Student-teacher agreement on classroom goal structures and potential predictors

Abstract

This study examined whether teachers and students agree in their perceptions of the mastery goal structures dimensions task, autonomy, recognition/evaluation, and grouping. Additionally, potential predictors, namely students' achievement and teachers' basic psychological need satisfaction at work, were investigated. Using a sample of 1099 secondary school students and their 57 teachers, results from multilevel structural equation models revealed moderate agreement for grouping and no agreement for the other dimensions. Higher levels of achievement narrowed the gap between teachers' and students' perceptions of autonomy and recognition/evaluation. No effects of need satisfaction were found for any of the mastery goal structures dimensions.