Achievement trajectories in low-achieving students as a function of perceived classroom goal structures and socioeconomic backgrounds

The present study investigated whether the socioeconomic achievement gap in academically at-risk students varied as a function of students’ perceived classroom goal structures. We hypothesized that low socioeconomic status (SES) students would be more susceptible to the various classroom goal structures. Specifically, we hypothesized that high levels of perceived mastery classroom goal structure would mitigate, while high levels of perceived performance goal structures would exacerbate, the negative effects of low family SES on achievement development. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed a secondary dataset from a sample of 784 (53% male) low-achieving students who were assessed annually from grades 4 to 9. The patterns of adaptive learning scale was used to assess perceived classroom goal structures. Woodcock Johnson III tests of achievement or Batería III (for students who primarily spoke Spanish) were used to examine academic achievement. Socioeconomic status was determined by highest education and occupation in household and child qualification for free/reduced lunch. We conducted latent growth models to examine the predictive effects of the interactions between family SES and classroom goal structures on achievement growth trajectories. Overall, our findings did not support our main hypotheses. Specifically, perceived classroom mastery goal structure was positively associated with academic growth among all students regardless of their SES backgrounds. Perceived classroom performance goal structures negatively predicted academic growth more strongly in higher SES students than in lower SES students, stressing the negative effects of performance classroom goal structures on achievement development for low-achieving high SES students.