Informing Students of their Potential Ability: Experimental Evidence from Argentina

The perceptions of low-income families about the payoff from schooling often leads them to underinvest in education. Many experiments have tried to influence these perceptions by providing information on the returns to schooling or school quality. The few studies that have tried to shape these perceptions by providing information on child ability have focused on current—as opposed to potential—ability, possibly reinforcing previous educational investments based on incorrect beliefs. I propose a randomized evaluation of a brief informational intervention that synthesizes insights from neuroscience about the capacity of individuals to become more intelligent by persisting through difficult situations, pursuing productive strategies, and seeking help whenever necessary. I plan to evaluate this intervention among 7th to 12th graders in Argentina who participate in an education program. This will allow me to evaluate the intervention on a nationally representative sample, collect data that I would otherwise be unable to access, set up an infrastructure to scale-up the intervention, and track students over time.

*To learn more about key findings from this evaluation read Growth-Mindset Interventions at Scale: Experimental Evidence from Argentina