It鈥檚 one thing to say all students can learn, but making them believe it鈥攁nd do it鈥攃an require a 180-degree shift in students鈥� and teachers鈥� sense of themselves and of one another.
While expressions like the 鈥渟oft bigotry of low expectations鈥� underscore the effects of teachers鈥� and students鈥� mindsets on academic success, it has proved difficult to pin down whether and how it鈥檚 possible to change those attitudes once established.
Nonetheless, attempts to change that dynamic, from targeted interventions to restructured schools, are gaining traction as many states overhaul their curricula to match the Common Core State Standards and incorporate student-growth measures into accountability systems.
Three decades have passed since the Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck and others first linked students鈥� motivation to the way they perceived intelligence. Students who believe intelligence or skill can be improved by effort and experimentation鈥攚hat Ms. Dweck calls a 鈥済rowth mindset"鈥攕eek challenges, learn from mistakes, and keep faith in themselves in the face of failure.
By contrast, those who believe intelligence and skill are traits you are born with鈥攁 鈥渇ixed mindset"鈥攃an be discouraged by failure and reluctant to challenge themselves.
Those mindsets are self-reinforcing, and Ms. Dweck, her colleagues, and other researchers have found in dozens of studies that students with a growth mindset improve more in academics and other skills, and can even be less aggressive and more socially engaged.
鈥淲hen we understand that we can build our intelligence, rather than it being fixed, we take risks; we are interested in learning from mistakes rather than focusing on how people see us and wanting to do things perfectly and quickly,鈥� said Eduardo Brice帽o, a co-founder and the CEO of Mindset Works, a company based on the research by Ms. Dweck and Lisa S. Blackwell, the program鈥檚 co-founders.
鈥楤rainology鈥� Approach
Mindset Works, based in San Carlos, Calif., won a small-business-innovation grant from the federal Institute of 91制片厂视频 Sciences to scale up its 鈥淏rainology鈥� curriculum, which provides six to 12 hours of online and in-person instruction and activities over five to 12 weeks.
The software targets grades 5-9, though the program as a whole can be implemented schoolwide. Lessons include brain development and learning, fixed-vs.-growth mindsets, and different strategies students can use when they hit difficulty in a particular subject or problem.
The program is being used in about 600 schools nationwide, and the District of Columbia school system is rolling it out this fall in middle school advisory classes.
鈥擩ennifer Zdon for 91制片厂视频 Week
At SciAcademy in New Orleans, chemistry teacher Anthony McElligott talks his sophomore class through their first experiment of the year. As the students predict ink dispersion patterns, listen to the way Mr. McElligott frames his focus on the process of science, rather than chasing a 鈥渞ight鈥� answer.
It鈥檚 also been integrated into Scholastic Inc.'s Math 180 curriculum this fall, so that students in grades 6-12 begin math instruction with two weeks of lessons explaining mindsets and neuroplasticity鈥攖he concept that the brain changes with experience鈥攆ollowed by periodic refreshers during the year, according to Tyler Reed, the corporate-communications director for the New York City-based publisher.
鈥淭he thing is, kids don鈥檛 mind failing,鈥� said David Dockterman, Scholastic鈥檚 chief architect of learning sciences and an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of 91制片厂视频. 鈥淲hen kids play video games, they fail 80 percent of the time. They look at failure there as an opportunity to learn.鈥�
However, students can find school mistakes humiliating, he said.
鈥淗ow you set it up for kids matters; they hear you. There鈥檚 a lot of implicit meaning for kids,鈥� Mr. Dockterman told 600 middle and high school math teachers at a professional-development seminar in the Baltimore County, Md., school district last month.
For example, a teacher setting out a problem from a new unit might say, 鈥淟et鈥檚 start with an easy one,鈥� which can discourage students who struggle or get the problem wrong; but a teacher might set students more at ease by introducing the same problem with, 鈥淭his might take a few tries.鈥�
Focus in New Orleans
At the SciAcademy 91制片厂视频 School here in New Orleans, Anthony McElligott鈥檚 sophomore chemistry class is learning to pose hypotheses about the dispersion patterns of two drops of identical ink in two identical beakers of water. Strolling around the class, the teacher points to one furiously scribbling student: 鈥淐hris鈥� paper has 鈥榖ecause,鈥� which shows he鈥檚 supporting his answers with evidence. If you think you are done, add more evidence, give an example.鈥�
After demonstrating the experiment, Mr. McElligott finds about half the class correctly predicted the ink would have different dispersion patterns even though the water and beakers were the same and the ink was dropped in the center of each beaker. When those who answered incorrectly mutter in frustration, he smiles: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to see in this class really great scientists who were wrong again and again.鈥�
鈥擩ennifer Zdon for 91制片厂视频 Week
What can a Vietnam War prisoner teach sophomores about personal growth? Listen in as English teacher Katie Bubalo of SciAcademy in New Orleans launches a discussion in her sophomore class with a quote from former POW U.S. Admiral Jim Stockdale.
The three-school Collegiate Academies charter network, of which SciAcademy was the first, sees cultivating growth mindsets as its first and most important mission. Founder Ben A. Marcovitz launched SciAcademy six years ago as one of the first charter high schools to open after Hurricane Katrina.
