The Effects of School-Level Achievement Goals and Student-Level Characteristics on Academic Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Academic self-efficacy is essential to students\u27 academic success, engagement, and behavioral and emotional well-being. Higher levels of self-efficacy are associated with positive outcomes, while lower levels correlate with poor performance, disengagement, and increased behavioral and emotional risk (BER) symptoms. This issue is particularly critical for African American high school students, who often face unique challenges within the educational system. While previous research highlights the importance of academic self-efficacy, limited attention has been given to school-level contextual factors, such as mastery goal orientation. This study initially sought to examine the influence of context-level mastery goals; however, preliminary analyses revealed minimal variance in academic self-efficacy at the school level, leading to a focus on personal mastery goals as a student-level predictor. Using a quantitative design, this study analyzed data from 4,891 high school students across seven schools. Results revealed that personal mastery goals significantly predicted academic self-efficacy and were protective against the adverse effects of BER for all students. While mastery goals partially mitigated the effects of BER, this protective relationship weakened as BER levels increased. As hypothesized, African American students reported lower self-efficacy than White students. Additionally, students categorized as "Other" reported lower self-efficacy than both African American and White students. These findings provide insight into the relationships between academic self-efficacy, mastery goal orientation, BER, and race/ethnicity, contributing to a deeper understanding of student-level factors that shape academic self-efficacy outcomes.</p