Middle School Parents: Look for Evidence of a Growth Mindset in Your Child’s Educational Community

Look for a Growth Mindset

As you navigate the admissions process, look for evidence of a growth mindset on the part of the teachers and administrators in the high schools you are considering.

It is no secret that the child in front of you today (whether a 6th, 7th, or 8th grader) will grow and develop exponentially from now through high school. Naturally, you will want to find the right environment where your child will thrive and be stretched during these pivotal junctures, in a community of educators who share that philosophy.

Look for a school community that approaches each academic year with a pervasive growth mindset, with the belief that abilities can be improved, skills can be developed, and intelligence is not fixed, an idea championed by psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck and borne out by educational research. The overriding factor in student achievement is neither class size, grouping by ability, nor access to tutoring, but rather teacher expectation, an expectation that the student has the capacity to grow and persevere through those “sticky” spots.

It works best when the students have access to an engaging, personalized, rigorous curriculum that will test their mettle and expand their way of thinking critically in a nurturing, but not enabling, environment.

In this growth mindset-driven environment, these learners would find their voice, learn to ask good questions, and exercise choice. They can do so because they feel comfortable in their skin; comfortable enough to exhibit the courage to take positive risks and to collaborate as a member on any given team to solve any given problem.

That said, the students’ experience depends largely on the human put in front of them- that teacher’s own expectations for his or her students will not only permeate that learning environment, but also define it.

Teachers of best practices will approach their lessons by asking, “How will these students learn best?” and holding the objective bar firmly, without compromising the criteria, or watering down the assignment. For example, students may have to rewrite that essay 3 times to hit the criteria. The point is, they are afforded those multiple opportunities because it is in the redrafting that students learn the perseverance to become good writers, and because the growth mindset teacher knows that those criteria can be hit. It is not a “one and done proposition”. The teacher does not lower his or her expectations for the student. (We know adolescents are very intuitive; they know when they are being allowed to coast or when someone doesn’t have faith in their abilities, and they are apt to internalize these lower expectations for themselves, to their detriment.)

Look for the “lower expectation” language in your conversations with teachers and administrators.

Here are a few examples:

“They aren’t math people.”

Well, then, who are these “math people”? Are they endowed with supernatural quantitative abilities at birth? Are they the ones who find it easy on the first go?

“Writing isn’t his thing.”

Well, then, whose “thing” is it? Do certain people have innate jurisdiction over the writing field? Are you saying that he cannot become a better writer with practice and guidance?

“She doesn’t really belong in the class.” (or worse, “She doesn’t really belong in my class.”)

Well, then, whose class is it anyway? Can we not assume (with a growth mindset) that once a student is enrolled in the class, that student belongs in that class? Is this a fiefdom school where the teacher owns the class?

Constant, false praise, “Good job!”

Well, then, is it merely the student’s attempt that merits constant praise? How will the learner be motivated to persevere and actually achieve the goal? After all, isn’t that what is expected?

Questions to ask during Admissions and Placement

During the admissions cycle, ask questions about course and level placement options available for your child, and the process by which that placement is determined. For most independent high schools in this area, the 8th grade candidate’s placement is understandably determined by some combination of SSAT or HSPT scores, grades and teacher recommendations. Schools do their level best to try to place your child where they believe he or she will be appropriately challenged according to his or her skills set. That said, the process is never as cut and dried as it seems, and some candidates may have a bad day on the day they took the placement test. Ask the Department Chair, Principal or Head of School these questions:

Does the school provide me with a generic course placement list upon acceptance, or will I have an opportunity to provide input (as a parent or guardian) before that schedule is set, if my child is on the cusp of entering an honors class?

To what extent do I have a voice in the course placement process for my child?

How will placement be determined after my child’s 9th grade performance? To what extent is the trajectory “fixed” or “fluid’?

If you get the sense that your child is going to be permanently pigeonholed as an incoming 9th grader, and denied access to subsequent honors opportunities (determined predominantly by an admissions test he or she took in 8th grade) then chances are the school does not fully buy into the growth mindset concept and may not be the best option for your child.