A short writing task raised grades for Black students.

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   243 seventh-graders at one suburban middle school. 119 were Black and 124 were White. Their families were middle class or lower-middle class.

2. 02

   What they did

   Each student did one of two writing tasks in class, taking about 15 minutes. One group wrote why their top value mattered to them; the other wrote why their lowest value might matter to someone else. The first study gave one task, and the replication gave two.

3. 03

   What happened

   Black students in the values group got 0.26 and 0.34 grade points more than the other group. That cut the racial gap by about 40%, and 9 in 100 got a D or below, against 20 in 100. White students showed no change in either study.

What the study found

1. Helped

   Black students who wrote about their top value got better grades in that course.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Rule: Choose it yourselfused

   Randomised trial of 243 Black and White seventh-graders at one middle school · vs students who wrote about a least important value · behaviour was recorded

2. Helped

   Fewer Black students who wrote about their top value got a D or below.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Rule: Choose it yourselfused

   Randomised trial of 243 Black and White seventh-graders at one middle school · vs students who wrote about a least important value · behaviour was recorded

3. Helped

   Black students who wrote about their top value also got better grades in other courses.

   • Action: Clarify what matters to youtested
   • Rule: Choose it yourselfused

   Randomised trial of 243 Black and White seventh-graders at one middle school · vs students who wrote about a least important value · behaviour was recorded

Source