Growth mindset interventions transform student achievement
| Growth mindset interventions transform student achievement | |
|---|---|
| DISPUTED | |
| "Teaching students that intelligence can grow, a "growth mindset," produces large improvements in academic achievement and can close achievement gaps." | |
| Domain | Education & Learning |
| Tactic | Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion |
| Era | Current |
| First seen | 2006 |
| Origin | Research by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and colleagues, popularized by Dweck's 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and adopted widely by schools |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-27 |
| Further reading: books on Education & Learning | |
The claim that growth mindset interventions transform student achievement spread rapidly through schools in the 2010s. Carol Dweck's research suggested that students who believe intelligence can be developed, a growth mindset, persevere more and achieve more than those who believe it is fixed. Schools put up posters, changed how teachers praised students and ran mindset lessons. Later large-scale studies found that brief mindset interventions have, on average, small effects, concentrated among lower-achieving students in some settings. The status here is Disputed because researchers continue to debate how meaningful those small effects are, but the idea that mindset lessons transform achievement is not supported.
The claim
Popular versions suggest that changing a student's beliefs about intelligence can dramatically raise grades and test scores, and that praising effort rather than ability is enough to foster that change. Mindset was marketed in training programs and education products.
What the evidence shows
- Early studies. Studies by Dweck, Lisa Blackwell, Kali Trzesniewski and others found that students who held a growth mindset showed improving grades in middle school, and that a mindset intervention improved outcomes in small samples.
- Meta-analyses. A 2018 meta-analysis by Victoria Sisk, Alexander Burgoyne, Jingze Sun, Jennifer Butler and Brooke Macnamara in Psychological Science found weak relationships between mindset and academic achievement and very small average effects of mindset interventions, with some benefit for students from low-income families or at academic risk.
- National study. The National Study of Learning Mindsets, published in Nature in 2019 by David Yeager and colleagues including Dweck, tested a short online intervention with more than 12,000 ninth-graders in a nationally representative US sample. It found a small improvement in grades among lower-achieving students and higher rates of enrollment in advanced math, with effects depending on school context.
- Debate continues. A 2023 set of meta-analyses by Macnamara and Burgoyne argued that when study quality was accounted for, effects were near zero, while a separate analysis by Burnette and colleagues found modest effects in targeted groups. Researchers disagree about how to weigh the evidence.
- Implementation. Dweck has warned about a "false growth mindset," in which teachers praise effort alone or display slogans without changing practices.
Why it persists
Growth mindset is appealing because it is inexpensive, optimistic and fits with educators' values. Early results were striking, and the idea spread through books, talks and commercial training before large replications were complete.
Lessons for readers
- Small effects in targeted groups are not the same as transformation for everyone.
- Large, preregistered studies are more reliable than small early trials.
- Ask how an idea is being implemented, not only whether it works in a lab.
- Researchers can disagree honestly about modest effects.
- Inexpensive interventions can be worthwhile even if effects are small, but claims should match the evidence.
See also
- Grit is the key to success
- The marshmallow test shows willpower determines life success
- People learn better in their preferred learning style
Sources
- Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Random House, 2006).
- Victoria F. Sisk et al., "To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses," Psychological Science 29, no. 4 (2018).
- David S. Yeager et al., "A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement," Nature 573 (2019).
- Brooke N. Macnamara and Alexander P. Burgoyne, "Do growth mindset interventions impact students' academic achievement? A systematic review and meta-analysis with recommendations for best practices," Psychological Bulletin 149 (2023).