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The Power of Believing You Can Get Smarter: The Impact of a Growth-Mindset Intervention on Academic Achievement in Peru

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Date
2020-02
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Published
2020-02
Author(s)
Outes-Leon, Ingo
Sanchez, Alan
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Abstract
This paper evaluates the academic impact of a growth-mindset intervention on students starting the secondary level in public schools in urban Peru. ¡Expande tu Mente! is a 90-minute school session aimed at instilling the notion that a person's own intelligence is malleable. Students in schools randomly assigned to treatment showed a small improvement in math test scores and educational expectations, with a large and sustained impact in test scores among students outside the capital city. At a cost of $0.20 per pupil, ¡Expande tu Mente! was highly cost-effective. The results show the potential that brief growth-mindset interventions have for developing countries.
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Outes-Leon, Ingo; Sanchez, Alan; Vakis, Renos. 2020. The Power of Believing You Can Get Smarter: The Impact of a Growth-Mindset Intervention on Academic Achievement in Peru. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9141. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33297 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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