鈥淢indset is an important part of how socioeconomic disparities get replicated from generation to generations. ... Structural barriers get in the way of people being able to succeed, and they reinforce mindsets that tell [students] they can鈥檛 succeed.鈥

Rather than seeing growth-mindset interventions as a standalone strategy, some schools have worked in recent years to pair them with efforts to improve school climate and provide support for students鈥 nonacademic needs. Educators seeking to nurture growth mindset in the classroom should also address the importance of developing new strategies to tackle difficult problems, rather than emphasizing sheer effort, Paunesku said.

But isn鈥檛 it possible that 鈥渄oing well in school leads to a growth mindset rather than the other way around? " Claro and her co-researchers asked. To try to answer this, they controlled their results using other survey questions. They found that the relationship between a growth mindset and achievement remained significant even when controlling for factors like students鈥 perceptions of their own academic skills.

A version of this article appeared in the August 03, 2016 edition of Education Week as Mindset May Influence Poor 69传媒鈥 Academics

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Biden Apologizes to Native Americans for 'Sin' of Federal Boarding 69传媒
The president issues a formal apology in Indian Country for the abuses and deaths.
4 min read
President Joe Biden speaks at the Gila Crossing Community School in the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Laveen, Ariz., Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Gila Crossing Community School in the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Laveen, Ariz., Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Equity & Diversity Opinion The Fight Over DEI Continues. Can We Find Common Ground?
Polarizing discussion topics in education can spark a vicious cycle of blame. Is it possible to come to a mutual understanding?
7 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Equity & Diversity Opinion You Need to Understand Culturally Responsive Teaching Before You Can Do It
Too often, teachers focus solely on the content. They need to move beyond that and get out of their comfort zones.
11 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Opinion How Can Educators Strike a Healthy Balance on Diversity and Inclusion?
DEI advocates and opponents both have good points鈥攁nd both can go too far.
6 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty