Date of Award
5-2-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Educational Leadership
Capstone Instructor
Sharon Meyerring
Second Reader
Dr. Phyl Burger
Keywords
Academic Achievement Gap, Fixed Mindset, Growth Mindset, Intervention, Self-Efficacy, Grit, Perseverance
Abstract
While schools focus on a students’ intelligence and academic growth, a lack of self-efficacy and growth mindset may create a larger challenge for kindergarteners through twelfth graders to make proper academic growth. In an attempt to achieve academic success, this paper sought to gain an understanding of growth mindset strategies and interventions by synthesizing available research studies on the topic. Research showed that the implementation and application of growth mindset interventions encouraged growth mindset beliefs and can lead to higher success rates in overall academic outcomes. In addition to a shift in beliefs, students also saw increased levels of motivation, self-efficacy, and perseverance as a result of the interventions. However, not all studies showed sustained longevity of growth-minded beliefs in students, seeing changes last for short periods of time before returning to pre-existing beliefs. These results call for a continuous need for growth mindset development and practices among educators to strengthen the collaborative approaches and understanding of the implementation process taken in schools. As a result, professional development on continuous learning and teaching practices of a growth mindset will help to sustain the higher levels of academic achievement produced through interventions.