ERIC Number: EJ997885
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jan
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-476X
EISSN: N/A
Achievement Goals and School Achievement: The Transition to Different School Tracks in Secondary School
Paulick, Isabell; Watermann, Rainer; Nuckles, Matthias
Contemporary Educational Psychology, v38 n1 p75-86 Jan 2013
During the transition from elementary school to secondary school, in Germany, students are assigned to different school tracks, academic or non-academic, that differ markedly in compositional and institutional characteristics, e.g., the level of cognitive activation and performance standards are higher in academic tracks than in non-academic tracks. Currently, there is a lack of research examining the changes in achievement goals (mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals) and in the association between achievement goals and school achievement during the transition to these different school tracks. There were 1646 students who participated in a large-scale, three-wave longitudinal study from Grade 4 to Grade 6. While results revealed only slight differences between the two school tracks, the three types of achievement goals declined over time. In elementary school mastery-approach goals were positively and performance-approach goals negatively associated with school grades. After the transition to secondary school mastery-approach goals predicted school grades positively, whereas performance-approach goals negatively influenced achievement (academic track). Overall, the results indicate that between-school-tracking plays a minor role for the development of achievement goals and the relation between goals and achievement. (Contains 5 tables and 5 figures.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Academic Achievement, Institutional Characteristics, Grade 4, Grade 6, Grade 5, Grades (Scholastic), Goal Orientation, Secondary School Students, Elementary School Students, Student Motivation, Correlation, Longitudinal Studies, Statistical Analysis, Predictor Variables, Track System (Education)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A