Tim Urdan

Perceptions of the School Psychological Environment and Early Adolescents' Psychological and Behavioral Functioning in School: The Mediating Role of Goals and Belonging

In a sample of 296 8th-grade middle school students, the authors examined the role of personal achievement goals and feelings of school belonging in mediating the relation between perceptions of the school psychological environment and school-related beliefs, affect, and achievement. Sequential regression analyses indicated that perceiving a task goal structure in middle school was positively related to academic self-efficacy and that this relation was mediated through personal task goals. Perceiving an ability goal structure was related to academic self-consciousness and this relation was mediated through personal relative ability goals. Perceiving positive teacher-student relationships predicted positive school-related affect and this relation was mediated through feelings of school belonging. Feelings of academic efficacy and school belonging in turn were positively related to final-semester academic grades. Results are discussed in relation to current middle school reform efforts. During the early adolescent years, middle schools play an important role in facilitating or inhibiting successful adolescent development (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989). Schools potentially can provide early adolescents with opportunities to develop their intellectual capacities, to experience a sense of competence and belonging, and to interact with supportive, nonparental adults. Unfortunately, just when adolescents are particularly in need of these opportunities, the middle-school learning environment often fails to provide them (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989; Eccles & Midgley, 1989). For instance, at a time when adolescents are known to be sensitive about how they appear to others, middle schools emphasize relative ability and social comparison in learning situations (Midgley, Anderman, & Hicks, 1995); and at a time when adolescents are particularly in need of supportive relationships with adults outside the home, the quality of relationships with teachers is less than optimal (Midgley, Feldlaufer, & Eccles, 1989). Understanding how particular

Beyond a Two-Goal Theory of Motivation and Achievement: A Case for Social Goals

Research on academic achievement motivation has increasingly focused on students’ goals. Most of that research has focused on two particular types of achievement goals: task goals and ability goals. In this review, we propose that a more thorough understanding of motivation and achievement in schools can be developed if we examine social goals—defined as perceived social purposes for academic achievement—in addition to task and ability goals. We review research on achievement goal theory, social goals, social motives, and social influences on students’ school-related attitudes and behaviors to develop hypotheses about the antecedents and consequences of social goals. In addition, we discuss ways in which the learning environment may influence students’ social goal orientations. We conclude with a discussion of seven areas for future research on the nature and function of social goals.

The Role of Classroom Goal Structure in Students’ Use of Self-Handicapping Strategies

Some students purposefully use self-handicapping strategies (e.g., procrastinating, fooling around, getting involved in many activities) so that these circumstances, rather than lack of ability, will be seen as the cause if subsequent performance is low. The aim of the present study was to determine whether we could reliably assess fifth-grade students’ reports of their use of self-handicapping strategies and to examine individual- and classroom-level predictors of self-handicapping. Surveys were given to 646 fifth-grade students. The handicapping items formed a single factor with good internal consistency. Handicapping varied significantly across classrooms. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found that boys used handicapping more than girls did and students’ grade point average and perceived academic competence were negatively related to handicapping. Students’ perceptions of an emphasis on relative ability in the classroom (ability goal structure) as well as teachers’ reported use of instructional practices that highlight relative ability were positively related to handicapping. Implications for practice are discussed.

Predictors of Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement: Examining Achievement Goals, Classroom Goal Structures, and Culture.

The purposes of this study were to examine the predictors and achievement consequences of academic self-handicapping and to explore cultural variations in the pursuit and effects of performance goals and perceived classroom performance goal structures. Data were collected in 2 consecutive academic years from a diverse sample of high school students (N = 675). Performance-avoidance and classroom performance goal structure were positively associated with self-handicapping, whereas performance-approach goals negatively predicted handicapping. Self-handicapping was negatively associated with achievement in English. Cultural differences in the effects of performance goals on achievement and in the effects of classroom performance goal structure on the subsequent adoption of personal performance goals were found. Implications for efforts to alter classroom goal structures are discussed.

Changes in the perceived classroom goal structure and pattern of adaptive learning during early adolescence

Despite a recent increase in research on the associations between classroom goal structures, motivation, affect, and achievement, little is known about the effects of changes in the perceived classroom goal structure as students move from one grade level to another. Comparisons of students who perceived an increase, decrease, or no change in the mastery and performance goal structures of their classrooms during the transition to middle school and across two grades within middle school revealed that changes in the mastery goal structure were more strongly related to changes in cognition, affect, and performance than were changes in the performance goal structure. The most negative pattern of change was associated with a perceived decrease in the mastery goal structure.

