With the assistance of my collegues and my professor, I have narrowed down my driving question to be: What is the relationship between growth mindset and goal setting?
Educational Context for this study I am aware that in California, we have huge student achievement challenges in mathematics. On the State of California Department of Education website (cde.ca.gov) it shows that of all students in 3-11th grade in our state 63% of students are not meeting standards for mathematics achievement. In Napa Valley Unified School District, where I teach, the same website shares that 55% of students in our district are not meeting math standards. At my school site, Northwood Elementary, 39% of students are not meeting the standards. I can see from these results, that there is a lot of room for improvement, and I want to investigate the possibility of growth mindset and goal setting assisting our students in achieving higher mathematics skills. Personal Context for this study This summer, I attended the AVID Summer Institute and became educated about Carol Dweck’s research on growth mindset. Dweck says in her 2006 book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: “People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed.” After that, I attended a math workshop led by Jo Boaler where I was able to connect what I learned at AVID with her research involving math. In Mathematical Mindsets, Boaler “translates Carol Dweck's concept of 'mindset' into math teaching and parenting strategies, showing how students can go from self-doubt to strong self-confidence, which is so important to math learning.” I am currently participating in a Math Cohort in my school district in collaboration with The Math Learning Center, so improving student goal setting in this subject area is of particular interest to me. My interest in student agency, goal setting and self assessment is something that I have developed over the last couple of years while working with students. I also relate this passion to John Hattie’s November 2008 study on “Self Reported Grades.” In Visible Learning, Hattie reported that student self reported grades had the largest effect size on students out of all the measures he studied that year. If something has that much of an effect on learning, possibly Importance of this study The importance or impact of this study is student confidence or mindset and achievement. I think that Carol Dweck, John Hattie, Jo Boaler and many others in their camps of thinking have discovered something that could transform education as we know it. Student achievement is something we struggle with in the United States, and it seems that these researchers have come up with ways of getting there. As I explore the relationship between growth mindset and student goal setting, I am hoping to discover that an implementation of these strategies simultaneously that could potentially have an amazing impact on student achievement. The importance of this study is that if there is a positive correlation between growth mindset and goal setting, many students could benefit from the combination of these strategies. Test scores in math could rise dramatically, students could find confidence in their math abilities, and they will be prepared to be lifelong learners. he context of this study is to see if mindset has an effect on goal setting, as this discovery could be monumental for student achievement across the United States.
3 Comments
Marisabel Olguin
9/24/2017 10:17:51 pm
Im excited to say that I too had the opportunity to attend an AVID institute last year. NVLA has been leading the schools on AVID for eight years. NVUSD has set a goal to instill 21st century skills in all of its students. If we are to accomplish this goal we must educate our students about what it means to have a growth mindset.
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Maria Dowling
9/24/2017 11:50:36 pm
I do some goal setting with my students and I find that it can be a very powerful tool. I can't wait to hear about how it works in your classroom! You might want to take a look at the book below. I've only read the first few chapters, but it may be of some use to you for incorporating Growth Mindset in your classroom.
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Diana Olguin
9/27/2017 06:04:15 pm
I am also doing my action research on how to engage special needs students to be able to improve their math skills, and ultimately their test scores. I have been amazed to see how deficient our students have scored in both at the state and district level. I wish you success in helping your students alter their mindsets on their perception of math to set high achieving math goals for themselves.
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AuthorKayla Bryant is an elementary school teacher in Napa, CA. This year she teaches a 2/3 combo class. She keeps a journal with funny quotes from her students, and enjoys learning and laughing alongside them. Some of her main educational interests are related to goal setting, growth mindset, and creativity. Archives
July 2018
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