DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37353.v1
title: The National Study of Learning Mindsets, [United States], 2015-2016
title: Version 1

description: This study includes no data at this time. Additional data and documentation will be made available at a later date. When these materials are available, users will be able to download the updated versions of the study. The National Study of Learning Mindsets encompasses more than 16,000 ninth grade students across 76 United States public high schools. It was designed to understand which kinds of students, in which kinds of classrooms, and in which kinds of schools were most likely to benefit from an online exercise designed to foster a growth mindset during the transition to high school.
description: The National Study of Learning Mindsets addresses the following primary research questions: Can the growth mindset intervention improve the grades of lower-performing students in U.S. public schools? Can the growth mindset intervention motivate students to enroll in challenging math and science courses? Can the growth mindset intervention reduce group-based inequalities in academic performance in U.S. public schools? Do the effects of the growth mindset intervention depend on schools' formal resources (e.g., the curriculum and instruction)? Are the effects of the growth mindset intervention larger in schools or classrooms that are supportive of growth mindset beliefs?
description: Students were asked to complete two randomly assigned, 25-minute online sessions using their school's computer resources. These sessions included a the growth mindset exercise and a control exercise. In the treatment condition, students read and listened to materials describing scientific evidence about how the brain works and about people's ability to grow intellectual abilities over time. The treatment condition also encouraged students to think about why they might want to grow their brain in order to make a difference on something they personally care about. The students also reflected on how to put these beliefs into practice, for instance, by completing a brief writing assignment providing advice for future ninth graders that might ease their transition to high school based on what the participants had just learned from the intervention. Students in the control group did activities that were closely matched to each of the treatment conditions, but they lacked the growth mindset message.
description: A total of 139 schools, selected from a sampling frame of over 12,000 regular U.S. public high schools, were invited to administer the intervention and provide student records. 76 schools agreed to participate in the study. 65 of the 76 schools provided all requested records, including both survey data and administrative records for students. The remaining 11 schools provided only the student and teacher survey data.
description: Datasets: DS1: The National Study of Learning Mindsets, [United States], 2015-2016
description: Ninth grade students in United States high schools.
description: cognitive assessment testThis study includes no data at this time. Additional data and documentation will be made available at a later date. When these materials are available, users will be able to download the updated versions of the study.For additional information on The National Study of Learning Mindsets study, please visit the Mindset Scholars Network website.