The influence of goal setting and progress feedback on self-efficacy and writing achievement was investigated for 60 fifth-grade children (33 girls and 27 boys) from three classes in two elementary schools. The sample included 37 White, 20 Black, two Hispanic American, and one Asian American students. The students received writing strategy instruction and were given a process goal of learning the strategy, a product goal of writing paragraphs, or a general goal of working productively (control condition). Half of the process-goal children periodically received feedback on their progress. Students assigned to the process goal plus feedback condition demonstrated higher self-efficacy, writing skill, and perceived progress in learning the strategy than did students in either the product goal or control conditions. Students who received the process goal without progress feedback judged self-efficacy higher than did control students, and demonstrated higher skill than did product-goal and control students. The product goal led to few benefits compared to the effects of strategy instruction. Self-efficacy judgments were significantly and positively correlated with writing skills. Research suggestions and implications for teaching are discussed. A 38-item list of references and one data table are included. (Author/SLD)