McKinsey & Company, who doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to education-related studies, just came out with a new study examining PISA results from around the world.

It’s titled How to improve student educational outcomes: New insights from data analytics.

They suggest that student motivation and having a growth mindset are the most important factors related to student success:

They even make this claim, which I think is somewhat questionable (see The Best Places To Learn What Impact A Teacher (& Outside Factors) Have On Student Achievement):

Our conclusion: after controlling for all other factors, student mindsets are twice as predictive of students’ PISA scores than even their home environment and demographics (Exhibit 1). This finding, and its magnitude, is consistent across all five regions, which amplifies its importance.

Nevertheless, even if they are over-stating their case, this research provides more evidence to those of us who support helping students develop intrinsic motivation (see  Best Posts On “Motivating” Students) and a growth mindset (see The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset” ).