Journal of Educational Psychology

© 2021 American Psychological Association 2022, Vol. 114, No. 4, 752–771

ISSN: 0022-0663 https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000682

Growth Goal Setting in High School: A Large-Scale Study of Perceived

Instructional Support, Personal Background Attributes,
and Engagement Outcomes
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Andrew J. Martin1, Emma C. Burns2, Rebecca J. Collie1, Keiko C. P. Bostwick1, Anaïd Flesken3, and
Ian McCarthy3
1
School of Education, University of New South Wales
2
School of Education, Macquarie University
3
Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation, New South Wales Department of Education, New South Wales, Australia
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The present investigation examined the role of teachers’ instructional support (student reports of rele-
vance, organization and clarity, feedback-feedforward) in predicting students’ growth goal setting and,
in turn, the roles of instructional support and growth goal setting in predicting students’ academic
engagement (perseverance, aspirations, school attendance, homework behavior). Also examined was the
question of whether the relationship between students’ background attributes and engagement is moder-
ated by their growth goal setting (e.g., whether growth goal setting attenuates negative effects of low
socioeconomic status). The sample comprised N = 61,879 students in grades 7–10 from schools across
New South Wales, Australia. The results of structural equation modeling showed that perceived instruc-
tional relevance and feedback-feedforward from teachers positively predicted students’ growth goal set-
ting; that growth goal setting predicted gains in students’ perseverance, aspirations, and homework
behavior; and that growth goal setting significantly mediated the relationship between perceived instruc-
tional support and engagement. Additionally, growth goal setting appeared to significantly bolster some
outcomes for low achieving students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. These findings
add to the growing body of literature about the positive role of growth goal setting in students’ out-
comes and provide direction for educational practice.

Educational Impact and Implications Statement

This study investigated growth goal setting among a large statewide sample of high school students.
Growth goal setting refers to the pursuit of specific, challenging, and competitively self-referenced
targets that match or exceed a previous best effort or performance. Findings demonstrated that per-
ceived instructional support (student reports of teachers’ feedback-feedforward and instructional
relevance) was associated with students’ growth goal setting and that students’ growth goal setting
was associated with significant gains in their academic engagement (perseverance, aspirations, and
homework behavior). Importantly also, growth goal setting reduced the potential negative effects of
low socioeconomic status and low prior achievement on some engagement outcomes. These find-
ings provide important direction for enhancing students’ growth goal setting and engagement.
Accordingly, practical suggestions for enhancing instructional support and growth goal setting are
provided.

Keywords: engagement, goal setting, growth goals, instruction, motivation

Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000682.supp

Editor’s Note. Doug Lombardi served as action editor for this article.—PK Anaïd Flesken https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4860-6493
The authors thank Nicole Hare, Brianna McCourt, and Samuel Cox for
This article was published Online First June 28, 2021. feedback on the article. This study was funded by the New South Wales
Andrew J. Martin https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-392X Department of Education (UNSWRG193170).
Emma C. Burns https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6323-1816 Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Andrew
Rebecca J. Collie https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9944-2703 J. Martin, School of Education, University of New South Wales, NSW
Keiko C. P. Bostwick https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0631-6738 2052, Australia. Email: andrew.martin@unsw.edu.au

