The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) posits that students with the same ability will have higher academic self-concepts when they are in low-ability classes than in high-ability classes. Our research puts the BFLPE under scrutiny by examining goal orientations as the moderators that may affect the size of the BFLPE. We collected data on…

The authors examined the relations between two socially oriented dimensions of student motivation and academic achievement of Native (Navajo) American and Anglo American students. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a multidimensional and hierarchical model was found to explain the relations between performance and social goals. Four first-order…

This paper outlines the development of a quantitative instrument designed to measure students' multiple achievement goals and key aspects of their cognitive engagement in Australian educational settings. The paper demonstrates the use of congeneric measurement models in assessing and improving the validity of the scales comprising the Goal…

Elementary students (n = 277, in Grades 5-6) and high school students (n = 615, in Grades 7-12) responded to 26 items of McInerneys Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire (FCQ). Confirmatory factor analyses of the FCQ found seven distinct factors underlying these items. These were perceived value of schooling (Value), affect toward schooling…