The Effects of Growth Mindset on Academic Achievement

The Effect of Growth Mindset on Academic Achievement Author: Karen Mason Our American education system has relied on high stakes testing since the induction of the federal program in 2001 of “No Child Left Behind” whose purpose was to ensure that 100% of all students in public schools met certain educational standards. The purpose of this quantitative study will be to research how growth mindset principles will affect students in an elementary school setting. Will students with a growth mindset learn enough effort strategies to increase their achievement? What characteristics will those who do not pass the testing method demonstrate? Growth mindset is not explicitly taught in elementary schools as a part of the culture. This research study will prepare half of the teachers in fourth and fifth grade classes in one school to teach growth mindset theories to their students. The other classes will continue in their traditional approach to teaching and learning. The results of the student’s spring Standards of Learning tests will be compared with the result from the previous year. Correlations will be sought out to see if the students who were taught growth mindset theories will show higher scores than their classmates who weren’t taught the theories. Growth mindset principles could be a powerful tool to reach students and raise academic achievement because students are taught how to face challenges and how to exert effort in the pursuit of academic excellence. The implementation of these principles could be an inexpensive way to prepare resilient students for the 21st century