752
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
Goal setting plays an important role in students’ academic
development (Elliot, 2005; Linnenbrink-Garcia et al., 2008;
Locke & Latham, 2002, 2013; Maehr & Zusho, 2009). The
present study is focused on a recently proposed construct within
the goal-setting domain: growth goal setting. Growth goal set-
ting refers to the pursuit of specific, challenging, and competi-
tively self-referenced targets that match or exceed a previous
best effort or performance; they are typically operationalized as
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personal best (PB) goals and self-based goals (Bostwick et al.,
2020; Burns et al., 2018, 2019; Elliot et al., 2011, 2015; Martin
& Liem, 2010; Martin & Elliot, 2016a, 2016b; Travers et al.,
2015; Yu & Martin, 2014). Examples include setting and striv-
ing to meet personal challenges, striving to outperform one’s
previous best efforts or performance, and striving for self-
improvement. The primary aims of the current study were to
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extend previous work on growth goal setting in two ways. First,
we investigated the role of teachers’ instructional support (stu-
dent reports of relevance, organization and clarity, feedback-
feedforward) in predicting students’ growth goal setting and, in
turn, the roles of both perceived instructional support and
growth goal setting in predicting students’ academic engage-
ment (perseverance, aspirations, school attendance, homework
behavior). Second, we examined the question of whether the associ-
ations between students’ background attributes and engagement are
moderated by students’ growth goal setting (e.g., whether growth
goal setting attenuates negative effects of low socioeconomic sta-
tus). Figure 1 demonstrates the key relationships to be investigated.
Figure 1
Hypothesized Model of Outcomes, Moderators, and Antecedents Relevant to Growth Goal Setting
ENVIRONMENT (Instruction) PERSON (Student Strategy)
Organization
and Clarity
Feedback- Growth Goal
feedforward Setting
Relevance
Year Level
Gender
SES
Prior Achievement
Direct Effects of Interactions (e.g., Growth
Instruction on Goals x Gender, etc.)
Engagement
Note. SES = socioeconomic status; T1 = prior engagement.
753
Theoretical Backdrop Guiding the Hypothesized Model
The present investigation was grounded in the triadic model of
social–cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986). The triadic model
explains how relationships among environmental, personal, and
behavioral/outcome factors are implicated in human agency. In the
school context, environmental dimensions include factors such as
teacher support. Personal factors comprise various self-strategies
such as goal setting. Behavioral/outcome factors refer to students’
choices (e.g., aspirations) and related outcomes (e.g., attendance)
that may be conceptualized under the umbrella of academic
engagement (Martin, 2012a). Recent research has applied the tria-
dic model to investigate the role of growth goal setting in students’
academic lives (Burns et al., 2018). This work supported the tria-
dic approach, finding that positive teacher-student relationships
(environmental) predicted students’ growth goal setting (personal)
that in turn both positively predicted global engagement (behav-
ioral/outcome). The present study seeks to expand on this work.
According to SCT, goal setting is influenced by those who are sig-
nificant to the individual, such as teachers, parents, and peers (Ban-
dura, 1991; see also Wentzel, 1999). Indeed, Burns et al. (2018)
found that students who experience more positive social-emotional
support from teachers, parents, and peers are more likely to utilize
growth goal setting. Our study expands on this research by examin-
ing another form of environmental support—teachers’ instructional
support—and its role in predicting growth goal setting. Personal fac-
tors such as goals provide the foundational beliefs and skills that
OUTCOME (Engagement)
T1
Perseverance
T1
Aspirations
T1
Attendance
T1
Homework
Behavior
 754 MARTIN ET AL.
represent an essential translational step from environmental support
to more active factors such as engagement (Bandura, 1991). Impor-
tantly, although Bandura (1986, 1991) is clear that these processes
are ultimately reciprocal over time, he also argues that rather than
examining the reciprocal relationships simultaneously, researchers
can interrogate the subprocesses (via process models) longitudinally
to determine the initial impact of factors and their later resultant
changes. In the case of this study, such an approach enables the
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assessment of the initial link between environmental factors (instruc-
tional support) and personal factors (growth goals) and the resultant
gains in behavioral/outcome factors (engagement). As per Figure 1,
our study represents one integrative analytic longitudinal framework
that explores the predictive relationships from environmental factors
to personal factors to behavioral factors; hence, a model comprising
direct effects of perceived instructional support on growth goal set-
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ting and gains in engagement, direct effects of growth goal setting on
gains in engagement, and indirect effects of perceived instructional
support on gains in engagement via growth goal setting. These
hypothesized links are described in more detail below. For growth
goal setting studies that have conducted other longitudinal analytic
approaches, including in terms of reciprocity, we refer the reader to
Martin’s (2015) and Martin and Liem’s (2010) cross-lag panel
research.
We also note Bandura’s (1997) suggestion that personal factors
are likely to dynamically interact, such that background factors par-
ticular to a student and their motivation may interact to affect aca-
demic outcomes. In the case of our study, this would entail testing
the interaction between students’ background attributes (year level
at school, gender, students’ socioeconomic status [SES], and prior
achievement) and their growth goal setting. Given that growth goal
setting is the modifiable factor in these interactions, we position it as
the focal moderator of the effects from background attributes to aca-
demic outcomes. For example, previous research has demonstrated
that the benefits of growth goal setting vary across sociodemo-
graphic student groups (Martin, 2012b). Martin (2012b) found that
growth goal setting was especially beneficial for students with atten-
tion-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) relative to classmates
without ADHD. He suggested this was because focusing on them-
selves as the benchmark allowed students with ADHD to strive for
accessible success (which is motivating) while also diverting their
attention away from aversive and demotivating comparisons with
peers who typically outperformed them. In line with this, it may be
the case that growth goal setting similarly attenuates well-docu-
mented disparities in engagement across other student groups: year
level, gender, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement. Previous
research has demonstrated that boys tend to report lower behavioral
engagement relative to girls (Cook et al., 2007; Van de Gaer et al.,
2009) and that behavioral engagement declines as students move
through high school (Burns et al., 2019). Similarly, researchers have
identified disparities in engagement between students from low and
high socioeconomic and low and high prior achievement, resulting
from inequities in access to educational support and resources (Cut-
more et al., 2018; Sirin, 2005). It may be the case, as noted by Mar-
tin (2012b), that a focus on personal growth and challenge is likely
to reinvigorate engagement for all students and may be particularly
beneficial for students who typically experience steeper drop offs in
this regard: boys, older students, low socioeconomic background,
low prior achievement. Along similar lines to research finding
growth mindset and goal setting can attenuate adverse academic
effects attributable to gender-related and socioeconomic-related fac-
tors (Claro et al., 2016; Schippers et al., 2015), growth goal setting
may attenuate the associations between personal background factors
and engagement to minimize the engagement disparities that exist
across these groups.
Motivational Theorizing Around Growth
We locate growth goal setting under the broader umbrella of
motivational theorizing around growth. Although not intended to
be exhaustive, we briefly link to four theories—achievement goal
theory, goal setting theory, self-determination theory, and self-
concordance theory—as indicative of the conceptual space that is
relevant to key elements of the specific growth goal setting con-
struct we operationalize and investigate. When considered from an
integrative perspective, these theories offer some convergence on
the key facets and dynamics particular to growth goal setting,
including the role of self-set goals in academic engagement, the
drive for personal growth and improvement (achievement goal
theory), the energizing function of challenge (goal setting theory),
the need for autonomy (self-determination theory), and the voli-
tional aspects of goals that are integrated with one’s self and val-
ues (self-concordance theory).
Achievement goal theory considers goals in terms of the reasons
why individuals pursue their targets (Elliot, 2005). At the most
fundamental level, individuals can pursue goals for mastery and
learning (mastery goals) or goals focused on outperforming others
and demonstrating relative competence (performance goals). More
recently, goal theory has expanded to include self-based goals
where individuals strive for personal growth and self-improvement
(Elliot et al., 2011, 2015). Whereas achievement goal theory tends
to address the why of motivational striving, goal setting theory
tends to be more focused on the what of motivational striving
(Martin, 2011), with goal setting theorists articulating the nature
of goals that are most effective. One aspect of which refers to the
level of challenge; high but attainable levels of challenge are cen-
tral to growth goal setting (Locke & Latham, 2002, 2013; Travers
et al., 2015). Indeed, it is goal setting theory that most closely con-
nects to our growth goal construct, and so we review goal setting
theory in more detail further below.
Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000) is another domi-
nant theory in motivational psychology and represents important
conceptual space for informing and considering growth goal set-
ting. Self-determination theory identifies that individuals have a
need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness; when these
needs are met, individuals are more likely to adaptively develop
and function. As noted by Collie et al. (2016), a core feature of
growth goals is that they are determined by students, about them-
selves, and for themselves, indicating that they may help satisfy
students’ need for autonomy. This is further supported by recent
theorizing seeking to integrate achievement goal theory and self-
determination theory that has suggested that the self-based
(growth) goals of achievement goal theory (Elliot et al., 2011) are
quite aligned with the need for autonomy in self-determination
theory (Vansteenkiste et al., 2014). The self-concordance model
(Sheldon & Elliot, 1999) also attends to the self-determined nature
of individuals’ goals and their growth elements. This model pro-
poses that the consistency between goals and the individual’s
interests and core values has significant implications for goal
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
striving, goal attainment, and well being outcomes. Self-concord-
ant goals are those that are integrated with the self. This has posi-
tive effects on well being via the intrinsic and self-determined
nature of self-concordant goals and the internal locus of control
that these goals entail (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). In contrast, exter-
nally set or referenced goals tend not to align with individuals’
enduring interests and values and thus lack the volitional strength
that self-concordant goals possess (Sheldon & Elliot, 1999). A
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growth goal is a goal target set by the student, as is the means by
which they strive toward that target. To the extent that this is the
case, there may be adaptive self-concordance in growth goal
setting.
Growth Goal Setting: Key Elements and Processes
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As noted, we suggest goal setting theory is very closely con-
nected to our growth goal setting construct and we therefore give
this perspective relatively more attention in this study. According
to Locke and Latham (2002, 2013), the three key elements of
effective goals are difficulty, specificity, and reference. Difficulty
refers to the degree to which the target represents an optimal chal-
lenge. Thus, for growth goal setting, difficulty is where the target
matches or is higher than a previous best (Martin, 2006). Specific-
ity is when the target is clearly articulated and well-defined (Locke
& Latham, 2002). With growth goal setting, the effort or perform-
ance needed to outperform a previous best is specifically known
(as opposed to trying to beat others, whose performance is often
unknown until the task is finished; Martin, 2006). Reference refers
to whom or what one is comparing when setting and striving to-
ward a goal. Researchers have identified personal, rather than
external references to be the most adaptive for students (Hulleman
et al., 2010). In the case of growth goal setting, the reference is
oneself and one’s previous effort or performance (Martin & Liem,
2010).
Theories of goal setting (e.g., Locke & Latham, 2002, 2013)
have shed light on how goals impact academic outcomes. Martin
and Elliot (2016b) drew on this conceptualizing to explain how
growth goal setting may function to enhance outcomes. First,
growth goals make the target clear to students, so they know what
to strive for to outdo a previous best. Second, growth goals direct
students to goal-relevant tasks that help keep them focused and
on-track. Third, growth goals are self-concordant (self-set and in
line with one’s own benchmark and values; Koestner et al., 2002)
and tend to evoke volitional resources that are energizing, espe-
cially in the face of task-irrelevant temptations. Fourth, growth
goals create a dissonance between current and desired states—a
dissonance that students are motivated to resolve (Martin, 2011;
Martin & Elliot, 2016b). In fact, this latter point is consistent with
SCT theorizing that self-improvement occurs through a cycle of
personal discrepancy production and reduction (Bandura, 1986).
Burns et al. (2018) argued that taking these functions together,
growth goal setting provides a motivational foundation for pro-
moting positive behaviors such as engagement (see also Martin,
2006; Martin & Elliot, 2016b; Martin & Liem, 2010). They
described how growth goals can act as mental scaffolds that indi-
viduals use to identify the task-relevant behaviors that are neces-
sary for pursuing and attaining one’s goals (see also DeShon &
Gillespie, 2005). To this extent, growth goal setting can be
755
considered an important translational step to active behaviors such
as engagement (Burns et al., 2018; see also Dweck, 2017).
Perceived Instructional Support, Growth Goal Setting,
and Engagement
Instructional support is a salient antecedent of goal setting under
SCT’s triadic model (Bandura, 1986; Burns et al., 2018). It is also
well established that instructional factors have a major impact on
students’ outcomes, including engagement (Hattie, 2009; Hulle-
man et al., 2017; Martin et al., 2020). We investigated students’
perceptions of three instructional support factors—instructional
relevance, instructional organization and clarity, and feedback-
feedforward.
Relevance, Organization and Clarity, and Feedback-
Feedforward
In the context of our study, relevance refers to the personal
alignment with and meaningfulness of content and tasks. This fol-
lows previous research and theorizing identifying the importance
of content and tasks that are accessible to the learner and that align
with prior experience and knowledge (Martin, 2016; Martin &
Evans, 2018, 2019; Sweller, 2012; Van de Pol et al., 2010), as
well as instruction characterized by provision of meaningful and
relevant content and tasks (Lei et al., 2017; Ryan & Deci, 2000).
According to Assor et al. (2002), clarifying and enhancing the
relevance of schoolwork helps students to understand the contribu-
tion made by the lesson in realizing their personal goals, interests,
and values. Research also suggests that when teachers emphasize
the personal relevance of subject matter, students are likely to
engage (i.e., persist and participate) because of more positive feel-
ings toward their schoolwork (Assor et al., 2002). Indeed, in a
relevance intervention experiment (encouraging students to make
connections between learning in their science courses and their
own lives), Hulleman and Harackiewicz (2009) found that
increased personal relevance boosted academic outcomes in sci-
ence. These results were replicated in a subsequent study, which
also found that the frequency with which students made connec-
tions between academic subject matter and their personal lives
enhanced their engagement and confidence (Hulleman et al.,
2017). Hulleman and Harackiewicz (2009) argued that facilitating
the perception of personal relevance in a topic energizes students
as they discover reasons for becoming more involved in learning
(i.e., engage), and helps students identify with future academic
pathways and careers in a particular subject area.
Organization and clarity in our study refer to the teacher’s orga-
nization and clarity of the content and tasks, as well as manage-
ment of lesson time to optimize learning. In practice, these
typically comprise scaffolding and structured practice during
learning (Martin, 2016; Martin & Evans, 2018; Mayer & Moreno,
2010; Sweller, 2012), as well as organization of content, time, and
tasks that are appropriate to the learner’s level of knowledge and
skill, along with appropriate opportunities for guided self-directed
activity (Grolnick, 2003; Reeve, 2006; Van de Pol et al., 2010;
Vansteenkiste et al., 2012). Particularly when students are novices,
instructional organization and clarity enable them to better pro-
cess, store, and develop requisite knowledge and skill (Mayer &
Moreno, 2010). Meta-analysis has demonstrated that instructional
 756 MARTIN ET AL.
organization and clarity are significantly associated with enhanced
student learning and affective engagement (Titsworth et al., 2015).
Feedback-feedforward refers to corrective information and
improvement-oriented guidance to students during learning (fol-
lowing calls to combine classic feedback [corrective information]
with improvement-oriented guidance [feedforward]; Basso & Oli-
vetti Belardinelli, 2006; Burns et al., 2019; Hattie & Timperley,
2007; Martin, 2016). Researchers have identified its key elements
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in terms of clear corrective feedback, explicit expectations, and
improvement-oriented guidance (Grolnick, 2003; Martin, 2016;
Reeve, 2006; Van de Pol et al., 2010; Vansteenkiste et al., 2012).
Feedback-feedforward provides information to students that can
be a basis for adapting their learning via improved self-regulation,
better strategies for working on tasks, enhanced understanding,
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and specific and explicit information about what more needs to be
learned or understood (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Indeed, the
most recent meta-analysis on this topic found a significant associa-
tion between feedback-feedforward and student learning (Wis-
niewski et al., 2019).
These three dimensions of instructional support have been well
articulated in numerous theories of instruction that have also vari-
ously articulated links with students’ goal setting and academic
engagement (for example, self-determination theory and constitu-
ent needs-supportive teaching, Reeve, 2006; Ryan & Deci, 2000;
expectancy value theory, Wigfield & Eccles, 2000; load reduction
instruction, Martin & Evans, 2018, 2019; CLASS framework,
Hamre et al., 2007). An expansive summary is beyond the scope
of the present study. However, as a point of illustration we present
one conceptual framework that we suggest has direct relevance to
our three instructional support factors—and to students’ growth
goal setting and academic engagement: the Hidi and Renninger
(2006) four-phase model of interest development.
Interest Development, Instructional Support, Growth Goal
Setting, and Engagement
The Hidi and Renninger (2006) four-phase model emphasizes
the importance of relevance, organization and clarity, and feed-
back-feedforward for interest development. The first phase
involves sparking situational interest through relevant and person-
alized content and tasks. In phase two of their model, they suggest
that situational interest is sustained through ongoing instructional
attention to relevance. This second phase is also substantially
externally supported, such as through instructional organization
and clarity and individualized support (i.e., feedback-feedforward)
if needed. The final phases of their model involve more self-
directed activity by the student that relies on feedback-feedforward
from the teacher (see also Lipstein & Renninger, 2006).
Each of these phases highlights the positive benefits of instruc-
tional support for students’ interest development—but also for other
adaptive educational outcomes. For example, Hidi and Renninger
(2006) suggest that these instructional support approaches should
also benefit students’ goal setting and academic engagement. Spe-
cifically, the higher levels of interest developed through these
instructional supports are theorized to comprise self-generated and
self-selected pursuits, as well as iterative increases in self-set chal-
lenges. From this we might infer that high levels of interest include
growth goal setting because such goals are self-generated and self-
selected and involve an iterative escalation of challenge (Martin,
2006). The various phases of interest development have also been
associated with students’ academic engagement (Renninger & Hidi,
2015). According to Renninger and Hidi (2020), engagement at
each phase of interest development is triggered by a process that
propels information searches that deepens knowledge and perceived
relevance. Thus, instructional approaches that support students’ in-
terest should also support students’ growth goals and engagement.
Summary of Perceived Instructional Support
Our primary thesis is that major forms of instructional support
(instructional relevance, organization and clarity, and feedback-
feedforward, as reported by students) are positively associated
with growth goal setting, which in turn is positively associated
with engagement. This being the case, and also following the tria-
dic model, it is plausible to examine the indirect association
between instructional support and engagement via growth goal set-
ting. Indeed, research has shown that these forms of instructional
support are directly associated with student goal setting (e.g.,
Burns et al., 2019; Eberley et al., 2011) and engagement (e.g., Col-
lie et al., 2019; Martin, et al., 2020; Reeve et al., 2004; Renninger
& Hidi, 2015, 2020). We therefore explore the roles of instruc-
tional relevance, organization and clarity, and feedback-feedfor-
ward as (a) direct predictors of students’ growth goal setting, (b)
direct predictors of student engagement, and (c) indirect predic-
tors, via growth goal setting, of engagement. Figure 1 demon-
strates the hypothesized links.
Growth Goal Setting and Academic Engagement
Academic engagement is not only a means to desirable ends
(e.g., achievement), it is also recognized as a desirable end in
itself. Thus, for example, research has not only demonstrated links
between academic engagement and outcomes such as achieve-
ment, school completion, postschool pathways, and so forth (Froi-
land & Worrell, 2016; Reyes et al., 2012; Van Ryzin et al., 2009);
research has also shown that engagement is valued by students,
teachers, and parents/carers as an important outcome in its own
right (Bempechat & Shernoff, 2012; Martin & Bolliger, 2018).
Accordingly, academic engagement is identified as the “outcome”
factor in our investigation. Indeed, although achievement was out-
side the scope of this study, we do note prior research showing
that growth goals are directly associated with achievement out-
comes (e.g., Martin & Elliot, 2016b; Martin & Liem, 2010) and
also indirectly associated with achievement via academic engage-
ment (e.g., Martin et al., 2016); thus, our study of engagement as
the focal outcome of instructional support and growth goal setting
may be considered an important first step for future research inves-
tigating achievement.
Consistent with the triadic model that has well-established cog-
nitive–behavioral foundations (Bandura, 1986), we adopted a cog-
nitive–behavioral approach to engagement. Cognitive engagement
is defined as students’ mental investment and striving in their
learning (Fredricks et al., 2004). Our cognitive engagement meas-
ures comprise perseverance and aspirations. Perseverance is a
form of investment and striving in line with the Fredricks et al.
(2004) framework and is deemed a critical attribute for navigating
academic challenge as well as for completing large, extended, and/
or multipart academic tasks (Martin, 2007, 2009). Academic aspi-
rations are associated with continued academic investment and
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
school completion (Burns, 2020; Burns et al., 2021; Gutman &
Schoon, 2018).
Behavioral engagement refers to students’ actions and active
participation in academic activities (Fredricks et al., 2004). Our
behavioral engagement measures comprised homework behavior
and school attendance. Doing homework is important for develop-
ing important academic self-regulatory skills (e.g., managing time,
strategy development, delaying gratification, etc.; Ramdass &
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Zimmerman, 2011) and is also associated with enhanced learning,
particularly among high school students (Fan et al., 2017). With
regard to school attendance, it has been found that absentees
receive fewer hours of instruction and are slower to develop core
skills that underpin their learning (Willms, 2003); thus, school
attendance is a vital behavioral engagement outcome. Taken to-
gether, our study sought to examine the extent to which growth
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goal setting may provide a motivational foundation for enhancing
homework completion and attendance (behavioral engagement),
as well as perseverance and aspirations (cognitive engagement)
(Burns et al., 2018).
Research into growth goal setting supports our inclusion of per-
severance, aspirations, homework behavior, and attendance as aca-
demic engagement outcomes. In a study of growth goal setting,
Martin and Liem (2010) found significant associations with per-
sistence, but their work did not control for background attributes
known to be associated with persistence and growth goals (e.g.,
gender, age, prior achievement; Burns et al., 2017, 2018; Martin,
2007, 2009); our study does. For aspirations, Burns et al. (2018)
found that growth goal setting was associated with positive aca-
demic aspirations. However, their measure of academic aspirations
was part of a higher-order engagement factor, whereas our study
modeled aspirations as a distinct factor to examine its unique asso-
ciation with growth goals. Similarly, Bardach et al. (2020) found
that growth goals were associated with lower dropout intentions,
but their study was of university students, not high school stu-
dents. In relation to homework, Martin (2012b) found a significant
positive association with growth goals. However, his measure of
homework was a single-item indicator only capturing completion;
our study included a multi item measure capturing homework
more comprehensively (enjoyment, learning, completion). Finally,
although Burns et al. (2018) found that growth goal setting was
associated with class participation, this is different from other be-
havioral engagement factors such as attendance (which our study
includes), and that have been identified as critical to narrowing
achievement and school completion gaps between students and
particular student groups (e.g., low-SES students, etc.; Lamb et al.,
2015).
Accounting for Personal Background Attributes and
Moderation
The triadic model (Bandura, 1986) emphasizes the importance
of accounting for a range of personal factors, beyond motivation,
that may impact students’ agency, such as their background attrib-
utes. Moreover, Bandura (1997) argued that these various personal
factors are likely to dynamically interact, such that background
attributes particular to a student and their motivation may interact
to affect academic outcomes—for example, it may be that growth
goal setting impacts engagement differently for low vs high SES
students. Thus, it is critical to account for these background factors
757
in investigations of growth goal setting and engagement. These
background attributes include: students’ year level at school
(younger students are typically more engaged and more likely to
pursue growth goals: Anderman & Maehr, 1994; Martin et al.,
2015), gender (girls are typically higher in engagement: Burns et
al., 2018; Burns et al., 2019; Martin, 2004), SES (higher SES stu-
