Growth-Mindset Interventions at Scale: Experimental Evidence from Argentina

SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://sagepub.com

Y

22

Intervention; Foreign Countries; Grade 12; Secondary School Students; Comparative Analysis; Intelligence; Letters (Correspondence); Educational Environment; Academic Achievement; Teaching Methods; Student Attitudes; Outcomes of Education; Student Behavior; Public Schools; Self Efficacy; Student Motivation; Developing Nations; Peer Groups; Task Analysis

10.3102/0162373720938041

0162-3737

This is one of the first evaluations of a "growth-mindset" intervention at scale in a developing country. I randomly assigned 202 public secondary schools in Salta, Argentina, to a treatment group in which Grade 12 students were asked to read about the malleability of intelligence, write a letter to a classmate, and post their letters in their classroom, or to a control group. The intervention was implemented as intended. Yet, I find no evidence that it affected students' propensity to find tasks less intimidating, school climate, school performance, achievement, or post-secondary plans. I rule out small effects and find little evidence of heterogeneity. This study suggests that the intervention may be more challenging to replicate and scale than anticipated.

As Provided

2020

EJ1262580