1) Teachers in Peru were found to systematically use their mental models and biases to assess student performance, rating a student portrayed as poor around 2 months lower on cognitive ability and expectations than the same student portrayed as non-poor. 2) A low-cost intervention promoting the malleability of intelligence through a lesson on brain plasticity and related assignments produced large increases in math and language test scores for over 50,000 secondary students in Peru, especially those in poorer regions and lower academic quartiles. 3) Further research will explore the mechanisms behind these impacts, whether effects are sustained, and isolate the roles of changing student and teacher mental models through adapted interventions in additional schools and countries.

1. Teacher biases, student attitudes and improving
educational outcomes in Peru
Renos Vakis
September 9, 2016
Behavioral Initiatives

6. Attitudes and world view (mental models)
• Chapter 3, The World Development Report 2015
• They influence the process of decision making…and hence outcomes
• Is there scope for policy?

7. Our biases

8. Stereotypes, mental models and achievement
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Identidad asiatica Control Genero
Score
Math score
(10 year old American girls from Asian descent)
Asian-American Control Female
Nalini Ambady et al (2001)

10. Peru context
Ongoing work in Ministry of Education exploring
1. Teacher attitudes and motivation
2. Student attitudes and low performance

11. Research project 1: Do teachers use their biases to
assess students’ performance?
with Gabriela Farfan and Alaka Holla (World Bank)
• Teachers are key input for student’s performance
• Teacher expectations for their students affects school performance and student aspirations
(Rosenthal y Jacobson, 1968, Upadyaya and Eccles, 2014)
• Teachers influence student’s long term outcomes (Chatty et al. 2013)
• Non-observable teacher characteristics explain a large share of student performance
• How do teachers assess students’ performance?
• We typically think of exams as objective indications of scholastic aptitude
• But teachers often have some discretion in grading
• Plus, kids are not always consistent so it might be hard to extract a clear signal from their behavior

12. What we do
• What we do: replicate and expand evidence by Darley and Gross (Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 1983) for teachers in Lima
• 600 teachers from 100 schools in Lima
• Teachers watch a video of a 9-year old student (Diego) taking an exam
• Random teacher assignments in one of two versions of background video
• Diego comes from 2nd quintile (poor)
• Diego comes from 3rd quintile (non-poor)
• Teachers assess Diego’s performance on three dimensions
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
• Schooling expectations

13. Video timeline
1.
Project
presentation
2.
Background video on Diego
3.
Testing video
4.
Survey on
Diego’s
performanceDiego Pobre
Diego No Pobre

14. What happened?
School grade
3.2
3.4
3
3.5
Poor Non-poor
Gradelevel
Poor Non-poor
40
60
0
20
40
60
Poor Non-poor
%
Poor Non-poor
Expect to go beyond secondary
2 months
20 pp

15. So…
• Teacher systematically use their mental model to affect their judgement and
assess student performance
• By a lot
• And form a judgment on various domains (cognitive, expectations)

16. Areas for solutions
Education … information, awareness, alternative models
Exposure … social contact, role models, environment
Approach … higher level processing, reduce cognitive load, checklist,
procedures (slow down)
STATUS: Debriefing, exploring….

17. Project 2: improving student motivation and educational outcomes
with Ingo Outes (Oxford) and Alan Sanchez (GRADE)
• Student school performance and aspirations can be
affected by
• Parents
• Self-identification into groups (math example and stereotypes,
also Neuville y Croizet, 2007; Steele & Aronson, 1995 )
• Teacher expectations and beliefs (Rosenthal y Jacobson, 1968)
• Brain malleability and mental models
• Evolving evidence on traits and malleability (intelligence and
personality)
• Changing mental models of brain malleability and link to
improved motivation, effort and school outcomes ((Dweck et
al. 1995; Dweck, 2006; Blackwell et al. 2007; Paunesku et al.
2012; Yeager et al. 2012)
05
101520
Children'sEducationalAspirations
0 5 10 15 20
Parent's Educational Aspirations
Children-Parent aspiration 45%
Children’s educational aspirations closely mirror those of their parents

18. What did we do?
• Inspired by growth mindset literature to design a simple intervention
• Where
• 800 secondary schools in poorer neighborhoods in Lima, Ancash and Junin
• Around 50,000 students in 1st and 2nd grade
• What
• Introduced a 90 minute session on brain malleability
• In-class assignment – write a letter to give advice on how to exercise brain
• Class posters for salience
• Low cost
• 2-3 months before end of school year
• Use national test exam to evaluate test scores in math and language

23. Overall impacts
-0.05
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
0.25
Math (*) Spanish Index (*)
ITTImpact
%ofstandarddeviations
95% CI ITT impact
School level, N = 799

24. Impacts by region
-0.15
-0.05
0.05
0.15
0.25
0.35
0.45
Math Spanish Index Math (**) Spanish Index (*)
Lima, N = 391 Ancash-Junin, N = 408
ITTImpact
%ofstandarddeviations
95% CI ITT impact

25. Impacts by quartile
-0.20
-0.10
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
Q1
N = 4413
Q2
N = 9033
Q3 (**)
N = 4345
Q4
N = 3909
Q1
N = 4413
Q2
N = 9033
Q3 (*)
N = 4344
Q4 (**)
N = 3910
Math Spanish
ITTImpact
%ofstandarddeviations
95% CI ITT impact

26. Summary
• Large increases in test performance
• Extremely effective and low cost
• Hypothesis for mechanism: student AND teacher change of mental
models
• Heterogeneous effects

27. Next steps
• Phase 1
• Exploring mechanisms and heterogeneity of impacts further
• Are impacts sustainable a year later?
• Phase 2 (adapting in 2800 schools/150,000 students) isolating teacher v. student
channels
• Video vs Text
• Single-Session vs Double-Session
• Teacher Module
• Timing of Delivery
• Adapting and replicating in other countries (Indonesia, Ghana…)

28. Thank you!
rvakis@worldbank.org