dents are typically more engaged: Burns et al., 2018), and prior
levels of achievement (higher prior achievement is typically asso-
ciated with engagement and growth goal setting: Burns et al.,
2017, 2018; Collie et al., 2016; Liem et al., 2012; see Figure 1).
The inclusion of these factors allowed us to control for their
known influence on engagement; this helped us to identify unique
effects of growth goal setting on engagement purged of variance
attributable to these personal background attributes. Moreover,
their inclusion also allowed us to investigate the extent to which
growth goal setting may moderate the effects of these background
attributes on engagement (e.g., whether growth goal setting may
have particular benefit for low SES students; discussed above).
Aims of the Present Study
A growing body of work has identified the value of growth goal
setting in fostering positive academic outcomes. However, much
of this research has tended to focus on global engagement (not
multidimensional engagement) and has not considered the extent
to which growth goal setting may moderate the effects of students’
background on their engagement. Furthermore, minimal research
has considered the role of perceived instructional support in pro-
moting growth goal setting, nor has it examined the impact of
instructional support and growth goal setting on engagement. The
present study addressed these gaps by investigating the role of
teachers’ instructional support in predicting students’ growth goal
setting and, in turn, the roles of both instructional support and
growth goal setting in predicting students’ academic engagement
outcomes (thus, direct and indirect associations). We also exam-
ined the question of whether the effects of students’ background
attributes on engagement are moderated by their growth goal set-
ting. Figure 1 shows the model we tested.
We hypothesized that instructional support (perceived rele-
vance, organization and clarity, feedback-feedforward) would pos-
itively predict growth goal setting, growth goal setting would
positively predict academic engagement (perseverance, aspira-
tions, school attendance, homework behavior), and the direct and
indirect (via growth goal setting) associations between instruc-
tional support and engagement would also be positive (Burns et
al., 2019; Collie et al., 2019; Martin et al., 2020; Reeve et al.,
2004; Renninger & Hidi, 2015; 2020). Prior research has sug-
gested that growth goal setting may moderate the effects of student
background factors on engagement (e.g., Martin, 2012b). To the
extent that this may apply to other background attributes, we
hypothesized that growth goal setting may attenuate the effects of
year level, gender, socioeconomic status, and prior achievement to
minimize the engagement disparities across these groups. However,
it should be noted that there is not enough research to warrant spe-
cific hypotheses about how growth goal setting will moderate rela-
tionships for each specific engagement construct (perseverance,
aspirations, school attendance, homework behavior). Thus, we posi-
tioned moderation effects as open empirical questions.
 758 MARTIN ET AL.
Method
Participants, Sampling, and Procedure
The present investigation examined a sample of N = 61,879
high school students from 290 government schools across New
South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state. The data
were collected as part of the NSW Department of Education’s an-
nual “Tell Them from Me”1 (TTFM) student survey, which has
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been conducted since 2013. The survey was originally developed
in Canada (Willms, 2014) but has been adapted to the Australian
context. Evidence of validity for the scale scores has been demon-
strated, and the scale is used in several different countries, includ-
ing Australia and the United States (The Learning Bar, 2019). The
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survey captured information about students’ motivation, engage-
ment, and wellbeing in school, as well as their perceptions of
teachers’ instructional support.
The NSW Center for Education Statistics and Evaluation
(CESE), located within the NSW Department of Education, was
responsible for the recruitment of schools and data management.
The survey itself was conducted by the survey company The
Learning Bar. The survey was offered free of charge to all NSW
government schools to capture student voice and to provide
schools with data to drive student and school improvement.
Schools could request participation via an online expression of in-
terest portal. The online portal for requesting participation was
open from Term 4 in the previous year up until the start of the sur-
vey in Term 1 of the survey year—thus, for example, from Term 4
of 2017 until Term 1 of 2018. The survey ran on an opt-out con-
sent basis, with schools having to ensure that parents were given
the opportunity to decline consent for their child’s participation.
To facilitate this process, CESE provided schools with opt-out
consent forms and communication templates in 22 community lan-
guages. The present study received ethical approval from the first
author’s institutional review board. In 2018 and 2019, the survey
years used in this study, 65.5% of high schools participated in the
survey, with an average student response rate of 70.8%.
For the present study, data were collected from students in
Term 1 of 2018 and again in Term 1 of 2019 (i.e., one academic
year apart). The same students were sampled at both time points
(some students moved schools during Term 1 and could not be
longitudinally matched to a school, some students had invalid link-
ing data, some students had repeated a year; these students were
excluded from the sample and subsequent analysis). The students
sampled were in grades 7 (30.7%), 8 (25.7%), 9 (24.5%), and 10
(19.1%) in 2018 and grades 8–11 in 2019. Approximately half the
sample was female (50.2%). SES was assessed using an index of
students’ social and economic resources at home (comprising
measures of parent education, parent occupation, and educational
resources; statewide M = 0, SD = 1; scores , 0 reflect below aver-
age state-wide SES). The average SES score for the sample was
M = .07 (SD = 1.00), indicating that the students included in the
analysis were around the state-wide SES average and signaling
our sample’s representativeness for SES. Prior achievement was
assessed via students’ scores on the National Assessment Program
—Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN is a national
standardized assessment aimed at ascertaining the extent to which
students are meeting national literacy and numeracy benchmarks.
NAPLAN generates raw scores (scaled from 100 to 800) and band
scores (scaled from 1 to 10) for students’ literacy and numeracy
performance. The average raw score achievement attained by this
study’s students was almost identical to that attained in the state as
a whole (within 6.5 units from each other), further signaling the
representativeness of our sample in terms of prior achievement.
The majority of schools were located in major urban centers of
NSW (78% of schools in the sample; the NSW average is 66%),
with the remainder in regional and remote areas of NSW. Schools
were coeducational (85% of schools in the sample; the NSW aver-
age is 89%), single-sex boys’ school (6%; the NSW average is
5%), or single-sex girls’ schools (9%; the NSW average is 6%).
Materials
The measures in this study comprised growth goal setting, per-
ceived instructional support, academic engagement, and student
background attributes. Analyses utilized Term 1 2019 data on all
measures, as well as prior data (Term 1, 2018) on the engagement
(outcome) measures. Descriptive statistics and reliability measures
for the substantive factors are reported in Table 1.
Growth Goal Setting
Growth goal setting was assessed via four items from the origi-
nal Multidimensional Personal Best Goal Scale (Martin, 2006;
referred to as the “Growth Orientation Scale” in the TTFM publi-
cations). This was a slightly broader measure than the later (final)
Personal Best Scale by Martin and Liem (2010). Our study’s mea-
sure comprised two items from the four-item self-improvement
subscale and two items from the four-item challenge subscale of
the original Multidimensional Personal Best Scale (Martin, 2006).
These items are purposefully worded so that the self is the referent
(i.e., the student strives to outperform or improve on themselves).
All four growth goal setting items were domain general (i.e., rated
by students across all subjects, not in a specific subject) and are as
follows: “I set challenges for myself in my schoolwork”; “I like to
work toward challenging goals in my schoolwork”; “When I do
my schoolwork, I try to do the best that I've ever done”; “When I
do my schoolwork, I try to improve on how I've done before.”
They were assessed on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4
(strongly agree). The growth goal setting factor demonstrated reli-
ability (x2019 = .92).
We point out that this particular goal factor is different from
performance goals (under achievement goal theory; Elliot, 2005)
where others are the target referent (i.e., the student strives to out-
perform others or demonstrate relative ability). These growth goals
are also distinct from mastery goals where the task/learning is the
central referent (i.e., the student strives to master or learn the
task). Indeed, Yu and Martin (2014) found that self-based growth
goals (via personal best goals) and mastery goals both uniquely
predicted academic outcomes in a large sample of Chinese stu-
dents (with growth goals more strongly predictive of engagement
than mastery goals), concluding: “mastery and PB goals explain
unique variance in distinct academic outcomes such that mastery
goals appear more salient in mapping onto motivation factors
1
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Learning Bar.
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
Table 1
Descriptive and Factor Analytic Statistics
Variable M SD
Organization and clarity 2.62
Feedback-feedforward 2.11
Relevance 2.27
Growth goal setting 2.55
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2018 2019 2018
Perseverance 2.50 2.40 1.00
Aspirations 3.27 3.21 1.15
Attendance 2.93 2.90 0.11
Homework behavior 1.63 1.49 0.59
Note. We have adjusted the instructional support factor names from the original terminology used in their source survey—see the Method section for
details. Aspirations is a single-item indicator where the loading is fixed to unit value and the residual is fixed to zero.
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while PB goals appear more salient in mapping onto engagement”
(p. 635). Subsequently, Martin and Elliot (2016a) showed that
self-based growth goals (assessed via personal best goals), mastery
goals, and performance goals each uniquely predicted academic
outcomes. With special reference to mastery goals, they concluded
“there is a potentially positive and complementary (not opposing
or mutually exclusive) role for both personal best and mastery
goals and that together, mastery and personal best goals capture a
greater totality of variance in students’ motivation and engage-
ment” (p. 1296). Most recently, Bostwick et al. (2020) demon-
strated that self-based goals such as the growth goals we
administer in this study are a distinct and separable factor from
task-based goals (such as mastery goals).
Perceived Instructional Support
Perceived instructional support was assessed via three separate
factors: instructional relevance, instructional organization and
clarity, and feedback-feedforward. To reduce respondent burden,
students were randomly assigned to one domain (i.e., mathematics,
science, or English) for all measures of perceived instructional
support (thus, e.g., one student was randomly assigned to report on
only their perceived instructional support from their science
teacher, whereas another student was randomly assigned to report
on only their mathematics teacher). Critically, the items were
worded the same across subject domains (i.e., parallel items). Stu-
dents’ responses to these items, regardless of their subject domain,
were used as indicators of the factor in modeling (viz., relevance
item #1, relevance item #2, etc. as indicators of a relevance factor).
For example, if Student A was assigned the mathematics instruc-
tion items, Student B was assigned the science instruction items,
and Student C was assigned the English instruction items, then
A’s relevance item #1 in mathematics, B’s parallel relevance item
#1 in science, and C’s parallel relevance item #1 in English would
all be used as the item 1 indicator for relevance (see Table S7 in
the online supplemental materials for visual example). This
approach was considered viable given previous research demon-
strating the positive associations between students’ domain-gen-
eral and domain-specific perceptions (Bong, 2001; Green et al.,
2007) and given previous suggestions that there may be trait-like
motivations that traverse school subjects even in the context of do-
main-specificity (e.g., Trautwein, Lüdtke, Kastens, et al., 2006;
Trautwein, Lüdtke, Schnyder, et al., 2006). It is also important to
759
Mean factor loading (range)
0.83 .85 (.76–.91)
0.61 .74 (.72–.79)
0.84 .80 (.73–.86)
0.88 .87 (.85–.88)
2019 2018 2019
1.05 .80 (.75–.84) .82 (.76–.85)
1.26 1.00 (1.00) 1.00 (1.00)
0.16 .75 (.74–.75) .79 (.79–.79)
0.61 .71 (.61–.77) .72 (.62–.81)
note that because students in high school typically have different
teachers for different school subjects, asking students to report on
one particular teacher enabled students to focus more specifically
on their experiences in one class, rather than their overall experien-
ces in many different classrooms that might vary widely. This not-
withstanding, domain-specific models were run as well (e.g.,
where only mathematics instructional support items were included)
and derived the same substantive findings (reported in the online
supplemental materials).
Relevance was assessed via the TTFM Teaching Relevance
Scale (three items with parallel wording across domains). This
included items about the meaningfulness, usefulness, and purpose-
fulness of the teaching and content (e.g., “[In the past two weeks]
We explored ideas and topics that are meaningful”). All items
were assessed on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly
agree). The three items were used as latent indicators of the rele-
vance factor, which demonstrated reliability (x2019 = .84).
Organization and clarity was assessed via the TTFM Effective
Learning Time Scale (six items with parallel wording across
domains; e.g., “Our [math/science/English] teacher is good at
explaining difficult ideas”). This included items about manage-
ment of lesson time to optimize learning and organization and
clarity of content and tasks. All items were assessed on a scale of
0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The six items were
used as latent indicators of the organization and clarity factor,
which demonstrated reliability (x2019 = .94).
Feedback-feedforward was assessed via the TTFM Explicit Teach-
ing Practice and Feedback Scale (six items with parallel wordings
across domains; e.g., “The feedback from assessments and quizzes
helps me learn”). To represent the breadth of the feedback-feedfor-
ward construct, these items captured reciprocity in information from
and to students, as well as teacher explanations, corrective informa-
tion, and improvement-oriented information (thus connecting to
explicit instructional elements; Martin, 2016). Four items were rated
from 0 = never or hardly ever to 3 = in all lessons; and two items
were rated from 0 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree). These
six items were used as latent indicators of the feedback-feedforward
factor, which demonstrated reliability (x2019 = .88).
Academic Engagement
Academic engagement included perseverance and aspirations (as
cognitive engagement indicators) and attendance and homework
 760 MARTIN ET AL.
behavior (as behavioral engagement indicators). All engagement fac-
tors were domain general and assessed once in Term 1 2019 (time 2
[T2]—with all the other measures in the study) and once in Term 1
2018 (time 1 [T1]). Perseverance was assessed via four items (e.g., “I
finish whatever I begin”), rated on a scale of 0 (strongly agree) to 4
(strongly disagree), and demonstrated reliability at T1 (x2018 = .88)
and T2 (x2019 = .89). Aspirations was assessed with a single item (“I
plan to finish year 12”), rated on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4
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(strongly agree). Attendance was assessed via two items (e.g., “[In
the past four weeks] I have missed a day at school without permis-
sion”) which were measured on a scale from 0 (never) to 3 (almost
every day); these items were then reverse coded (viz., 0!3; 1!2;
2!1; 3!0). The attendance factor demonstrated reliability at T1
(x2018 = .72) and T2 (x2019 = .77). Homework behavior was
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assessed via three items (e.g., “I enjoy doing my homework and
studying”) and measured on a scale of 0 (always) to 3 (never) and
then reverse coded. The homework behavior factor demonstrated
reliability at T1 (x2018 = .76) and T2 (x2019 = .77).
Student Personal Background Factors
The student personal background factors included in the present
investigation were year level, gender, socioeconomic status, and
prior achievement. Year level was assessed as a continuous vari-
able (year 7 to year 10). Gender was assessed as a dichotomous
variable (0 = male; 1 = female). Socioeconomic status was
assessed as a continuous measure of an index of students’ social
and economic resources (described above). Prior achievement was
assessed as a continuous measure via students’ band scores (scaled
from 1–10) on NAPLAN (described above). In this study, the liter-
acy and numeracy band scores were standardized by grade, and
these standardized scores were then used to generate a mean prior
achievement score (x = .93).
Data Analysis
Data analysis proceeded through four stages: confirmatory fac-
tor analysis (CFA), measurement invariance testing, structural
equation modeling (SEM), and indirect effects testing. All analy-
ses were conducted in Mplus v8.40 (Muthén & Muthén, 2017).
Maximum likelihood with robustness to non-normality (MLR)
was included as the estimator and full-information maximum like-
lihood (FIML) was included to handle missing data. The Complex
and Cluster commands in Mplus were used to cluster students by
school to account for the hierarchical nature of the data. Namely,
standard errors were adjusted for the nesting of students within
schools. Student weights (based on 2018 data) were also included
to avoid inflated standard errors due to larger cluster sizes.
Importantly, to guard against giving undue weight to small
effect sizes that are nonetheless statistically significant (given the
large sample size), we used Keith’s (2006) guidelines for educa-
tional research to help determine whether a finding was interpreta-
ble. According to Keith (2006), effect sizes of .05 # b , .10 are
considered small, .10 # b , .25 are considered moderate, and
b $ .25 are considered large in educational research. For our
study, only the findings that are significant at p , .001 and effect
sizes of at least b $ .05 are interpreted and subsequently discussed
in this article.
Preliminary Analysis of Multilevel Properties and
Measurement Invariance
Goal-setting theory and social–cognitive theory position goal
setting as an intrapsychic individualistic phenomenon that is influ-
enced by personal perceptions—thus, inherently a student-level
process. This has been supported in empirical work showing that
students’ own motivation and engagement are significantly con-
nected, but climate perceptions are unrelated to students’ own
motivation and engagement (Ruzek & Schenke, 2019); and also
work showing substantial within-group student heterogeneity
(Schenke et al., 2017) and that most variance in motivation and
engagement appears to be at the student-(not school-) level (Marsh
et al., 2008; Martin et al., 2011). However, for completeness the
viability of multilevel modeling (i.e., both student- and school-
level analysis to account for the school context) was assessed
given the hierarchical nature of the data. Variance at the school-
level was determined via the intraclass correlation estimates (ICC)
and the estimates of the variances of slopes (r2) between growth
goal setting and the engagement factors at the school-level. The
recommended level of between-level variance is ICC $ 10%
(Byrne, 2012). All but two variables demonstrated # 3% variance
at the school-level (aspirations and homework behavior each dem-
onstrated 8% variance at the school-level). Analysis of slope var-
iance (r2) was estimated for the following parameters to assess
the potential for school-level variance in associations: (a) growth
goal setting ! perseverance, (b) growth goal setting ! aspira-
tions, (c) growth goal setting ! attendance, and (d) growth goal
setting ! homework behavior. All r2s , 1%, indicating a lack of
variance at the school level. Taken together, there is little support
for multilevel modeling for the hypothesized model and so we pro-
ceeded with single-level modeling—that is, including school-level
effects (student-level data aggregated to school-level to account
substantively for context, rather than just statistically for cluster-
ing) was not warranted. In addition, none of the items had
“school” as the referent and so modeling at the school-level was
not conceptually appropriate. Moreover, the nature of sampling
was such that students were not clustered within classrooms,
meaning class-level analyses were also not possible. The results of
all these preliminary multilevel analyses are reported in Table S1
in the online supplemental materials.
In addition to testing the viability of multilevel analysis, tests of
multigroup and longitudinal measurement invariance were con-
ducted. Multigroup invariance tests were run to ensure that all of
the substantive measures (i.e., antecedents, mediators, and out-
comes) included in this investigation were invariant across key
subgroups: year level, gender, socioeconomic status, and prior
achievement (the latter two via mean split). This was done through
a series of six gradually constrained single-level, multigroup
CFAs (Byrne, 2012; Meredith, 1993). The configural (baseline)
model allowed all parameters to be freely estimated across groups.
The subsequent models constrained factor loadings (factor loading
invariance); factor loadings and intercepts (intercept invariance);
factor loadings, intercepts, and residuals (factor variance invari-
ance); factor loadings, intercepts, and covariances (factor covari-
ance invariance); and factor loadings, intercepts, covariances, and
residuals (full factor invariance; Byrne, 2012; Vandenberg &
Lance, 2000). Intercept invariance is considered the minimum cri-
terion by which to conclude group invariance and to examine a
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
single sample (Van de Schoot et al., 2012). It should be noted that
because no pairs of items were flagged as issues in the baseline
models, it was not necessary to constrain any error covariances
(Byrne, 2012).
Tests of longitudinal measurement invariance were conducted
to ensure that factors were measured consistently across time.
Because only the engagement factors were measured across time,
only these factors were included in these tests. Importantly, aspira-
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tions were not included in these tests because aspirations were
measured via a single-item indicator; thus, tests of longitudinal
invariance focused on perseverance, attendance, and homework
behavior. Longitudinal invariance was conducted via a series of
four gradually constrained single-level CFAs. The configural
model (Table S2b in the online supplemental materials) included
the following constraints: factor loading of the first item of each
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variable was set to 1, intercept of the first item of each variable
was set to 0. Factor means, variances, and covariances were freely
estimated. To demonstrate factor loading invariance, the factor
loadings of like items were constrained to be the same across time.
To demonstrate intercept invariance, the intercepts of like items
were constrained to be the same across time. To demonstrate fac-
tor variance invariance, the residuals of like items were con-
strained to be the same across time (Sterba, 2017; Vandenberg &
Lance, 2000; Widaman et al., 2010).
Changes in the comparative fit index (CFI) and the root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA) were monitored to
determine invariance for both multigroup and longitudinal tests;
DCFI # .010 and DRMSEA # .015 were considered the cut-offs
for invariance (Chen, 2007; Cheung & Rensvold, 2002; Vanden-
berg & Lance, 2000). For completeness, the chi-square statistics
are also reported; results of chi-square difference tests were not
reported because difference testing would need to be conducted
with the loglikelihood estimates and scaling correction factors,
rather than the chi-square values, because the present investiga-
tion used MLR as the estimator (Muthén & Muthén, 2017).
These tests have demonstrated oversensitivity and bias within
large sample sizes (Widaman et al., 2010), such as the sample
size in the present investigation.
For multigroup measurement invariance, findings indicated that
all factors attained the minimum criterion of intercept invariance.
More fine-grained follow-up analyses revealed factor variance
invariance for year level and SES; intercept invariance was
achieved for prior achievement; and full factor invariance was
achieved for gender. For longitudinal invariance, strict invariance
was demonstrated. Taken together, the measurement properties for
the factors in this study can be concluded as invariant for all key
subgroups and across time. The fit statistics of all models tested
are presented in Tables S2a and S2b in the online supplemental
materials.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation
Modeling
CFA was used to test the bivariate latent correlations among the
substantive factors and student background factors and SEM was
used to test the predictive parameters of the hypothesized model in
Figure 1 (Kline, 2016). Both the CFA and SEM included all sub-
stantive and student background factors within a single analytic
model. CFI and RMSEA were the indices used to assess model fit.
761
Adequate model fit is indicated by CFI values greater than .90 and
RMSEA values lower than .08. Excellent model fit is indicated by
CFI values greater than .95 and RMSEA values lower than .05
(Hu & Bentler, 1999).
For the SEM, longitudinal (auto-regressive) paths were included
for the engagement outcome variables (e.g., T1 2018 perseverance
! T2 2019 perseverance). By including these autoregressive pa-
rameters, it is possible to assess the extent to which, for example,
growth goal setting predicted unique variance in engagement
above and beyond prior variance in engagement. Because of this,
significant unique effects of the antecedent variables can be inter-
preted as gains (or declines) in engagement over time. We also
point out that for this analytical design there are advantages in
modeling students’ perceptions of instructional support, growth
goals, and engagement in the same year (while controlling for
prior variance in engagement). If we had used prior instructional
support (in 2018) to predict 2019 goals, we would potentially
introduce undesirable bias because we would be using ratings
about previous teachers. We suggest that our analytical design
brings rigor with the longitudinal modeling of outcomes but
retains important contemporaneous contextual and instructional
information.
The role of growth goal setting in moderating the relationship
between student background factors and engagement was also
examined. A total of 16 interactions were examined. Latent inter-
actions were tested in the SEM via the XWITH command with
Type = Random in Mplus. It is important to note that standardized
b-values were used to identify the presence of interaction effects
and unstandardized b-values were used to plot the precise nature
of the interactions.
Indirect Effects
Indirect effects testing was conducted to examine the extent to
which growth goal setting mediated the link between the perceived
instructional support factors and the engagement factors (e.g.,
instructional relevance ! growth goal setting ! homework
behavior). A total of 12 indirect paths could potentially be
assessed. To meet the criteria for testing, the relationship between
the antecedent and mediator needs to be significant, as well as
between the mediator and outcome. These indirect effects were
tested using nonparametric bootstrapping (1,000 draws; Shrout &
Bolger, 2002).
Results
Confirmatory Factor Analysis
The CFA demonstrated adequate fit: v2(737) = 72,998.74, p ,
.001; CFI = .938; RMSEA = .040. All factor loadings are pre-
sented in Table 1, and bivariate latent correlations for the hypothe-
sized associations presented in Figure 1 are presented in Table 2
(see Tables S8 in the online supplemental materials for a full cor-
relation matrix). Given the number of correlations that were exam-
ined, the correlations presented here in-text are those significant
(p , .001) and specific to the study’s substantive concerns (viz.,
growth goal setting, perceived instructional support, and engage-
ment). It is important to note that all auto-regressive correlations
for the engagement outcome factors were significant at p , .001.
 762 MARTIN ET AL.

