There is More Than One Yellow Brick Road to Achievement

Revised Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) is one of the most widely used theories in empirical investigations of student motivation and achievement. According to revised AGT, students who adopt mastery approach goals are motivated to engage in achievement situations where they can learn new information or master new skills. Students who adopt performance approach goals are motivated to engage in achievement situations where they can demonstrate their competence to others. Due to the mixed empirical yield associated with mastery and performance approach goals, there has been considerable debate regarding their efficacy in predicting student achievement. This book describes a study that was conducted to address the following questions: Do teacher goals, classroom goals, and student goals alter mean class achievement?; and Do teacher goals change the relationship that student goals have with achievement? Student and teacher data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Overall,this book sheds light on the dynamics involved in the teacher-student-goal relationship and provides valuable evidence regarding the utility of goals in predicting achievement.