What really works to improve students' self-concepts?

Students develop self-concepts on the basis of feedback they receive about their competence. Efforts to improve self-concepts (and self-esteem) directly through activities that focus explicitly on these constructs, such as having minority students study multicultural learning materials, sending children to summer camps, and implementing support groups, are MISGUIDED and largely UNSUCCESSFUL (O'Mara, Marsh, Craven, & Debus, 2006; Schunk et al., 2014). The ONLY legitimate way to improve student's self-concepts is by providing them with evidence that their competence is increasing.