Title: Growth Mindset and Student Achievement and Success
Headings: The Impact of a Growth Mindset on Student Achievement and Success
The Impact of a Growth Mindset on Student Achievement and Success
What is a Growth Mindset and Why Does It Matter?
A Growth Mindset and Student Success
The Educator’s Role in Growth Mindset
Speaking to Students: The Words We Say and How They Support, or Inhibit, Student Learning

Content: Isbell pulls an example of the power of growth mindset in teaching from how many educators approach math teaching. “In math, we traditionally provide students a strategy to solve a problem with no awareness or recognition of their own intuitive strategies for solving the problem,” Isbell said. “ When we do this, we unknowingly tell the student, ‘your ideas do not really matter, just do it the way the teacher is telling you how to do it.’” Approaching math teaching with a growth mindset, Isbell instead encouraged her students to find their own strategies to solve a problem. By beginning each of her math lessons with an open-ended problem, Isbell’s students were given the opportunity to take risks, face the challenges of failure or frustration, and overcome by realizing failure opens doors to new opportunities and deeper learning. “Yes, some strategies were more efficient than others, but everyone could be successful,” Isbell said. “ As teachers, we have to think about what we are asking students to do, and then thoughtfully consider what we can do to help them find an entry point to the task.” Speaking to Students: The Words We Say and How They Support, or Inhibit, Student Learning
When fostering a growth mindset in students, it’s important that educators acknowledge the process and effort a student is making rather than only acknowledging outcome and achievement. Dweck refers to this as “praising the process.”