{"id":20189,"date":"2023-07-13T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/?p=20189"},"modified":"2024-07-16T11:50:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:50:59","slug":"educator-mindsets-affect-student-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2023\/educator-mindsets-affect-student-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Educator mindsets affect student performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We don\u2019t talk enough about educator mindsets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in my teaching career, I taught an English class where all the students were three or more years below grade level. I thought this meant that I should teach the skills they were missing with lower-level texts. During a professional development session, I got feedback from a fellow teacher who argued the opposite. \u201cI know your students have some challenges with grade-level work,\u201d she began. \u201cBut if you don\u2019t think they\u2019re capable and you never give them access to rigorous work, you\u2019re limiting their growth potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This colleague\u2019s feedback sparked me to reflect on my practices. I realized I was operating with the mindset that my students were incapable of completing assignments at their grade level. My mindset fueled the instructional decisions\u2014decisions I <\/em>made\u2014that were hindering my students\u2019 success. I thought that I was meeting them where they were when, really, I was just holding them down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educator mindsets as a part of educational equity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At NWEA, we define mindsets as \u201ca set of mental attitudes that determine how one will interpret and respond to situations.\u201d These mental attitudes can also be described as beliefs or assumptions, and they impact educators\u2019 approach to content, pedagogy, instructional decisions, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of mindsets is precisely why they are a critical part of our Six Entry Points for Equity framework, as detailed in our \u201cEquity statement.\u201d<\/a> The entry points for equity\u2014mindsets, relationships, products, spaces, processes, and systems\u2014are starting points for ensuring that academic success is a nonnegotiable for all students. Educator mindsets have a profound impact on teaching and learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inequitable mindsets look like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Equitable mindsets are critical to ensuring an excellent education. Unfortunately, as Kristyn Klei Borrero says in Every Student, Every Day<\/em><\/a>, many educators knowingly or unknowingly hold mindsets that can be harmful to their students. This harm to students, she explains, is \u201cimmeasurable, as it reflects the larger deficit narrative that much of the education system harbors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of inequitable mindsets are reflected in the following statements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n