Table 2
Standardized Results of the CFA
Organization Feedback- Homework
and clarity feedforward Relevance Growth goal Perseverance Aspirations Attendance behavior
Variable (2019) (2019) (2019) setting (2019) (2019) (2019) (2019) (2019)
2018 (prior) engagement .55*** .50*** .33*** .59***
Student background
Year level (2019) .02** .01 .06*** .02*** .01 .04*** .04*** .03***
Gender (2019) .01 .01 .03*** .05*** .02* .14*** .05*** .07***
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SES (2019) .16*** .19*** .16*** .26*** .30*** .26*** .19*** .30***
Prior achv. (2018) .11*** .13*** .03*** .12*** .18*** .32*** .21*** .21***
Perceived instructional support
Organization and clarity (2019) —
Feedback-feedforward (2019) .79*** —
Relevance (2019) .68*** .62*** —
Central factor
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Growth goal setting (2019) .48*** .52*** .54*** —

Outcomes
Perseverance (2019) .42*** .47*** .45*** .77*** —
Aspirations (2019) .32*** .33*** .29*** .44*** .42*** —
Attendance (2019) .18*** .17*** .10*** .22*** .21*** .26*** —
Homework behavior (2019) .48*** .52*** .58*** .67*** .66*** .46*** .19*** —
Note. SES = socioeconomic status; Prior achv. = prior achievement; CFA = confirmatory factor analysis. We have adjusted the instructional support fac-
tor names from the original terminology used in their source survey—see the Method section for details.
* p , .05. ** p , .01. *** p , .001.

