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Noncognitive Factors and Young Adult Success

Jenny Nagaoka and Camille FarringtonUniversity of Chicago

Consortium on Chicago School ResearchPresentation to the U.S. Department of Education

College Access Affinity GroupJune 25, 2014

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Today

• Background on noncognitive factors• 5 categories of noncognitive factors• Challenges, unknowns, and the next stage of work

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Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) Model for the Role of Research

in Supporting Urban School Reform

CCSR’s mission is to support the search for solutions in ways that build the capacity of schools to improve by identifying strategies and levers for improvement and working across all levels of the system.

Research identifying what matters: Organizing frameworksIndicator development: The critical role of measurement Identify leverage points: Support in identifying strategies for

improvement Accessible and actionable communication: Dissemination of

findings through publications and presentations and individual school data reports.

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The College Readiness Challenge

Students’ college aspirations are high Students recognize the importance of postsecondary education

for the workforce High school course-taking has increased College enrollment continues to rise College degree attainment is unchanged

How do we prepare students to persist and succeed in college and be able to build successful careers –

particularly those from marginalized communities?

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Grades, Grades, Grades!

Grades are better predictors than test scores of long-term educational outcomes (HS grad, college enrollment, college graduation)

Grades are better predictors of life outcomes (wages, health, longevity, civic participation)

Grades are where we observe growing gaps by race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and gender

What do grades measure that test scores do not?

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What Do Grades Measure(and what really matters)?

Content Knowledge

Academic Skills

Noncognitive Factors

Measured by GRADES

Measured by TEST SCORES

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Redefining College ReadinessDavid T. Conley, 2007

Content Knowledge

Academic Skills

Noncognitive Factors

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What are noncognitive factors?

• Anything not measured by cognitive tests (achievement or IQ tests)

• Skills, behaviors, strategies, beliefs, attitudes

• The stuff that isn’t content knowledge or core academic skills, but that matters for school performance

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Why Focus on Noncognitive Factors and Grades?

• Address students’ identity development as learners

• Students have more control and opportunities for improvement over their grades than their test scores

• Teachers have more control over the conditions that support high grades than they do over test scores

• Help us see student behaviors as a response to a larger system of schooling and adult practices rather than student characteristics.

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A Review of the Research

• Lumina Foundation: College access and persistence• Raikes Foundation: Supporting students in the middle

grades

Review the literature on noncognitive factors and their relationship to students’ academic performance

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Review the Literature on…Skills, behaviors, strategies, beliefs, attitudes

Peer Interactions Interests ConscientiousnessWork ethic Professionalism Grit Teamwork

Collaboration Motivation Agreeableness Persistence Self-Concept Tenacity Self-Efficacy

Open-mindedness Flexibility LeadershipCreativity Innovation Confidence Effort

Enthusiasm Values CooperationCommunication Goal-setting Self-Regulation

Work Completion Attendance Time Management

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5 Categories of Non-cognitive Factors

• Academic Behaviors• Academic Perseverance• Academic Mindsets• Learning Strategies• Social Skills

Academic Performance

(Course Grades)

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5 Guiding Questions

-What is it and does it matter?-Can we change it in students?-Can we change it in classrooms (settings)?-Do we know HOW to change it in classrooms (strategies)?-Does it matter for closing achievement gaps?

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2012: Literature Review: Camille A. Farrington, Melissa Roderick, Elaine Allensworth, Jenny Nagaoka, Tasha Seneca Keyes, David W. Johnson, Nicole O. Williams

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Academic Behaviors•Being a “good student” (e.g., Going to class, doing homework, participating in class) •The only DIRECT relationship to course performance – Improving academic behaviors is the goal!•Virtually all other factors that go into grades are expressed through academic behaviors

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Academic Perseverance•The ability and tendency to see something through to completion despite distractions or obstacles•Grit, Tenacity, Persistence, Self-Control, Effort, Delayed Gratification•It’s what makes kids enact academic behaviors•Not directly observable: expressed through (and equated with) behavior•A desirable outcome, but hard to change directly!

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Academic MindsetsBeliefs about oneself in relation to academic work. •I belong in this academic community•I can succeed at this •My ability and competence grow with my effort •This work has value to me

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Evidence on Academic Mindsets

• Goal orientations• Implicit theories of

ability• Locus of control• Expectancy-value

theory• Learned helplessness• Stereotype threat

• Normalizing academic difficulty in college

• Malleability of intelligence • Relevance of course

material• Cueing important values

Foundational research vs. Intervention studies

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Learning Strategies•Strategies to aid in cognitive work of thinking, learning, or remembering (e.g., Metacognitive Strategies, Study, Skills, Self-Regulated Learning, Goal Setting)•Monitoring, adjusting, & reflecting on the learning process

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Social Skills• Interpersonal Skills, Empathy, Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility •Hard to measure, easily conflated with other factors• Poor social skills/ behaviors can negatively affect grades through disciplinary events• Little evidence of positive effects on grades

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SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT

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Key Findings

Improving students’ grades requires improving their academic behaviors and building their academic perseverance

Academic mindsets and learning strategies are key levers for improving students’ academic behaviors and academic perseverance (and hence for raising their grades)

Classroom context and teacher instructional practices play a crucial role in building academic mindsets and learning strategies

We have very little consolidated understanding of how to leverage this fact in classroom practice or in school design (few clear strategies)

There is no single existing instrument that measures all the noncognitive factors that research suggests are important for student performance

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What Do We Need to Know?

• What is the “natural” developmental trajectory of noncognitive factors from K to 12 and beyond?

• How are noncognitive factors shaped by daily classroom practice, absent “intervention”?

• Are noncognitive factors best understood as properties of individual students or as products of students’ contexts?

• Are noncognitive factors transferable across settings/contexts?

• What are the best measures of noncognitive factors?

The Becoming Effective Learners Survey Development Project

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Goals:Consolidate existing survey scales to create a comprehensive measurement instrument

Simultaneously measure student noncognitive factors and classroom context/instructional factors

Provide a set of common survey instruments to generate comparable data across projects, populations, and contexts

Provide data to schools on student noncognitive factors and on school & classrooms factors that affect the development of noncognitive factors

The Becoming Effective Learners Survey Development Project

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SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT

Noncognitive Factors measured by Becoming Effective Learners Student Survey

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What Do We Need to Know?

• What is the “natural” developmental trajectory of noncognitive factors? Are there key windows in their development?

• What is the role of exposures and opportunities afforded to different kinds of kids and kids of different backgrounds?

A Framework for Developing Young Adult Success in the 21st Century Project

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Factors for Young Adult Success: Expanding on Previous Work

Socio-cultural context and background characteristics

Developmental lens from early childhood to young adulthood

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Questions raised in framework project

What might we consider the successful culmination of 18 years of investment in education, socialization, and development for the young people we are raising today?

How much of success in young adulthood based on opportunities and resources versus individual characteristics and competencies?

What characteristics or competencies would make youth ‘ready’ for young adulthood?

What are the key features or opportunities kids need to support the development in each stage of life? What is the role of school, family, afterschool, and community?

What are promising practices/interventions for developing this factor at different stages and in different contexts, and what is the evidence of their effectiveness?

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Thank you!

Jenny Nagaokajkn@uchicago.edu

Camille Farringtoncamillef@uchicago.edu