A short online growth mindset intervention improved ninth-grade core-course GPAs among lower-achieving students in a nationally representative US sample¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r3 · q2–q4 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i1 Lower-achieving ninth-graders assigned to the growth mindset intervention earned higher end-of-year core-course GPAs than control peers, standardized mean difference effect size 0.11. → Yeager 2019 q4 i? A blinded Bayesian causal forest re-analysis assigned a near-certain posterior probability that the population-average treatment effect among lower-achieving students was positive. → Yeager 2019 (2)

Evidence¶

Yeager 2019¶

Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., Schneider, B., Hulleman, C. S., Hinojosa, C. P., Paunesku, D., Romero, C., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Iachan, R., Buontempo, J., Yang, S. M., Carvalho, C. M., Hahn, P. R., Gopalan, M., Mhatre, P., Ferguson, R., Duckworth, A. L. & Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature 573. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y

q4 · i1 · causal · r3

Intention-to-treat analysis of the National Study of Learning Mindsets, a nationally representative randomized experiment in 65 regular US public high schools. Treated lower-achieving students showed "standardized mean difference effect size of 0.11" on end-of-year core-course GPA versus control.

"lower-achieving adolescents earned higher GPAs in core classes at the end of the ninth grade when assigned to the growth mindset intervention, B = 0.10 grade points (95% confidence interval = 0.04, 0.16), s.e. = 0.03, n = 6,320, k = 65, t = 3.51, P = 0.001, standardized mean difference effect size of 0.11"

Yeager 2019 (2)¶

Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., Schneider, B., Hulleman, C. S., Hinojosa, C. P., Paunesku, D., Romero, C., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Iachan, R., Buontempo, J., Yang, S. M., Carvalho, C. M., Hahn, P. R., Gopalan, M., Mhatre, P., Ferguson, R., Duckworth, A. L. & Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature 573. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y

q2 · i? · causal · r3

Blinded Bayesian machine-learning robustness analysis (Bayesian causal forest) run by statisticians blind to study hypotheses corroborated the positive average GPA treatment effect, with "PPATE > 0 ≥ 0.999".

"The BCF analysis assigned a near-certain posterior probability that the population-average treatment effect (PATE) among lower-achieving students was positive and greater than zero, PPATE > 0 ≥ 0.999"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Growth-mindset interventions have weak average effects on achievement, including a negligible GPA gain (d = 0.11) for lower-achieving US ninth-graders in one preregistered national trial — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• The growth mindset intervention was estimated to prevent about 5.3% of US lower-achieving ninth-graders per year from being off track for graduation — related
• Growth mindset interventions improve math outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged and high-risk students, but effects depend on a supportive teacher-mindset context — related
• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were smaller in higher-achieving schools (moderation by school achievement level) — related
• The growth mindset intervention increased tenth-grade advanced mathematics course enrolment overall, with larger gains in the highest-achieving schools — related
• Cross-school variability in the GPA treatment effect was significant while variability in the mindset treatment effect was not — related
• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were larger in schools whose peer norms supported challenge-seeking — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• Brief online growth-mindset interventions produce modest academic gains concentrated among students at risk of underperformance — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Fixed mindset correlates negatively with GPA among U.S. 9th-grade students (average r = −.22) in a nationally representative sample — related
• The growth mindset intervention reduced fixed-mindset beliefs among lower-achieving adolescents, with no significant variation in this effect detected across schools — related