Date Presented 04/23/2023
The 10-item WCPA is a valid assessment of performance change for youth at risk. Intervention for youth at risk may involve reflective learning during daily activities integrated into the school routine, to support successful integration into society.
Primary Author and Speaker: Sharon Zlotnik
Additional Authors and Speakers: Sivan Regev
Contributing Authors: Patrice Tamar Weiss
AIM: To compare awareness of performance and growth mindset among youth at-risk before and after a metacognitive intervention.
BACKGROUND: Youth at risk may experience adaptation difficulties (Hobbs et al., 2021). A growth mindset and self-awareness contribute to the ability to invest effort in learning, and meet daily challenges, thus improving these aspects can lead to a sense of competence, and educational equity (Dweck & Yeager, 2021).
METHOD: Participants: Forty-six students at risk, aged 16-18 years, in the 10th (n = 16) and 11th grade (n = 30). Tools: The Weekly Calendar Planning Activity (10-item WCPA) youth-version (Toglia, 2015) is a measure of functional cognition and awareness. The ‘Kind of person explicit theory scale' (Dweck, 1999) measures mindset. ‘Journeys’ is the intervention program developed for youth at risk.
DESIGN: A pre–post-study design. Main findings: WCPA performance was significantly more efficient after the intervention (Z = −2.49 P <.01). Some error patterns significantly decreased (Z = −.81, P <0.01). Although most students were unable to describe the strategies that helped them before the intervention, they could do so afterward. Following the intervention, all participants correctly estimated performance duration, yet accuracy overestimation increased mindset did not significantly change.
CONCLUSION: This study was the first to validate the suitability of the 10-item WCPA as a measure of performance change of youth at risk. However, awareness and growth mindset do not necessarily change simultaneously. Since repeated experience may facilitate a growth mindset (Yeager et al., 2019), we recommend that intervention for youth-at-risk will include repeated opportunities to engage in self-directed, collaborative, and reflective learning, during relevant daily activities, integrated into the school routine. This highlights the potential of the metacognitive intervention to support more successful integration into society by youth at risk.
References
Dweck, C., & Yeager, D. (2021). Global Mindset Initiative Introduction: Envisioning the Future of Growth Mindset Research in Education. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3911564
Hobbs, S. D., Bederian-Gardner, D., Ogle, C. M., Bakanosky, S., Narr, R., & Goodman, G. S. (2021). Foster youth and at-risk non-foster youth: A propensity score and structural equation modeling analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 126, 106034. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHILDYOUTH.2021.106034
Toglia, J., & American Occupational Therapy Association. (2015). Weekly calendar planning activity (WCPA) : a performance test of executive function.
Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., . . . & Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature, 573(7774), 364–369. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y
