Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance - U.S. Department of ...

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responses, (c) have students vigorously exercise, and (d) give students a sense of
belonging and social acceptance, in addition to giving students opportunities to
repeatedly practice EFs at progressively more-advanced levels. The most effective way to
improve EFs and academic achievement is probably not to focus narrowly on those alone,
but to also address children’s emotional and social development (as do all 4 curricularbased
programs that improve EFs) and children’s physical development (aerobics, martial
arts, and yoga) (p. 7).
Tools of the Mind
Tools of the Mind (http://www.toolsofthemind.org/) was created in 1993 to train teachers to help preschool students
develop self-regulation and executive functions using techniques developed by Lev Vygotsky (e.g.,
Vygotsky,1978). Together, self-regulation and executive functions are responsible for a students’ ability to control
their thinking and behavior, with strong connections to working memory, impulse control, problem solving, and
mental flexibility (Chan, Shum, Toulopoulou, & Chen, 2008). Ages 3 to 7 are critical for the development of those
abilities and the parts of the brain that control them (Diamond & Lee, 2011).
Leaders of Tools of the Mind (often called Tools) believe that learning and early development is best
accomplished through play and sustained attention, especially when it is social and students construct
information for themselves. The pedagogical strategies employed are aimed at sustaining attention and
persevering in challenging activities. One key pedagogy is dramatic play, which involves planning, sustained
attention, and multiple roles for different students. Pretend roles give students rules, often self-created, that they
need to apply to their actions. This process is an abstract cognitive task that resembles much of the intellectual
work that school entails, such as remembering the rules to capitalize when starting a sentence or to raise a hand
instead of blurting something out. Yet, the play and imaginary aspects make this form of practice more engaging.
The use of symbols is another Tools technique that develops abstract thinking. These symbols, an integral part
of dramatic play, are classroom objects that become entirely different apparatuses in the student mind, involving
abstract and flexible thinking. Other strategies are self-regulating private speech, which helps students visualize,
plan, and strategize, and specific external aids for attention and memory (e.g., pictures representing actions to
serve as scaffolds).
In 2007, Tools was examined in a randomized controlled trial with 85 Tools students and 62 students
participating in the urban district’s balanced literacy program. Classrooms using the Tools model showed
relatively higher improvement on executive functions and inhibitory control, displayed on tasks demanding those
capacities (Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, & Munro, 2007). Today, the Tools of the Mind curriculum and
professional development are in 18,000 pre-K and kindergarten classrooms across the country.
2. Interventions That Address Mindsets, Learning Strategies, and Resilience
Academic mindsets and learning strategies are another essential set of psychological resources
for grit, tenacity, and perseverance. Researchers have been producing significant academic and
psychological impacts using short-term mindset interventions that affirm who students are and
want to be, mitigate threats to self-esteem, and teach students that ability grows with effort.
Interventions are also helping young people develop important strategies so that they can set
meaningful goals, make plans to accomplish these goals, rehearse responses to potential
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