Growth goal setting was correlated with all outcomes (at T2):
perseverance (r = .77), aspirations (r = .44), attendance (r = .22),
and homework behavior (r = .67)—such that growth goal setting
was associated with higher scores on these factors. Perceived
instructional support was positively associated with growth goal
setting, such that organization and clarity (r = .48), feedback-feed-
forward (r = .52), and relevance (r = .54) were related to higher
rates of growth goal setting in the sample.
There were also significant links between perceived instruc-
tional support and student engagement. Organization and clarity
was correlated with perseverance (r = .42), aspirations (r = .32),
attendance (r = .18), and homework behavior (r = .48). Feedback-
feedforward was correlated with perseverance (r = .47), aspira-
tions (r = .33), attendance (r = .17), and homework behavior (r =
.52). Relevance was correlated with perseverance (r = .45), aspira-
tions (r = .29), attendance (r = .10), and homework behavior (r =
.58).
Structural Equation Modeling
We then examined the extent to which (a) perceived instruc-
tional support predicted growth goal setting, (b) growth goal set-
ting predicted engagement, (c) growth goal setting mediated the
link between perceived instructional support and student engage-
ment, and (d) growth goal setting moderated the relationship
between student background factors and engagement (see Figure
1). The SEM (without interactions) demonstrated adequate fit:
v2(753) = 77,928.30, p , .001; CFI = .935; RMSEA = .041.
Importantly, the inclusion of 16 interactions in the one model sig-
nificantly improved model fit, as per the results of a chi-square dif-
ference test: v2(16) = 653.85, p , .001. All significant and
nonsignificant beta estimates are presented in Table 3. Here we
describe all substantive beta estimates that attain the level of inter-
pretability (at least a b $ .05 [as per Keith, 2006] and p , .001).
All interpretable main effects are presented in Figure 2.
Main Effects
Regarding students’ perceptions of instructional support, both
feedback-feedforward (b = .31; large effect size, as per Keith,
2006) and relevance (b = .38; large effect size) predicted higher
levels of growth goal setting. Growth goal setting predicted gains
in perseverance (b = .64; large effect size), aspirations (b = .46;
large effect size), and homework behavior (b = .38; large effect
size). Growth goal setting did not have a significant main effect on
gains in attendance. There were also direct effects of perceived
instructional support on engagement. Perceptions of organization
and clarity predicted increases in attendance (b = .10; medium
effect size). Perceived feedback-feedforward predicted gains in
perseverance (b = .07; small effect size) and homework behavior
(b = .10; medium effect size). Perceived relevance predicted a
decrease in attendance (b = .09; small effect size) and an
increase in homework behavior (b = .25; large effect size).
Moderation Effects
In addition to testing these main effects, we also examined the
extent to which growth goal setting moderated the effects of back-
ground factors (year level, gender, SES, prior achievement) on
engagement. Of the 16 interactions tested, two interactions
attained the level of interpretability (i.e., p , .001 and at least b $
.05; see the Method section): Growth Goal Setting 3 Prior
Achievement on aspirations (b = .07; small effect size) and
Growth Goal Setting 3 SES on attendance (b = .10; medium
effect size). The nature of these interactions is presented in Figure
3 and Figure 4, respectively. The results of simple slopes analysis
are also included in the figures.
In terms of aspirations (see Figure 3), for students low in growth
goal setting, there was a stronger positive relationship between
prior achievement and academic aspirations than for students high
in growth goal setting—suggesting that growth goals narrow the
gap in aspirations between low and high prior achieving students
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING 763

