Promise and Paradox

West, Martin R.; Kraft, Matthew A.; Finn, Amy S.; Martin, Rebecca; Duckworth, Angela; Gabrieli, Christopher F. O.; Gabrieli, John D. E.

doi:10.3102/0162373715597298

Cited by 255 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Within-country analyses of the PISA show the expected positive association between self-reported conscientiousness and academic performance, but between-country analyses suggest that countries with higher conscientiousness ratings actually perform worse on math and reading tests (Kyllonen & Bertling, 2013). Norms for judging behavior can also vary across schools within the same country: students attending middle schools with higher admissions standards and test scores rate themselves lower in self-control (Goldman, 2006; M. West, personal communication, March 17, 2015).…”

Section: Advantages and Limitations Of Common Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet the above review makes it clear that in many cases self-report questionnaires have serious limitations for such evaluations. Reference bias may even produce results opposite of the truth when evaluating within-person program effects (i.e., a change from pre-test to post-test) or assessing between-program differences (i.e., mean-level differences among schools or programs), as noted above (e.g., Tuttle et al, 2013; West et al, 2015). …”

Section: Valid For What?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurement Matters

Duckworth

Yeager

2015

Educational Researcher

Self Cite

692

255

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There has been perennial interest in personal qualities other than cognitive ability that determine success, including self-control, grit, growth mindset, and many others. Attempts to measure such qualities for the purposes of educational policy and practice, however, are more recent. In this article, we identify serious challenges to doing so. We first address confusion over terminology, including the descriptor “non-cognitive.” We conclude that debate over the optimal name for this broad category of personal qualities obscures substantial agreement about the specific attributes worth measuring. Next, we discuss advantages and limitations of different measures. In particular, we compare self-report questionnaires, teacher-report questionnaires, and performance tasks, using self-control as an illustrative case study to make the general point that each approach is imperfect in its own way. Finally, we discuss how each measure’s imperfections can affect its suitability for program evaluation, accountability, individual diagnosis, and practice improvement. For example, we do not believe any available measure is suitable for between-school accountability judgments. In addition to urging caution among policymakers and practitioners, we highlight medium-term innovations that may make measures of these personal qualities more suitable for educational purposes.

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Section: Advantages and Limitations Of Common Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Valid For What?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Measurement Matters

Duckworth

Yeager

2015

Educational Researcher

Self Cite

692

255

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“…Growth mindset has been associated with academic achievement in terms of both grades (Blackwell et al, 2007) and standardized test scores (Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003). In contrast, grit and conscientiousness may reflect motivational factors that are captured by grades, but not by test scores (Duckworth, Quinn, & Tsukayama, 2012; but see West et al 2016). …”

Section: Personality and Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media multitasking in adolescence

et al. 2016

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Media use has been on the rise in adolescents overall, and in particular, the amount of media multitasking-multiple media consumed simultaneously, such as having a text message conversation while watching TV-has been increasing. In adults, heavy media multitasking has been linked with poorer performance on a number of laboratory measures of cognition, but no relationship has yet been established between media-multitasking behavior and real-world outcomes. Examining individual differences across a group of adolescents, we found that more frequent media multitasking in daily life was associated with poorer performance on statewide standardized achievement tests of math and English in the classroom, poorer performance on behavioral measures of executive function (working memory capacity) in the laboratory, and traits of greater impulsivity and lesser growth mindset. Greater media multitasking had a relatively circumscribed set of associations, and was not related to behavioral measures of cognitive processing speed, implicit learning, or manual dexterity, or to traits of grit and conscientiousness. Thus, individual differences in adolescent media multitasking were related to specific differences in executive function and in performance on real-world academic achievement measures: More media multitasking was associated with poorer executive function ability, worse academic achievement, and a reduced growth mindset.

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“…Both grit (e.g., Duckworth et al, 2007;Strayhorn, 2013) and mindset (Claro, Paunesku, & Dweck, 2016;McCutchen, Jones, Carbonneau, & Mueller, 2016) have been linked to academic achievement. However, the recent literature on the link between these motivational constructs and academic performance has reported mixed findings (Bazelais, Lemay, & Doleck, 2016;West et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grit, Mindset, and Academic Performance: A Study of Pre-University Science Students

Bazelais

Lemay

Doleck

et al. 2018

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

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Recent studies in educational psychology highlight the role of motivational variables such as trait-like perseverance. Studies have linked such variables (e.g., grit and mindset) to academic performance. However, research has reported inconsistent findings in explaining academic achievement differences. Drawing from a sample of pre-university students (N = 309), the present study assesses the efficacy of both grit and mindset in predicting academic achievement. The results suggest that neither grit, nor mindset was predictive of academic achievement. These findings have significant theoretical and practical implications.

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Promise and Paradox

Cited by 255 publications

References 41 publications

Measurement Matters

Measurement Matters

Media multitasking in adolescence

Grit, Mindset, and Academic Performance: A Study of Pre-University Science Students

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