Growth approaches to academic development: Research into academic trajectories and growth assessment, goals, and mindsets

In a climate of benchmarks, comparisons, accountability, and league tables, it is important to ensure that students are not excluded from access to academic ‘success’ or denied a sense of academic progress (Nichols & Berliner, 2007). Many assessment systems represent a ‘zero-sum game’ in which some students’ success comes at the expense of others’ success (e.g., Amrein-Beardsley, 2008; Nichols & Berliner, 2007). More than 30 years ago, Slavin observed: ‘Some students enter class with such advanced skills that they need to do little to earn As or Bs, whereas others cannot make acceptable grades no matter howhard they try’ (1980, p. 520). Today, things are apparently notmuch different, with amajor review reporting ‘under traditionalmodels of assessment, some students and some schools may not experience success (because of how success is measured), regardless of how much they were learning or progressing’ (Anderman, Anderman, Yough, & Gimbert, 2010, p. 128). In addition, there are many students who are performing to standard or benchmark, but are under-achieving relative to their academic potential (Anderman et al., 2010). Greater attention to academic growth may provide significant achievement and motivation support for a wide range of students: Although many students may not outperform peers, they can outperform their previous efforts; similarly, although many students may demonstrate acceptable comparative achievement, there is often room for further individual growth. Indeed, according to Dweck, ‘the hallmark of human nature is each person’s great capacity to adapt, to change, and to grow’ (italics added; 2012, p. 614; see also Dweck, 2006). This Special Issue focuses on academic growth through an investigation of achievement growth, growth goal orientations, growth goal setting, selfconcept trajectories, mindsets, and assessment – and their role in students’ academic development. A number of converging lines of theory suggest growth approaches to student development as a potentially exciting direction for psycho-educational research and practice. First, theorizing about ‘growth mindsets’ (Dweck, 2006, 2012) articulates the adaptive effects of ‘incremental’ beliefs about intelligence. Individuals with an incremental view (i.e., a growth mindset) see academic and non-academic outcomes as something that can be addressed through cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioural modification. In contrast, individuals holding an ‘entity’ view see their competence as fixed and difficult to address, leading to less inclination to make psycho-behavioural