Reading intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children's skills

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Sociology of Education

Background:

• Parental beliefs about a child's abilities, specifically fixed versus growth mindsets, influence parenting practices.
• A fixed mindset in parents is associated with unconstructive, performance-oriented interactions with their children.
• Children of parents with fixed mindsets demonstrate lower reading skills, independent of prior abilities and socioeconomic status.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of a parental intervention designed to foster a growth mindset on children's reading and writing achievements.
• To determine if the intervention's effectiveness varies across different demographic groups, including immigrant children and those from low-educated households.
• To examine if pre-intervention parental mindset moderates the intervention's impact.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale randomized field trial involving 72 classrooms and 1,587 children was conducted.
• Parents in the intervention group received information on the malleability of reading abilities and strategies for praising effort over performance.
• Child reading and writing skills were assessed before and after the intervention, with statistical controls for prior ability and socioeconomic status.

Main Results:

• The low-cost parental intervention significantly increased reading and writing achievements for all participating children.
• The positive effects were particularly pronounced for immigrant children with non-Western backgrounds and children with low-educated mothers.
• Children of parents who initially held a fixed mindset showed even greater improvements following the intervention.

Conclusions:

• A brief, low-cost intervention promoting a growth mindset in parents can effectively enhance children's literacy skills.
• The intervention demonstrates particular efficacy in supporting vulnerable student populations, including immigrant children and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Targeting parental beliefs about ability is a viable strategy for improving educational outcomes.