Academic Self-Handicapping: What We Know, What More There is to Learn

Some students put off studying until the last minute, fool around the night before a test, and otherwise reduce effort so that if their subsequent performance is low, these circumstances will be seen as the cause rather than lack of ability. These strategies are called self-handicapping because they often undermine performance. In this paper, we begin with a definition of academic self-handicapping. Next, we review our research in which we used achievement goal theory as a framework for examining academic handicapping among elementary and middle school students. We discuss the implications of the recent conceptualization of approach and avoidance components of performance goals for handicapping. We conclude with a consideration of some potentially fruitful future directions for research on academic self-handicapping, focusing particularly on individual differences in handicapping, contextual influences, and the methods used to study handicapping.

Students’ perceptions of family influences on their academic motivation: A qualitative analysis

Research examining family influences on student motivation and achievement in school has generally focused on parental influences and has often been limited to one or two variables (e.g., parental expectations or aspirations, parental involvement in schoolwork). In the present study we interviewed high school seniors to examine whether and how family members affected their academic motivation and achievement. Interviews were coded holistically for the strength, affective tone, source, and types of familial influence. Emergent themes from the interview analyses revealed that students perceived a broad range of types and sources of familial influence on motivation. Interviews were divided into five prototypical patterns: Family Obligation, Family Pleasing, Family Support, Aversive Influence, and No Influence. The types of familial influence differed by cultural characteristics (generational status, native country) and by achievement level. Associations between the five patterns of family influence and existing theories of family influence are discussed.RésuméLa recherche examinant des influences de famille sur la motivation et l’accomplissement d’étudiant à l’école s’est généralement concentrée sur des influences parentales et a été souvent limitée à un ou deux variables (par exemple, les espérances ou les aspirations parentales, la participation parentale aux devoirs). Dans la présente étude nous avons interviewé des seniors de lycée pour examiner si et comment les membres de famille ont affecté leur motivation et accomplissement universitaire. Des entrevues ont été codées globalement pour la force, la tonalité affective, la source, et les types d’influence familiale. Les thèmes émergents des analyses d’entrevue ont indiqué que les étudiants ont perçu une large gamme des types et des sources d’influence familiale sur leur motivation. Des entrevues ont été divisées en cinq modèles prototypiques: Engagement à la famille, satisfaction de la famille, appui de la famille, influence opposée, et aucune influence. Les types d’influence familiale ont différé par des caractéristiques culturelles (statut de generations, pays d’origine) et par le niveau d’accomplissement. Des associations entre les cinq modèles de l’influence de famille et les théories existantes d’influence de famille sont discutées.

The Transition to Middle Level Schools: Making it a Good Experience for all Students

For many young adolescents, the transition from elementary to middle level schools is difficult. After the transition many students feel less positively about their academic potential and the value of schooling, they give up more quickly and put forth less effort, and their grades decline (see Eccles & Midgley, 1989 for a summary of the research evidence). For some of these children, this is the beginning of a downward trajectory that leads to school failure and school leaving. Why does this happen? How we answer that question influences the way we try to deal with the problem. The conventional wisdom is that this is a difficult stage of life for children and that the decline in motivation and

Assessing Secondary Students' Disposition toward Critical Thinking: Development of the California Measure of Mental Motivation.

There is agreement that fostering K-12 students’ critical thinking is a worthwhile endeavor. However, many educators would agree that there are students in their class-rooms who are able to think well but often choose not to utilize those skills. Little is known about the critical thinking dispositions of elementary and secondary students. This article reports on the development of a new instrument, the California Measure of Mental Motivation (CM3). Results from four independent and diverse studies demonstrate the suitability of the CM3 as a tool to assess secondary students’ disposition toward critical thinking. Exploratory factor analysis, with oblique rotation, indicated four theoretically meaningful dimensions: Learning Orientation, Creative Problem Solving, Mental Focus, and Cognitive Integrity. The four factors demonstrated a satisfactory level of stability across study samples. Scales derived from these four factors correlated with known measures of student motivation and academic achievement.

Special Issues in Reforming Middle Level Schools

In this article, some of the particular issues relevant to changing middle level schools were examined. Recent research has increasingly examined the educational needs of early adolescent students, and school reforms frequently have been called for Often, these calls for reform have not been accompanied by careful consideration of the many factors, some particular to middle level schools, that can inhibit meaningful, lasting change. Described is a recently concluded 3-year project to produce a task-focused learning environment at both the middle and elementary school levels. Using qualitative data (including interviews, field notes, audio recordings of weekly meetings with the staff at the middle school, and an open-ended survey question), some of the issues are explored that make creating changes in middle level schools a particularly challenging endeavor