The following summary of our research was posted in the Marshall Memo (#444):
Noncognitive Factors As Levers for Improving Academic Achievement
“In addition to content knowledge and academic skills, students must develop sets of behaviors, skills, attitudes, and strategies that are crucial to academic performance in their classes, but that may not be reflected in their scores on cognitive tests,” say Camille Farrington, Melissa Roderick, Elaine Allensworth, Jenny Nagaoka, Tasha Seneca Keyes, David Johnson, and Nicole Beechum in this thoughtful 78-page literature review from the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research. Here is their analysis of why noncognitive factors are so important.
Changes in the U.S. economy have raised the stakes for academic attainment, creating dire consequences for workers without a high-school diploma and some college. In response, American teenagers have dramatically increased their educational aspirations – almost all now say they expect to go to college. States have increased their high-school graduation standards, and middle schools have ramped up expectations (for example, algebra in eighth grade). New high-stakes tests hold schools accountable for students reaching the standards. The Common Core State Standards are creating a de facto national curriculum with higher expectations than existed in most states.
However, higher standards and more-rigorous tests in and of themselves won’t produce more college success, say the authors. In fact, there is a weak correlation between standardized test scores and college success. How students do in their high-school courses – their GPA – is a much better predictor of college and life attainment.
Why are high-school grades so much better at predicting success? The authors believe it’s because they capture a range of noncognitive factors that tests don’t measure – factors that turn out to be crucial to helping young people manage new environments and meet new academic and social demands. The authors grouped these noncognitive factors into five categories:
- Academic behaviors
- Academic perseverance
- Academic mindsets
- Learning strategies
- Social skills
The newfound importance of these noncognitive factors springs from several research projects in recent years:
- Duckworth and Seligman’s research has shown that lack of self-control and “conscientiousness” is a major reason that many students fall short of their intellectual potential.
- Dweck and her colleagues’ research on “mindsets” – beliefs about the malleability of intelligence and talent – has shown how quickly students can change their concept of human potential.
- Steele, Aronson, Cohen, and McColskey’s work on “stereotype threat” has shown how noncognitive factors help explain racial/ethnic achievement gaps.
All three groups of researchers are finding evidence that short-term interventions can bring about striking improvements in students’ noncognitive behaviors, which in turn improves their academic performance.
The authors of this paper aimed to do a more systematic analysis of noncognitive factors than has been conducted before. They reviewed the literature, organized the factors into five categories, and asked five questions about each one. Their focus was on the implications for students in the middle grades, as they entered high school, and transitioning to college. Here is a summary of their findings:
• Academic behaviors – These are “the visible, outward signs that a student is engaged and putting forth effort to learn,” say the authors. They are commonly associated with being a “good student” and lead directly to high academic performance. Academic behaviors include: regularly attending class, arriving ready to work (with the right supplies and materials), doing homework, organizing materials, participating in class, and studying.
a. How is this factor related to academic performance? Directly. “All aspects of academic performance, cognitive and noncognitive, are expressed through academic behaviors,” say the authors. “They have both a strong direct and indirect effect on grades.”
b. Is this factor malleable? Yes.
c. What is the role of classroom context in shaping this factor? Direct, through behavioral expectations and strategies, and indirect, through its effect on the other noncognitive factors.
d. Are there clear, actionable strategies for classroom practice? There are numerous interventions, but few have been evaluated on a large-scale basis, say the authors. However, we know that attendance and assignment completion can be affected by close monitoring and support.
e. Would changing this factor significantly narrow gender or racial/ethnic gaps? Perhaps, but the evidence here is murky.
• Academic perseverance – This is a student’s tendency to complete school assignments in a timely and thorough manner, to the best of his or her ability, despite distractions, obstacles, or level of challenge. It’s the ability to put a higher, long-term goal – academic achievement – above lower, more immediate pleasures. Perseverance drives positive academic behaviors, which lead to academic performance. It consists of grit, tenacity, delayed gratification, self-discipline, and self-control.
a. How is this factor related to academic performance? Only modestly. “Research often conflates students’ innate tendency to be perseverant with the actual behavior of doing work,” say the authors.
b. Is this factor malleable? Not very. “Evidence suggests that grit is fairly stable as an individual trait,” say the authors. “However, students are more likely to display academic perseverance when they have positive academic mindsets or strategies to successfully manage tasks.”
c. What is the role of classroom context in shaping this factor? Positive if the classroom is structured to support students’ success at assigned tasks and provide them with strategies to make the tasks easier.
d. Are there clear, actionable strategies for classroom practice? Yes, there are numerous instructional practices that improve students’ perseverance by changing their mindsets. However, there is little research on how teachers can structure classrooms to develop perseverance in the long run.
e. Would changing this factor significantly narrow gender or racial/ethnic gaps? No research has examined this directly.
