ApaCenter » academic achievement

Helping Your Child Succeed In School VI: A Growth Mindset

Dr. Iektje Stephens — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:28:35 +0000

So, what does it take for a child to be successful at something like math or learning a language? Does it take talent? Research shows that there are certainly individual differences in predisposition for learning certain skills, but that this talent doesn’t get us very far. What really matters is putting in hours of hard work and practice, or “true grit“. But that is not the only important part of success. Another, very important ingredient is to have a “growth mindset”, a term that the Psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck coined, based on years of research on children’s success in school.

In this blog, the sixth installment in a series in which I have discussed various things parents can do to help their child be successful in school (such as a healthy life style, plenty of sleep, a supportive relationship with your child, successful study habits, and getting involved in your child’s education) I will discuss some of the ways you can help foster a growth mindset in your child. According to Dr. Dweck, there are basically two ways to think about intelligence or talent: a “fixed mindset”, where you believe that you have what you are born with and that’s it, and a “growth mindset”, which is the idea that intelligence (or talent in something) is malleable and can change as a result of hard work. Neuroscientific research in the past two decades has found plenty of evidence for the growth mindset: our brains change constantly as a result of our actions and our experiences. Dr. Dweck has found in her research that the way adults (parents and teachers) talk with children about intelligence and talent has profound effects on the mindset they develop, and she showed with her research that children who have a growth mindset are more successful at mastering new academic skills than children with a fixed mindset. Dr. Vickie Schafer posted a powerpoint presentation some time ago that summarizes Dr. Dweck’s research.

There are several things parents and teachers can do to foster a growth mindset:

Avoid talking about or praising “innate” ability, but instead praise hard work.
Emphasize that it takes practice to master a new skill.
Talk about abilities as something that is malleable and changes over time as a result of training, hard work and practice (e.g. training the brain like a muscle). Avoid talking about abilities as something that is fixed.
Compare your child’s performance to how she was doing before, and point out all the progress she has made and how her hard work is paying off.
Put more emphasis on trying different strategies to solve a problem than on knowing “the right answer” right away.
Avoid comparing your child to other children in his class.

With these six easy steps you can come a long way in fostering a growth mindset in your child and help her on her way to become more successful in school. Dr. Dweck found that children with growth mindsets more readily take on new challenging tasks, have more fun figuring out new strategies to solve problems, are less afraid of failure and learn more from failure, and end up performing better than children with a fixed mindset. If you are interested in this topic and would like to find out more, I encourage you to read Dr. Carol Dweck’s book Mindset, The New Psychology of Success (also available in audiobook form).

Later School Start Times Leads to Better Academic Achievement

Dr. Katie Shepard — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:12:44 +0000

A recent article in the Scientific American reviewed research about effects of school start time on academic achievement. It probably comes as no surprise to parents of teens, that starting in adolescence, children have “delayed sleep phase” where they start sleep later and sleep later in the morning. In addition, for optimal functioning, teenagers should sleep at least 9 hours a night. A study conducted in Rhode Island High Schools examined the effects of starting school at 8:00 to 8:30. The participants (high school students) completed a sleep habits survey both before and after the delayed school start. The results indicated that the students who got at least 8 hours sleep of increased from 16 % before the delayed start to 55% after the delayed start. In addition, a number of other benefits were apparent:

1) Class attendance improved

2) Fewer visits to the health center for fatigue related symptoms

3) Student self reports of unhappiness, depression, annoyance and depression decreased significantly

Gender Differences in Math Achievement

Dr. Katie Shepard — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:35:34 +0000