Table 3
Standardized Results of SEM
Growth goal Perseverance Aspirations Attendance Homework
Variable setting (2019) (2019) (2019) (2019) behavior (2019)
2018 (prior) engagement .28***† .35***† .28***† .31***†
Student background
Year level (2019) .04*** .06***† .02*** .10***†
Gender (2019) .06***† .07***† .02* .02**
.06***† .16***† .10***† .07***†
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SES (2019)
Prior achv. (2019) .03*** .05*** .07***† .07***†
Perceived instructional support
Organization and clarity (2019) .03* .01 .05*** .10***† .03***
Feedback-feedforward (2019) .31***† .07***† .04*** .02 .10***†
Relevance (2019) .38***† .01 .03*** .09***† .25***†
Central Factor
Growth goal setting (2019) .64***† .46***† .03 .38***†
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Interactions
Growth Goal Setting 3 Year Level .01 .02*** .01 .01*
Growth Goal Setting 3 Gender .01* .03*** .05*** .02**
Growth Goal Setting 3 SES .01** .05*** .10***† .03***
Growth Goal Setting 3 Prior Achv. .02*** .07***† .02 .02***
Note. SES = socioeconomic status; Prior achv. = prior achievement; SEM = structural equation modeling. We have adjusted the instructional support fac-
tor names from the original terminology used in their source survey—see the Method section for details. Please note that the covariates and perceived
instructional support factors were correlated within the model.
* p , .05. ** p , .01. *** p , .001. ***† Regression estimates that reach the level of interpretability of b $ .05 and p , .001.

