GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were smaller in higher-achieving schools (moderation by school achievement level)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r3 · q4 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q4 i2 The intervention × school achievement level interaction was negative for core GPAs, standardized β = −0.25, P = 0.006. → Yeager 2019

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 · i2 · causal · r3

Pre-registered moderation test in the national experiment, standardized β = −0.25 (a medium standardized coefficient). Medium-achieving schools showed larger effects than higher-achieving schools; the article cautions the non-significant low-versus-medium contrast "should be interpreted cautiously, owing to wide confidence intervals".

"Treatment effects on ninth-grade GPAs among lower-achieving students were smaller in schools with higher achievement levels, intervention × school achievement level (continuous) interaction, unstandardized B = −0.07 (95% confidence interval = 0.02, 0.13), s.e. = 0.03, z = −2.76, n = 6,320, k = 65, P = 0.006, standardized β = −0.25"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• A short online growth mindset intervention improved ninth-grade core-course GPAs among lower-achieving students in a nationally representative US sample — related
• Cross-school variability in the GPA treatment effect was significant while variability in the mindset treatment effect was not — related
• The growth mindset intervention increased tenth-grade advanced mathematics course enrolment overall, with larger gains in the highest-achieving schools — related
• 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 — related
• GPA treatment effects among lower-achieving students were larger in schools whose peer norms supported challenge-seeking — related
• Brief online growth-mindset interventions produce modest academic gains concentrated among students at risk of underperformance — related
• Growth-mindset intervention gains varied by school context, being greatest where peer norms favored seeking challenge and in lower-achieving schools — a broader claim this one bears on