How student and parent goal orientations and classroom goal structures influence the math achievement of African Americans during the high school transition

This study examined the effects of student and parent goal orientations and perceived classroom goal structures on grades and self-efficacy in mathematics during the high school transition. From a sample of 50 African American families living in a low-income school district, student survey data and open-ended parent interviews were examined. There were three significant findings. First, students who espoused more mastery goals in high school mathematics experienced more positive changes in self-efficacy and grades in mathematics during the high school transition than did their peers. Second, students who perceived more mastery and less performance goal structures in their high school math classrooms experienced more positive changes in mathematics self-efficacy during the transition than did their peers. Third, adolescents whose parents espoused mastery goals had higher grades than did their peers whose parents did not espouse mastery goals. Results indicate that mastery goals may be more influential in determining achievement and motivation in mathematics for African American students than are performance goals during the high school transition.