Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit

Sule Alan, Teodora Boneva and Seda Ertac

The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2019, vol. 134, issue 3, 1121-1162

Abstract: We show that grit, a skill that has been shown to be highly predictive of achievement, is malleable in childhood and can be fostered in the classroom environment. We evaluate a randomized educational intervention implemented in two independent elementary school samples. Outcomes are measured via a novel incentivized real-effort task and performance in standardized tests. We find that treated students are more likely to exert effort to accumulate task-specific ability and hence more likely to succeed. In a follow up 2.5 years after the intervention, we estimate an effect of about 0.2 standard deviations on a standardized math test.

Date: 2019
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Working Paper: Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit (2015)
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