CHANGES IN ACHIEVEMENT GOAL ORIENTATIONS, PERCEIVED ACADEMIC COMPETENCE, AND GRADES ACROSS THE TRANSITION TO MIDDLE-LEVEL SCHOOLS

Goal orientation theory was used to examine changes in student motivat ion during the transition from elementary to middle school. Surveys we re given to 341 students in the fifth grade in elementary and again in sixth grade in middle school. Students were more oriented to task goa ls (wanting to improve their competency), perceived a greater emphasis on task goals during instruction, and felt more academically competen t in fifth grade in elementary school than in sixth grade in middle sc hool. They perceived a greater emphasis on performance goals (an empha sis on relative ability and right answers) in middle school than in el ementary school. Several interactions emerged between year (fifth grad e, sixth grade), and both student level of ability (higher, lower, bas ed on standardized achievement tests) and subject domain (math, Englis h). (C) 1997 Academic Press.