title: Mind-set interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underachievement.
abstract: The efficacy of academic-mind-set interventions has been demonstrated by small-scale, proof-of-concept interventions, generally delivered in person in one school at a time. Whether this approach could be a practical way to raise school achievement on a large scale remains unknown. We therefore delivered brief growth-mind-set and sense-of-purpose interventions through online modules to 1,594 students in 13 geographically diverse high schools. Both interventions were intended to help students persist when they experienced academic difficulty; thus, both were predicted to be most beneficial for poorly performing students. This was the case. Among students at risk of dropping out of high school (one third of the sample), each intervention raised students' semester grade point averages in core academic courses and increased the rate at which students performed satisfactorily in core courses by 6.4 percentage points. We discuss implications for the pipeline from theory to practice and for education reform.
authors: Stanford University.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Paunesku
authors: Stanford University paunesku@stanford.edu gwalton@stanford.edu.
authors: Gregory M
authors: GM
authors: Walton
authors: Stanford University.
authors: Carissa
authors: C
authors: Romero
authors: Stanford University.
authors: Eric N
authors: EN
authors: Smith
authors: University of Texas, Austin.
authors: David S
authors: DS
authors: Yeager
authors: Stanford University.
authors: Carol S
authors: CS
authors: Dweck
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D001290:Attitude; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students; D014477:Underachievement
keywords: academic achievement; adolescent development; educational psychology; intervention; motivation