Achievement Goal Validation Among African American High School Students

Abstract

Achievement goal theory helps describe how and why students engage in various academic behaviors. Historically, achievement goals have been examined almost exclusively with undergraduate, nonminority samples, and predominately with factor analytic techniques. The present study adds to a growing literature by providing initial validation of a leading achievement goal measure, the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R; Elliot & Murayama, 2008), among rural ( N = 186) and urban ( N = 197) African American high school students. Collectively, results from both confirmatory factor and Rasch analyses highlight issues that should be considered when using the AGQ-R among African American high school students.