WISE INTERVENTIONS

High school students in 13 diverse schools completed an online module focused on scientific findings showing how the brain can “grow and reorganize itself as a consequence of hard work and good strategies on challenging tasks,” implications for students’ potential to become more intelligent through study and practice, and how setbacks are opportunities for learning. They then summarized the findings in their own words and wrote a note of advise to a struggling student who “was beginning to think of himself as not smart enough to do well in school.” Together with students in a sense-of-purpose intervention condition and as compared to those for whom the module focused on control content (e.g., functional localization in the brain), this growth-mindset message raised core academic GPA the next semester for students at risk for dropping out of high school, and increased the likelihood students earned satisfactory grades (A, B, or C) in core academic classes.