Abstract:
As early as first grade, children begin to present differentiated achievement motivation
patterns—mastery goals (engaging in a task for challenge) and performance goals
(engaging in a task to demonstrate competence) (Dweck, 1986). Some children remain
stable in their achievement goals over time, while others will change their goal patterns.
This study longitudinally investigated changes in children’s achievement goals over the
course of first-grade, with a specific focus on the role of temperament and the school
context. With a better understanding of how temperament and the school context impacts
children’s achievement motivation, we can identify different achievement trajectories for
children early in their academic career. For this study, 47 first-grade children were
recruited from a local school system in Northern Virginia. A multi-method approach was
utilized to assess achievement motivation, temperament, and academic performance
using several measures; a commonly used Puzzle Task (Smiley and Dweck), a puppet
measure based on the Berkeley Puppet Interview (Measelle, Ablow, Cowan, & Cowan,
1998), and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (Putnam & Rothbart, 2006). Results
indicated that changes in children’s achievement motivation were evident, with more
children becoming performance oriented over time. Additionally, results indicated that
multiple temperament patterns and academic contexts interacted to shape children’s
achievement goals over the course of first-grade.