• Academic mindsets – These are the positive psycho-social attitudes or beliefs one has about oneself in relation to academic work. They feed academic perseverance, which in turn drives academic behaviors, which produces academic performance, which circles back and validates positive academic mindsets. “Note that this reciprocal, self-perpetuating system also works in a negative loop,” say the authors. “Negative mindsets stifle perseverance and undermine academic behaviors, which results in poor academic performance. Poor performance in turn reinforces negative mindsets, perpetuating a self-defeating cycle.” Positive academic mindsets manifest themselves in self-statements such as: I belong in this academic community. My ability and competence grow with my effort. I can succeed at this. This work has value for me.
a. How is this factor related to academic performance? Quite strongly.
b. Is this factor malleable? Yes; a number of interventions have produced encouraging results.
c. What is the role of classroom context in shaping this factor? Explicit teaching can have a direct impact on students’ academic mindsets.
d. Are there clear, actionable strategies for classroom practice? There are several short-term interventions that have evidence of success, such as envisioning “future possible selves” and “developing a sense of belonging.” However, the research is fuzzy and the authors say there are few resources to translate social-psychological theory into classroom practices that can be easily implemented by teachers in a variety of school settings.
e. Would changing this factor significantly narrow gender or racial/ethnic gaps? Yes – but it depends on the degree to which gaps are “caused by stereotype threat or other forces that differentially harm minority students,” say the authors.
• Learning strategies – These are the processes and tactics one employs to aid in the cognitive work of thinking, remembering, or learning, all of which feed academic perseverance and academic behaviors, producing better academic performance. Learning strategies include: study skills (such as mnemonic devices to help recall facts), metacognitive strategies (like monitoring one’s own comprehension while reading), self-regulated learning (self-correcting when one detects confusion or errors in one’s thinking), goal-setting, and time management.
a. How is this factor related to academic performance? Directly; knowing how and when to use learning strategies is associated with higher achievement.
b. Is this factor malleable? Yes; these strategies can be directly taught, but the authors worry that some studies haven’t established a causal link between teaching learning strategies and academic achievement.
c. What is the role of classroom context in shaping this factor? Classrooms are ideal for teaching these specific learning strategies.
d. Are there clear, actionable strategies for classroom practice? Yes, research is strong on this one. Teacher feedback and student assessments can strengthen these strategies day by day and week by week.
e. Would changing this factor significantly narrow gender or racial/ethnic gaps? There is little research evidence here.
• Social skills – These “people skills” are frequently mentioned as vital to future work and life outcomes, but their impact on academic achievement is indirect: they feed improvements in academic behaviors, which in turn drive better academic performance. Social skills include: interpersonal skills, empathy, cooperation, assertion, and responsibility.
a. How is this factor related to academic performance? Weak research evidence on this one.
b. Is this factor malleable? Yes, a number of programs have been successful in developing students’ social skills.
c. What is the role of classroom context in shaping this factor? “Student behaviors are responsive to interpersonal, instructional, and environmental factors in the classroom,” say the authors.
d. Are there clear, actionable strategies for classroom practice? There are formal programs, but otherwise little direction for classroom teachers.
e. Would changing this factor significantly narrow gender or racial/ethnic gaps? There is little research evidence here.
The overall finding of this study: trying to improve “grit” and perseverance is less productive than working on academic mindsets and learning strategies, especially for students who are transitioning from middle to high school and from high school to college.
Based on their research so far, the authors created a tentative model for how the five factors interact (see an adaptation of their graphic [to the right]). These relationships take place within the socio-cultural context of the community, the school and classroom context, and students’ background characteristics. Note that Academic Behaviors is the junction box through which all the other noncognitive factors must operate to have an impact on student achievement.
“Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners: The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance: A Critical Literature Review” by Camille Farrington, Melissa Roderick, Elaine Allensworth, Jenny Nagaoka, Tasha Seneca Keyes, David Johnson, and Nicole Beechum, a University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research paper, June 2012, http://bit.ly/KxVKNk