SciAcademy, the neighboring George Washington Carver Collegiate Academy, and George Washington Carver Preparatory Academy high schools, hire teachers based on multiple classroom observations, not just interviews.
Typically, Mr. Marcovitz estimates, 60 percent of interviewees don鈥檛 stick around for the classroom observations, in which they teach a lesson, receive feedback, and teach again a few weeks later.
鈥淏ut the 40 percent who do have already made a commitment to growth,鈥� he said. "[The hiring process] allows us to weed out people evincing growth mindset who haven鈥檛 internalized it.鈥�
That鈥檚 common, Mr. Brice帽o of Mindset Works said. In professional-development sessions, he has found about a third of teachers have heard the terms 鈥渇ixed鈥� and 鈥済rowth鈥� mindsets, 鈥渂ut might not know exactly what it is.鈥�
Teachers often confuse 鈥渢eaching a growth mindset and exhorting kids to try hard,鈥� Ms. Dweck said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just tell a child to try hard without giving them strategies and supporting their efforts.鈥�
As part of an ongoing series of studies of growth-mindset teaching practices, Ms. Dweck and other researchers tracked more than 250,000 students learning fractions via the online Khan Academy program. Minor changes to student feedback鈥攕uch as providing improvement-related praise vs. general encouragement鈥攊mproved student persistence and math achievement, they found.
Praising students鈥� strategies, focus, effort, persistence, and improvement 鈥渢akes the spotlight off fixed ability and puts it on the process of learning,鈥� Ms. Dweck said.
At SciAcademy, the approach means students鈥� learning problems are discussed privately, after class, while improvements are always called out in public, and in detail鈥攅ven for a student moving from a 62 percent on the last test to a 65 percent on the next.
鈥淪tudents of the week鈥� are not only recognized during Friday gatherings, but also are asked to describe the steps they used to reach the goal.
It鈥檚 important for teachers to go into detail when citing a student鈥檚 correct answer, Mr. Dockterman said.
鈥淚f you talk about what the kid did [to get the right answer], other students can model it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you just say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e so smart,鈥� they can鈥檛 learn anything from that.鈥�
SciAcademy went so far as to ban the word 鈥渟mart鈥� on campus.
鈥淭hat sounds like it has a weird 1984 connotation but it鈥檚 really important,鈥� said Spencer Sherman, the 12th grade dean and environmental science teacher. 鈥淵ou get in the habit of saying 鈥榮mart,鈥� and you find yourself saying it to kids, and you give kids the expectation that [intelligence] is fixed. We鈥檒l call each other out on it, because adult culture very quickly becomes scholar culture.鈥�
鈥楧esigned to Fail鈥�
It can be particularly challenging to focus on effort with students who do excel easily. While teachers often notice struggling students who think they are 鈥渘o good鈥� in a subject, it鈥檚 easier for high-achieving students to slip under the radar, Mr. Dockterman said.
鈥淵ou think you are good at math and so it comes easy for you, but you stick to the things that are easy, and if you get to something hard, you shut down,鈥� he added.
SciAcademy found that out the hard way.
The school initially enrolled students in Advanced Placement classes on the basis of their having received top grades in similar subjects, Mr. Sherman explained. Many previously high-achieving students who 鈥渉it the wall鈥� in the harder classes grew demoralized and reluctant to tackle other challenging work.
In response, the school opened Advanced Placement to anyone, but pitched the courses differently鈥�"This will be the hardest class, with the most homework, but you鈥檒l learn more,鈥� Mr. Sherman said鈥攁nd required an entry essay based on text difficult for even advanced students."It is a task you鈥檙e designed to fail, because we want students to figure out how to respond to that,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to weed out for fixed mindset. Now the students in AP don鈥檛 think they got there by being smarter than everyone else, but because they worked really hard for it.鈥�
Collegiate Academies staff see a growth mindset as a necessity for their campuses, which are made up of interlocking trailers, and located in a post-Katrina neighborhood still dotted with abandoned houses and shopping centers.
鈥淲e have to believe that a student who comes to us reading at a 2nd grade level can go to college in four years,鈥� said Margo Bouchie, Collegiate Academies鈥� chief academic officer. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 come to work everyday if you don鈥檛 believe that, and we have to be very honest with the scholars about where they are.鈥�
School leaders acknowledge there can be a fine line between realistic and pie-in-the-sky growth. But SciAcademy students like junior Eugene Thomas provide some support for optimism: He entered high school reading on a 5th grade level, and moved up to a 10th grade level by the end of the year.
Mr. Thomas said teachers noticed every time he read slightly better and pushed him harder, urging him to read 30 minutes every day on his own time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not really difficult; you just have to work hard,鈥� he said.
Quiz: What鈥檚 Your Mindset
In some schools, a 鈥済rowth mindset,鈥� or the idea that people can improve by seeking challenges and learning from mistakes, has reformed how teachers approach their instruction. How do you approach learning? Are certain skills naturally born to students, or can they really improve by effort alone? Using questions from Mindset Works, we鈥檝e put together an exercise (not a test!) for you to try out.
