Tuesday, January 28, 2025
2:00 - 4:00 PM (PST) at Berkeley Way West 4119 and via Zoom
Open to GSE faculty, students, and community.
Request a zoom link from convenors@bear.berkeley.edu
About the Session:
Using administrative records from Chile (2017–2023), this study examines the relationship between teachers’ growth mindset—the belief that abilities are malleable—and teacher retention. Drawing on a sample of approximately 7,300 teachers, we apply a discrete-time hazard model to analyze whether teachers with a growth or fixed mindset are more likely to remain in the profession. To operationalize the growth mindset variable, we employ score estimates derived from an item response theory (IRT) model based on Farrington's (2013) implicit beliefs of the intelligence scale which has four polytomous items. Alternative computations include a dummy variable (0 = fixed mindset, 1 = growth mindset) and an index variable (calculated as the average of item means). Preliminary findings from a multilevel logistic regression model suggest that a growth mindset is a significant predictor of teacher retention. However, IRT-derived estimates for the same construct are not statistically significant. This difference may arise from how a growth mindset is operationalized across methods. The study concludes with a discussion of limitations and offers potential recommendations for future research.
About the Author:
Carmen Maura Taveras is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at the Faculty of Education of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She earned a master's degree in Learning Assessment from the same faculty. Her research integrates quantitative methods to provide evidence on how students' and teachers' decisions are related to socio-emotional or socio-economic factors. During her Ph.D training, she has focused more on learning about aspects related to educational measurement.