Moving from Growth to Asset-Based Mindsets

Promoting a growth mindset in PreK-12 schools is a valuable educational trend, based on the idea that students who believe they can grow and improve will succeed more easily. However, when students struggle academically, there’s often an undergirded assumption that they—and sometimes their families—are not trying hard enough or they just need to fit into a standardized mold. This deficit thinking places blame on students’ perceived limitations and can lead to lower expectations or biases to...