Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement Trajectories: The Moderating Role of Classroom Goal Structures

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement has been well established with lower-SES students demonstrating lower academic achievement (Sirin, 2005). Goal orientation is often explored as a mechanism for academic achievement and research has established that a mastery goal orientation is more beneficial for achievement (Elliot & Dweck, 1988). However, little is known regarding how these goal orientations surface in the classroom as goal structures and impact the pace of achievement development in students from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Classroom goal structures are critical to examine since the classroom is the primary environment for learning. The goal structures are defined as mastery-oriented (i.e., develop knowledge), performance-oriented (i.e., demonstrate knowledge), or avoidance-oriented (i.e., avoid demonstrating incompetence) (Elliot & Dweck, 1988). The aim of the current study is to explore the influence of classroom goal structures on the development of academic achievement across levels of SES.
We hypothesized that a perceived mastery classroom goal structure would mitigate the negative effects of low SES on achievement, whereas a perceived performance and avoidance classroom goal structure would intensify the negative effects of low family SES on achievement.
The current study used data from 784 children, who are part of a longitudinal project titled The Impact of Grade Retention: A Developmental Approach (Hughes & Kwok, 2007). SES was determined by students’ eligibility for free or reduced lunch and the highest education and occupation level in the household. Classroom goal structure was determined using the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale (Midgley et al., 2000). Academic achievement was assessed using the Woodcock Johnson-III Tests of Achievement (Woodcock et al., 2001).
A structural equation model was used to assess the main and interaction effects of SES and each of the three perceived classroom goals on the growth trajectory of academic achievement (Figure 1). Our findings suggested that (1) higher perceived mastery classroom goal structure was associated with more rapid growth in academic achievement regardless of students’ family SES backgrounds; (2) higher perceived performance and avoidance classroom goal structures were associated with lower initial achievement and faster deceleration in achievement growth, but only for students from high SES families (Figure 2).
In conclusion, classroom goal structures were not shown to close the economic educational gap as we hypothesized. Our findings suggest that a mastery classroom goal structure is a positive educational environment that should be fostered and encouraged by educators because it is shown to promote learning for students from all SES backgrounds. The second finding offers a unique insight into the vulnerability of high SES students to the negative effects of performance and avoidance classroom goal structures. Previous research suggests that students from high SES families are more likely to adopt a mastery-oriented, instead of performance-oriented, attitude toward knowledge and school (Claro et al., 2016). Therefore, it is possible that higher SES students may experience more dissonance between their personal goal orientation and their perceived performance/avoidance classroom goal structures, which channeled their academic development to less desirable trajectories (Kumar, 2006).

Authors

• Michaela Quintero, Texas Tech University
  Presenting Author

• Tianyu Li, Austin Peay State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leslie Monique Hasty, Texas Tech University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zhe Wang, Texas A&M University - College Station
  Non-Presenting Author