Diller


Economics Seminar: Seda Ertaç (Koç Üniversitesi)

Sabancı University
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

 

ECONOMICS SEMINAR

 

Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit

 

Seda Ertaç

(Koç University)

 

January 08, 2018 13:30 14:45

FASS 2054

We show that grit, a skill that has been shown to be highly predictive of achievement, is malleable in childhood and can be fostered in the classroom environment. We evaluate a randomized educational intervention implemented in two independent elementary school samples. Outcomes are measured via a novel incentivized real effort task and performance in standardized tests. We find that treated students are more likely to exert effort to accumulate task-specific ability, and hence, more likely to succeed. In a follow up 2.5 years after the intervention, we estimate an effect of about 0.2 standard deviations on a standardized math test.