Classroom Grit Curriculum
RCTClinical Trial
When educational interventions bundle multiple character components together—such as patience and perseverance—evaluators cannot isolate whether observed gains stem from a single trait or interaction effects between bundled traits.
Picture this
Imagine taking a multivitamin that contains both Vitamin C and Vitamin D and feeling healthier; to prove that Vitamin C alone boosts immunity without needing Vitamin D, a researcher runs a separate study giving one group only Vitamin C and verifies that immunity improves by the exact same amount.
What the evidence says
Patience training alone produced no significant effect on gritty task choices or perseverance after failure, whereas standalone grit training in Sample B replicated the full magnitude of treatment effects observed in Sample A's combined intervention (+19.1 vs +14.3 percentage point increase in week-ahead task commitment).
- Who was studied
- N = 2,900 students across two randomized trials (Sample A: N = 1,717 in 15 grit+patience, 9 patience-only, and 12 control schools; Sample B: N = 1,203 in 8 standalone grit and 8 control schools) in Istanbul, Turkey.
- How
- Comparative field trial design where Sample A evaluated a dual intervention (patience + grit) alongside patience-only controls, and Sample B evaluated a pure standalone grit intervention.
What to do
Isolate multi-component non-cognitive curricula into single-trait evaluation arms to confirm independent treatment efficacy prior to bundling programs.
From the source
"While we can evaluate the independent impact of the patience treatment on our outcome measures (and indeed show that the patience treatment by itself does not produce gritty behavior), we are not able to isolate or rule out potential complementarities... The second study... resolves this issue."
Ever Failed, Try Again, Succeed Better: Results from a Randomized Educational Intervention on Grit