This document provides an overview of the premise for building students’ persistence to tackle challenging math tasks. The lessons and insights described, however, extend beyond the math classroom and can be applied across content areas by fostering a growth mindset and providing instruction on independent problem solving, metacognition, and strate...

This document discusses the pedagogical foundation that students’ lack of capacity to persist in the face of challenges is one of the main determinants of their success. The belief that one can grow more intelligent with effort (the “growth mindset”) can have a dramatic effect on academic achievement. Creating a culture of engaged improvement tied...

This document provides an overview of creating a culture of engaged improvement as a way to help students develop stronger Common Core–aligned skills to support the “noncognitive” factors that underpin work on those skills. During in-class interventions this strategy allows teachers to help students develop the mindset that their effort matters an...

This document provides an overview to Math Habits of Mind which provides students with the means to persist independently as they tackle challenging math problems. This practice enables teachers to help students to use multiple entry points to math problems based on a hierarchy of independent problem-solving habits during introduction to the conce...

This document provides an overview for teachers to begin using the productive persistence rubric and conferencing protocol to help students reflect on their levels of persistence and strategize ways to improve their work. Teachers or school counselors can use these conferencing frameworks with a particular student up to once a week to help work wi...