An achievement goals perspective on the educational trajectories of early adolescents: The role of race and contexts.

The two studies comprising this dissertation use goal theory as a framework to examine early adolescents' achievement motivation and their classroom contexts. Achievement goals represent reasons for engaging in academic work. Students espouse goals, as well as perceive goals that are made salient by their teachers. Attention is given in particular to the motivation and classroom experiences of Black students. Additionally, the role of neighborhoods and the middle school transition in early adolescent development is investigated. In the first study, an examination of changes in the self-esteem, personal mastery goals, and performance of 513 Black and White students during the transition from elementary to middle school revealed that self-esteem increased but mastery goals and grades declined. The self-esteem of youngsters who perceived low neighborhood quality declined during the elementary school year. In addition, students who perceived an emphasis on mastery and understanding in their middle school classrooms (a mastery goal structure) exhibited higher self-esteem, personal mastery goals, and grade point average over time than students who perceived a low emphasis on mastery goals. Contrary to earlier studies, Black students did not experience more negative changes than White students during the transition. In the second study, qualitative interviews were used to examine the achievement goals of 24 Black sixth graders in a poor, urban middle school and their perceptions of the classroom goal structure. Students overwhelmingly expressed extrinsic goals. They also mentioned mastery goals, but rarely mentioned the goal of out-performing others (relative ability goals). Perceptions of task, autonomy, and evaluation dimensions of the learning environment were assessed to examine the classroom goal structure. Virtually all students described classrooms in which there was low-level academic work, a lack of opportunities to be autonomous, and an emphasis on extrinsic incentives including the use of grades to control students. The results highlight the importance of providing an environment in middle schools that emphasizes learning, understanding, and mastery. Additionally, particular attention to the quality of academic work, the opportunities for autonomy, and the nature of evaluation in middle-level schools serving predominantly poor, Black students is warranted.PhDBlack studiesEducationEducational psychologySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130948/2/9825210.pd