A recent article in the Monitor on Psychology entitled Math Plus Culture Equal Gender Gap? reviewed the research on gender and math achievement. Gender differences in mathematics has been one of the most debated and lively topics in education psychology. Given the popularity of this topic, a large body of research has been conducted that examines if and what type of gender differences exists in mathematics. Most of the leading researchers agree that if gender differences actually exist, they are small and likely to affect areas of math skills at the highest level of the spectrum. Furthermore, research indicates that there is no reason why women cannot succeed in mathematically demanding fields. Despite these conclusions, women still are underrepresented in math, science and engineering related fields. This discrepancy, in part, could be due to classroom influences starting in elementary school. A study conducted by Martha Carr at the University of Georgia found that in elementary school , boys often utilize memory when learning math facts where as girls of rely on manipulatives, such as counting fingers. These differences in strategies result in girls demonstrating slower math fluency (i.e. the ability to solve math problems quickly) than boys. Therefore, Carr argues that math fluency should be emphasized for all students. In addition, research also suggests that the stereotype that “boys are good in math and girls are good in reading” is still prevalent in many elementary schools. Therefore, it is important to for educators to be aware of their own beliefs about math and gender.

Considering the research findings, experts advise that “its not just the girls who need math help… we need to look toward better math instruction, not just for boys or girls.” This advice seems to be logical given that the research does not support large gender abilities.

Should Kids Be Paid For Good Grades?

Dr. Katie Shepard — Fri, 07 May 2010 02:03:10 +0000

I distinctly remember sitting in my first undergraduate educational psychology class and the professor putting forth the question, “should parents provide financial incentives for earning good grades” to spark interest. For the remaining 45 minutes of the lecture, the professor described how paying children for grades was a bad idea because it resulted in children losing “their love of learning” because they will only be extrinsically motivated for money. While I think this stance may be a little strong, I could understand where my professor (and the educational literature) was coming from.

A recent article reviewed in Time magazine, however, has made me reconsider my beliefs on this topic. A Harvard economist, Roland Fryer Jr., recently conducted research in which he paid students for academic success (defined in a variety of different ways) to those who were not paid. The schools were in cities across the nation and each school was randomly assigned to condition (i.e. the type of pay or control condition). The results of the study found that in some circumstances, students who were paid demonstrated better academic gains than those who were not paid. Students who showed the greatest gains were those who were paid for behaviors ( e.g. reading books, attendance, appropriate behavior, etc) that they perceived as being within their control. Students, however, who were paid for less concrete behaviors (i.e. higher performance on standardized tests) did not perform any better (or worse) than those in the control condition. All in all, it does not appear that paying students for academic success squelches their desire to learn.

Are All Forms of Praise Created Equal?

Dr. Katie Shepard — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:39:05 +0000

Most parenting advice resources highlight the importance of praising your child. Upon further investigation, however, it appears as if not all praise is created equal. Below I briefly summarize and evaluate different types of praise.
1. Evaluative Praise vs. Acknowledgement Praise
• Evaluative praise provides a comment on the child’s desired/appropriate behavior that includes a judgment or feeling from the commentator (e.g. “you are so smart, your handwriting is so neat”)
• Acknowledgement praise offers a description of the Child’s appropriate behavior without value. (e.g. “I noticed that you sat and waited quietly while mommy was on the phone.”)
• Acknowledgements are generally thought to be more effective in shaping behavior than evaluative praise.
2. Praising Ability vs. Praising Effort
• Praising ability can have negative outcomes. Particularly, children who’s successes are attributed to an innate ability (i.e. “you are smart,” “you are excellent at mathematics”) have a tendency to avoid difficult task for fear of appearing inadequate.
• Praising for effort, however, encourages children to take academic risks and have a growth oriented mindset.

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Compassion?

Dr. Katie Shepard — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:45:03 +0000

A recent article titled “More Compassion, Less Competition” by Richard Davidson presents the benefits of having a broader definition of education that focuses not only on academic growth but also overall emotional well being. Specifically, he argues that focusing heavily on competition and passing tests has resulted in teachers and students discriminating against those who do not achieve as well. In educational systems where teachers provide rigorous academic demands while focusing on the strengths of each student, children perform better academically as well as report higher levels of overall well being. Furthermore, neuroscience experiments provide preliminary evidence that children who are in learning environments where kindness, cooperation and patience are taught as skills in the classroom show greater abilities to regulate their own emotions. The article highlighted the importance of teachers and parents focusing on their own kindness and compassion towards others as the first step in modeling compassionate behavior.