Examining the Mindset, Attitude Towards Writing, and Writing Achievement of Elementary-Aged Students at an Educational Disadvantage

The widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards with greater emphasis on writing and increases in wide-scale state writing assessment accentuate efforts to improve writing achievement (Behizadeh & Pang, 2016; Calkins, Ehrenworth, & Lehman, 2012). Despite efforts to improve outcomes, writing achievement falls short of expectations in schools across the country (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012). Writing achievement is even lower for students at an educational disadvantage, as measured National School Lunch Program participation (Domina, et al., 2018). Researchers have known of the potential for motivational factors to promote writing achievement for many years, while few educators and policymakers are currently tapping into this potentially powerful area to promote improvement (Graham, Berninger, & Fan, 2007; Muenks & Miele, 2017; Tough, 2016). In this study, mindset, attitude towards writing, and writing achievement of upper elementary-aged students at an educational disadvantage are examined. A non-experimental statistical design using correlational calculations and mean difference calculations was used to examine the relationships between variables. Participants were members, ages nine to 12, from five Boys and Girls Clubs in a southeastern region (N = 58) who had completed third, fourth, or fifth grades. All attended Title 1 schools. Participants completed a Theories of Intelligence Scale (Dweck, 2000), an adapted Writing Attitude Survey (Kear, Coffman, McKenna, & Ambrosio, 2000), and the Test of Written Language-IV (Hammill & Larsen, 2009). Relationships among variables were examined for all participants, males, and females. Differences in variables based on sex were also examined. Results indicate a significant relationship between mindset and writing achievement (p < .01) and between attitude towards writing and writing achievement (p < .01) for all participants. Results indicate a significant relationship between mindset and writing achievement (p < .01) for female vi participants and between attitude towards writing and writing achievement (p < .01) for male participants. Mean scores for males and females for each variable do not differ significantly. Educators may benefit from understanding the motivational constructs of mindset and attitude towards writing with the goal of acting to stimulate motivation to help improve at-risk students’ writing achievement.