The Impact of Student Achievement Goals and Engagement on Students' Writing Improvement

• In Event: 31.048 - Professional Development Approaches for Student Achievement

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between middle school students’ achievement goals and self-reported classroom engagement to their writing scores throughout a school year. Students were given a writing prompt in both the fall and spring of one school year and the growth in writing scores was measured. Through hierarchical linear regression, the researcher found that students' behavioral engagement and mastery avoid goals were strongly related to the greatest students writing growth over the school year. The findings suggest that to improve students' writing over the school year, writing teachers may focus on keeping students behaviorally engaged in the classroom and focused on maintaining their writing skills.

Author

• Suzanne Fischer Lindt, Midwestern State University