This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study on why students often experience a decline in academic achievement as they transition to middle school. Academic mindsets, such as a belief in the malleability of ability (growth mindset) or a reluctance to engage academically because of embarrassment or a fear of failure (performance avoidance), can support or undermine student success during this transition. Mindsets affect academic outcomes through their effect on academic behaviors, such as completing homework and participating in class. Positive academic mindsets and behaviors include high levels of growth mindset and of academic behaviors along with low levels of performance avoidance. This study examined the relationship between grade 5 student reports on levels of academic mindsets and behaviors and the predicted probability of having a grade point average (GPA) below 2.0 in the first semester of grade 6 (low GPA) in Nevada's Clark County School District, for all students and for student groups based on achievement and sociodemographic characteristics. [For the full report, see ED615451. For the appendixes, see ED615454.]