smaller. In terms of attendance (see Figure 4), for students low in
growth goal setting, there was a nonsignificant relationship
between SES and attendance (though marginally nonsignificant,
p = .054), whereas there was a negative relationship between SES
and attendance for students high in growth goal setting (the abso-
lute difference between the two slopes yielded the overall signifi-
cant moderation effect in Table 3)—suggesting a reversal of the
negative effects of low SES for high growth goal students. Taken
together, these results provide some support for growth goal set-
ting moderating the negative effects of low prior achievement (on
aspirations) and the negative effects of low-SES background (on
attendance).
Indirect Effects Testing
Indirect effects were examined to determine the extent to
which growth goal setting may mediate the association between
students’ perceptions of instructional support and their engage-
ment. Of the 12 possible indirect effects, nine were tested
because the nonsignificant association between growth goal set-
ting and attendance ruled out the remaining three. Of the nine
indirect effects tested, six attained the level of interpretability (at
least b $ .05 and p , .001). The interpretable effects are
described here, and all results are presented in Table 4. Students’
report of their teacher’s feedback-feedforward was significantly
positively related (via growth goal setting) to gains in persever-
ance (b = .20; medium effect size), aspirations (b = .08; small
effect size), and homework behavior (b = .11; medium effect
size). Perceived relevance was significantly positively associated
with (via growth goal setting) gains in perseverance (b = .24;
large effect size), aspirations (b = .10; medium effect size), and
homework behavior (b = .13; medium effect size). Perceptions
of instructional organization and clarity did not have significant
indirect links with any engagement outcomes via growth goal
setting. Taken together, these results suggest that students’
perceptions of feedback-feedforward and relevance were not
only directly linked to engagement, they were also indirectly
associated with engagement via students’ growth goal setting.
That is, for example, if students perceive lessons to be relevant,
they are more likely to set growth goals, which in turn is posi-
tively associated with their engagement.
Discussion
The present investigation contributes to existing knowledge
about growth goal setting in four ways. First, it identified the role
of perceived instructional support in predicting growth goal setting
and academic engagement, with most of the significant paths
yielding medium and large effect sizes. Second, it revealed signifi-
cant yields of growth goal setting for improvements on several
dimensions of academic engagement, with all significant paths
having large effect sizes. Third, the investigation showed that the
link between students’ perceptions of instructional support and
engagement was significantly partially mediated by growth goal
setting, with most significant paths having medium effect sizes.
Fourth, the study identified how growth goal setting may adap-
tively moderate the effects of some student background attributes
on engagement, yielding small and medium effect sizes.
Perceived Instructional Support, Growth Goal Setting,
and Engagement
Students’ goal setting is impacted, in part, by their perceptions of
the support they receive from teachers (Eberley et al., 2011). In our
study, two of the three elements of instructional support examined
(relevance and feedback-feedforward) were found to significantly
predict growth goal setting. In addition, student reports of organiza-
tion and clarity significantly predicted gains in attendance; feed-
back-feedforward significantly predicted gains in perseverance and
homework behavior, and relevance significantly predicted gains in
 764 MARTIN ET AL.

Figure 2
Significant Standardized Substantive Results From Structural Equation Model

ENVIRONMENT (Instruction) PERSON (Student Strategy) OUTCOME (Engagement)

Organization T1
and Clarity .28
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.10 Perseverance

.64

.07
Feedback- .35
feedforward T1
Aspirations
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.31
.46
Growth Goal
Setting
T1 .28
.38
Relevance Attendance
-.09

.25

.38

Homework
Behavior
T1 .31

.10

Note. All results presented in figure attain the level of interpretability (b $ .05 and p , .001). See Table 3 for all significant and
nonsignificant main, covariate, and moderating effects. We have adjusted the instructional support factor names from the original
terminology used in their source survey—see the Method section for details. T1 = 2018 (prior) engagement.

homework behavior but also declines in attendance. Predominantly,
then, students who felt they received adequate instructional support
from teachers were more likely to set goals targeting personal
growth and improvement. In turn, these perceptions of instructional
support were linked to students’ engagement directly and via their
growth goal setting. Indeed, we identified significant indirect paths
between perceived instructional support and engagement via growth
goal setting (see Table 4).
With regard to relevance, we earlier argued how models of in-
terest development emphasize the importance of aligning content
and tasks with students’ personal interests and experience base.
When students perceive relevance in academic content and activ-
ity, they are likely to establish and pursue self-set goals (Koestner,
2008; see also Aelterman et al., 2019). Thus, perceived instruc-
tional support characterized by relevance will underlie goals that
are integrated with the self—a hallmark of growth goals (Martin &
Elliot, 2016a). Our findings supported this thesis: perceived
instructional relevance significantly predicted growth goal setting.
Interestingly, perceived relevance was differentially related to
homework behavior and attendance. Relevance was associated
with gains in adaptive homework behavior and this is consistent
with long-standing advice to educators to ensure relevance in order
for students to engage with homework in a quality manner (e.g.,
Wilson & Rhodes, 2010; see also Hulleman & Harackiewicz,
2009; Hulleman et al., 2017). However, after controlling for the
impact of organization and clarity and feedback-feedforward, rele-
vance was associated with declines in school attendance. Accord-
ing to Hidi and Renninger (2006), relevant content and tasks are
effective for initial and situational interest. This may be assistive
for behaviors such as homework but perhaps not sufficient for
motivating more substantial behaviors such as school attendance.
It is when students are also provided with appropriate guidance
and ongoing support that they are more likely to develop a deeper
and more enduring drive to engage (Hidi & Renninger, 2006). We
would therefore suggest that when seeking to enhance students’
attendance at school, relevance alone may not be sufficient; teach-
ers should especially attend to organization and clarity, and feed-
back-feedforward.
As we noted in the Introduction, researchers have looked to
combine classic feedback (i.e., corrective information; Shute,
2008) with improvement-oriented guidance (feedforward)—lead-
ing to greater consideration of a construct referred to as feedback-
feedforward (e.g., Basso & Olivetti Belardinelli, 2006; Burns et
al., 2019; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Martin, 2016). We contended
that to establish the validity of this feedback-feedforward con-
struct, research should demonstrate that it is associated with
improvement-oriented strategies and outcomes. Indeed, this was
what our study found: Student reports of feedback-feedforward
were associated with growth goal setting (an improvement-ori-
ented strategy) and gains in perseverance and homework behavior.
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING 765

Figure 3
Plot of the Moderating Effects of Growth Goal Setting on the Relationship
Between Prior Achievement (P.Achv) and Aspirations
Low Growth Goal Seng High Growth Goal Seng
Low GG CI High GG CI
0.8

0.6
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0.4

0.2
Aspiraons

-0.2
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-0.4

-0.6

-0.8

-1
Low P.Achv. High P.Achv.

Note. The results presented here are from the unstandardized output. 1 SD (low growth
goal setting): b = .27, p , .001; þ1 SD (high growth goal setting): b = .10, p , .001. GG
CI = growth goal setting confidence interval (95%).

Growth Goal Setting and Gains in Engagement
Growth goal setting predicted significant gains across one aca-
demic year in students’ perseverance, aspirations, and homework
behavior. This suggests that students who set growth goals are
more likely to persevere, aspire to complete year 12, and demon-
strate more adaptive homework behaviors. Thus, with regard to
this study’s engagement factors, it appears that personally rele-
vant goals that push students to achieve new standards of perso-
nal success motivate them to think and behave in ways that are
constructive to personal goal completion. These findings are fur-
ther “proof of concept” for growth goal setting: growth goals are
fundamentally about growth, and our findings demonstrated
growth in engagement was significantly associated with stu-
dents’ use of growth goal setting. Importantly, these findings
occurred in a large, representative sample of Australian high
school students (N = 61,879).
DeShon and Gillespie (2005) proposed that goals create a men-
tal framework that influences individuals’ choices and behaviors.
Harnessing this conception of goals, Burns et al. (2018) suggested

Figure 4
Plot of the Moderating Effects of Growth Goal Setting on the Relationship
Between Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Attendance

Note. The results presented here are from the unstandardized output. 1 SD (low growth
goal setting): b = .01, p = .054; þ1 SD (high growth goal setting): b = .07, p , .001. GG
CI = growth goal setting confidence interval (95%).
 766 MARTIN ET AL.

Table 4
Standardized Results of Indirect Effects Testing (Nonparametric Bootstrapping)
Indirect path Indirect effect SE Lower 95% CI Upper 95% CI
Organization and clarity ! Growth goal setting ! Perseverance (2019) .02** .007 .03 .01
Feedback-feedforward ! Growth goal setting ! Perseverance (2019) .20***† .007 .19 .21
Relevance ! Growth goal setting ! Perseverance (2019) .24***† .006 .23 .25
Organization and clarity ! Growth goal setting ! Aspirations (2019) .01** .003 .01 .01
Feedback-feedforward ! Growth goal setting ! Aspirations (2019) .08***† .003 .07 .08
Relevance ! Growth goal setting ! Aspirations (2019)
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.10***† .003 .09 .10

