A multi-informant study on teachers' mindset, classroom practices, and student well-being.

A student's ability mindset is associated with their academic success, but less is known about how teachers' ability mindset and classroom practices promote student well-being. Using data from two concurrent studies with samples of 6th-12th-grade students (N = 2665; M age = 14.73 years, 62% qualified for free/reduced-price lunch; 49% girls; 33% Black, 49% White, 18% Other ethnicity-race) and math teachers (N = 195; 59% women; 94% White, 2% Black, 4% Other ethnicity-race; 40% bachelor's degrees, 60% graduate degrees), this prospective study used multi-informant, multi-level approaches to test (a) the links between teachers' mindset and students' learning engagement, emotional well-being, and social connectedness and (b) the mediational role of growth-oriented instructional approaches. Within and between classrooms, student-reported teacher mindset was positively associated with all well-being outcomes. Growth-oriented classroom practices mediated the link between student-reported teacher mindset and all well-being outcomes at the individual level, but mediational pathways at the classroom level were only significant for emotional well-being. Teachers' self-reported mindset was not a significant predictor at the classroom level. • Teachers with growth mindsets believe student ability can improve with effort. • Teachers' growth mindset is positively linked to student well-being. • Teachers' growth mindset is linked to growth-oriented classroom practices. • Teaching practices mediated the link between teacher mindset and student well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]