Increasing Student Achievement Through a Growth Mindset

According to Hattie’s research, “Developing assessment capable students who know the learning target for the lesson, can describe where they are in relation to the criteria for success, and can use that information to select learning strategies to improve their work is the number-one factor for improving student achievement” We all want that for our students and our own children, but how do we develop assessment capable students?

Unfortunately, there is no quick fix posted on Pinterest that we can share to help answer that question. Trust us, we’ve spent countless hours trying to find one! What we have discovered from the research is that there is a clear connection between developing assessment capable students and a Growth Mindset.

Dr. Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset; The New Psychology of Success describes this connection in a recent article: Carol Dweck Revisits the 'Growth Mindset'

"My colleagues and I learned things we thought people needed to know. We found that students’ mindsets—how they perceive their abilities—played a key role in their motivation and achievement, and we found that if we changed students’ mindsets, we could boost their achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset). And when students learned through a structured program that they could “grow their brains” and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. Finally, we found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset and its benefits."

As we learn more about the power of the Growth Mindset, we will definitely share. Recently we learned that ClassDojo (an online behavior management system) has worked with Stanford University’s Project for Ed Research that Scales (a group that studies students’ motivation and resilience) to create a 5 part series to help teachers, students, and parents learn about the growth mindset. Check out the following article and videos to learn more.

ClassDojo’s Critters Want to Teach You About Growth Mindsets

ClassDojo Videos

There is also a great resource for parents to assist them in talking to their child about Growth Mindset on our very own Tahoma website. 

Growth Mindset on the Tahoma website

Finally, you might consider reading Mindsets in the Classroom, which is currently being offered as an on-line book study and will be offered again in the spring.

Of course the best way for all of us to learn is from each other. Please share your stories with us so we can all grow together!

Kristin, Nicole and Shelly