Mindsets Of Education Essay

“Until we get equality in education, we won’t have an equal society.” (Justice Sonia Sotomayor) Public education in the United States is intended to provide quality education to all students, therefore, providing all children with the chance to pursue academic success and lifelong opportunities. However, the educational experiences and the quality of education that students in the United States receive are often far from equal. While many factors impact the educational experiences of students, there is one factor that warrants deep examination: socioeconomic status. The discussion of socioeconomic status and its relationship to education has been one that many have struggled to come to a consensus on. In recent decades this discussion has blossomed

They studied about sixteen thousand students in high school and evaluated their mindsets and what key influences shaped the type of mindset each student had. They found, “Correlations indicated that higher socioeconomic status was associated with less of a fixed mindset than was lower socioeconomic status. Descriptively, participants whose mothers completed a college education were .22 standard deviations lower in fixed mindset than participants whose mothers did not complete a college education”. (Destin et al ) This shows a clear correlation between socioeconomic status and the effects it has on students’ mindsets. Mindsets have been proven to have a profound impact on children’s educational outcomes, and success. This study shows that there is a clear correlation between socioeconomic status and education because if there are proven differences between mindsets that will directly translate to differences in educational outcomes. Socioeconomic status also affects students greatly based on the circumstances of their home life and the support they receive outside of school. One of the biggest factors of home life is family education. One study found that, “Since highly educated parents tend to view time with children as an investment opportunity to build human capital, they spend that time actively developing their children’s talents and skills; whereas, less educated parents tend to let their children’s talents and skills develop with little or no guidance or stimulus. Additionally, high-income and highly educated parents are more likely to be involved in their children’s education, which is a key factor in adolescents’ educational successes”. (Pennsylvania State University) The key takeaway here is the acknowledgment that parents with higher income and who are better educated will have much more of an