Organization and clarity ! Growth goal setting ! Homework behavior (2019) .01** .004 .02 .01
Feedback-feedforward ! Growth goal setting ! Homework behavior (2019) .11***† .004 .10 .11
Relevance ! Growth Soal setting ! Homework behavior (2019) .13***† .004 .13 .14
Note. The indirect paths involving Organization and clarity ! Growth goal setting are to be interpreted cautiously because the direct path between these
variables, although significant at p , .05, did not meet the initial level of interpretability (see Figure 2 and Table 3).
** p , .01. ***† Regression estimates that reach the level of interpretability of b $ .05 and p , .001.
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that growth goals reflect a personally referenced improvement-ori-
ented mental framework that leads to adaptive choices and behav-
iors. Moreover, Burns et al. (2018) contended that because growth
goals are inherently self-referenced and self-generated, they pre-
dict activities and processes that require ongoing personal invest-
ment, such as engagement. Our findings supported these ideas
through the gains in aspirations, perseverance, and homework
behavior that occurred as a function of students’ growth goal
setting.
It was interesting that growth goal setting did not significantly
predict attendance. This may reflect the wording of our growth
goal setting measure that focused on schoolwork specifically,
whereas school attendance is a broader engagement construct that
encompasses not just schoolwork but also major activities such as
one’s social and physical (e.g., sport) life. However, it may also
reflect the reality that school attendance is an issue for some stu-
dents more than others. It may be that growth in attendance is con-
strained by factors beyond and separate from students’ growth
goals (e.g., transport to school, physical health, etc.). It was thus
noteworthy that we found a significant interaction (moderation)
between growth goal setting and socioeconomic status for attend-
ance, discussed below.
The Moderating Role of Growth Goal Setting
The study also examined the interaction between growth goal
setting and student background attributes. It was found that growth
goal setting moderated the association between prior achievement
and students’ aspirations, and between SES and attendance. Thus,
in line with SCT (Bandura, 1997), our findings demonstrated that
personal factors do interact to impact human agency; specifically,
background factors particular to a student and their growth goal
setting interacted in their association with academic engagement.
Regarding the moderating associations with aspirations, students
who reported low growth goal setting and who were lower in prior
achievement reported the lowest intentions to complete year 12;
however, the aspirations gap between students with low and high
prior achievement decreased if students with low prior achieve-
ment adopted growth goal setting. This suggests that although
growth goal setting improved all students’ aspirations to complete
year 12 (as seen in the significant main effect of growth goal set-
ting on aspirations; Table 3 and Figure 2), it seemed to have an
even greater bolstering effect for lower achieving students—
apparently helping to reduce the aspirations gap. This finding is in
line with previous research (Bardach et al., 2020) which showed
that growth goals helped to attenuate the relationship between con-
textual problems (e.g., lack of support) and dropout intentions
among university students. Thus, students who pursue growth
goals may be relatively more protected from the potential negative
impact stemming from a variety of sources (e.g., low prior
achievement, contextual issues).
For the moderating association with attendance, we found an
attenuation in the gap between students from low- and high-SES
backgrounds as a function of growth goal setting. In these data, for
students with high growth goals, there was a negative relationship
between SES and attendance, whereas this relationship was (mar-
ginally) nonsignificant for students with low growth goals. This
suggests that growth goal setting may minimize differences in
school attendance between students from low- and high-SES back-
grounds. As we continue to strive to do better on narrowing school
completion and attendance gaps between students and particular
student groups (e.g., low-SES etc.; Lamb et al., 2015), the findings
here provide guidance on how we might do so from a motivation
perspective. Specifically, for students with low prior achievement
and low-SES backgrounds, growth goal setting was associated
with gains in aspirations to complete school and in school attend-
ance. When students attend school and continue through to year
12, they receive more hours of instruction and are significantly
more likely to develop the core skills and knowledge that underpin
their learning through school—and beyond (Willms, 2003). Addi-
tionally, year 12 completion is associated with a variety of positive
life outcomes, such as higher employment rates and life satisfac-
tion (Bridgeland et al., 2006).
Implications for Theory
A major objective of the current study was to examine how
recent theoretical developments in goal setting (viz., growth goal
setting) function in the context of SCT and triadic theorizing (Ban-
dura, 1986, 1991). Consistent with Burns et al. (2018), who
grounded their research of growth goal setting in SCT, our find-
ings supported the viability of including growth goal setting as a
personal (self-) strategy within the SCT and the triadic model. Our
data also confirmed Burns et al.’s observation that growth goal set-
ting may represent an effective means of operationalizing one of
the key mechanisms proposed under SCT. Specifically, SCT
 GROWTH GOAL SETTING
contends that self-improvement occurs through a personal discrep-
ancy production and reduction process (Bandura, 1991). Here,
individuals set and pursue personally challenging goals to reach
their desired future states (Bandura, 1991). When they reach their
desired future state, the process begins again. Growth goal setting
scales (e.g., Martin, 2006) comprise items that inherently access
this function and thus may represent an important development for
operationalizing key functions within SCT (Burns et al., 2018).
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The present study’s demonstration of engagement gains through
growth goal setting provided further support for this.
Implications for Practice
One key finding was that students’ growth goal setting was
associated with academic engagement gains. Thus, promoting
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growth goal setting within the classroom is likely to have positive
engagement yields. Martin (2006) has articulated various practical
directions for promoting growth goal setting. For example, stu-
dents can be taught how to identify clear, realistic, and personally
challenging goals (Martin, 2006). It is also important that students
are taught how to strive toward their growth goal, such as by map-
ping out the steps involved in working toward their growth goal
and monitoring their progress toward that goal (Martin, 2011; see
also Locke & Latham, 2013). Indeed, experimental research has
demonstrated the effectiveness of growth goal setting intervention
on students’ academic outcomes (Ginns et al., 2018; Martin et al.,
2014; Martin & Elliot, 2016b).
In addition to targeting growth goal setting directly, our findings
suggest that teachers’ instructional support may assist students’
growth goal setting and their academic engagement (directly and
indirectly via growth goal setting). Based on our findings, this is
particularly the case for instructional support characterized by
feedback-feedforward and relevance. Here we suggest some indic-
ative ways that teachers may embed more feedback-feedforward
and relevance into their instructional approaches. Importantly,
though, in identifying these instructional strategies we make the
point that our study employed student reports of instructional sup-
port. Thus, it is perceived instructional support that our study
addresses, which has two implications for interpretation of find-
ings and recommendations for practice. First, given perceptions of
instructional support are clearly linked to growth goal setting and
engagement, we might encourage students to be more aware of the
instructional support they are receiving (thus, enhance their per-
ception of instructional support). Second, notwithstanding this,
given perceptions (not objectively assessed practice) were our
focus we must be appropriately circumspect in the practical advice
we do provide, as follows.
Reflective diary-keeping may be one means by which students
can become more aware of the instructional support they receive.
Here, students would be asked to reflect on what aspects of
instructional support may have helped them set and strive for goals
and/or assisted them to engage in their schoolwork and with
school (e.g., do homework, persist, etc.). Research has shown this
to be an effective means of enhancing growth goal setting and
striving (Travers et al., 2015). This may instill in students an
appreciation for the different ways that teachers are trying to sup-
port their learning.
With regard to feedback-feedforward, there has been substantial
guidance about feedback and the importance of it being timely,
767
concrete, accurate, and so forth (Centre for Education Statistics &
Evaluation, 2020; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008) and so
we endorse that line of advice for practitioners. Additionally, we
recommend the importance of that feedback being accompanied
by improvement-oriented guidance (i.e., feedforward) to the stu-
dent. This, we contend, is a key means for growth—a claim we
suggest is borne out by the positive association between feedback-
feedforward and growth goal setting in the present study (and the
association between feedback-feedforward and gains in persever-
ance and homework behavior).
In promoting relevance, researchers have emphasized the im-
portance of content and tasks that are personally meaningful, sig-
nificant, useful, and interesting (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Lei et
al., 2017; Van de Pol et al., 2010). These approaches to enhancing
relevance enable content and tasks to be more integrated with the
self which optimizes adaptive goal pursuit (Sheldon & Elliot,
1999). Importantly, however, as per interest development theoriz-
ing (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; and our finding that relevance was
associated with lower attendance), it is critical that relevance is
accompanied by quality organization and clarity and feedback-
feedforward; for some engagement outcomes, relevance alone
may not be sufficient.
Limitations and Future Directions
Alongside the various contributions to research, theory, and
practice, the present study comprised some limitations important
to consider when interpreting findings and that provide some
direction for future research. First, although we had objective
(prior) achievement as a covariate, our outcome variables were
self-reported. This was a valid means for measuring personal phe-
nomena (Brener et al., 2003), but there are known limitations
(e.g., misinterpreting items, under- or overreporting, etc.; Karabe-
nick et al., 2007). Future research might look to include data from
other sources, such as teacher observations and parent reports of
students’ engagement. Relatedly, our data were based on student
reports of instructional support (hence, perceived instructional
support). Collecting instructional data from the teachers them-
selves or from observations will augment future research in this
space. Moreover, when exploring these additional data, it may be
illuminating to test alternative models. Ours was a “fully-forward”
model that was not assessed against models that had paths
removed or against models that more explicitly and fully test re-
ciprocal effects.
Second, although our growth goal setting and engagement
measures were domain-general, we constructed domain-general
instructional support measures through collapsing (domain-spe-
cific) items from English, mathematics, and science subjects.
There is a need for domain-specific data to be collected on growth
goal setting and engagement to enable us to investigate the links
between domain-specific instructional support and domain-specific
goals and engagement. Third, we did not have between-class data
and our variance components tests revealed negligible between-
school variance. Thus, our analyses were conducted at the student-
level (though, we did include cluster weighting and we did adjust
standard errors to account for the nesting of students within
schools). Future investigations would do well to design research
appropriate for multilevel modeling that accounts for student- and
class-level relationships.
 768 MARTIN ET AL.
Fourth, we focused on processes and factors consistent with
SCT and the triadic model (Bandura, 1986, 1991), and we
acknowledge other factors that are potentially implicated. For
example, integrating measures of perceived goal structures may be
helpful (Meece et al., 2006). Also, we focused on goal-setting
theory (Locke & Latham, 2013) but not so much on other goal
frameworks such as achievement goal theory (Elliot, 2005), which
would involve additional growth-oriented measures under the pro-
posed 3 3 2 goal framework (Elliot et al., 2011). Finally, although
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correlational data such as those in our study can provide tentative
insights into possible causal ordering, experimental research is
best placed to establish causality. Encouragingly, intervention
research into growth goal setting has demonstrated promise (e.g.,
Ginns et al., 2018; Martin & Elliot, 2016b; Martin et al., 2014). It
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would now also be interesting to conduct experimental research
that explores promotion of our instructional support factors and
effects on growth goal setting.
Conclusion
The present study demonstrates that their growth goal setting is
associated with significant gains in their academic engagement.
There is also evidence that growth goal setting buffers the poten-
tial negative effects of low SES and low prior achievement on
some engagement outcomes. The findings further revealed a sig-
nificant role of perceived instructional support in predicting stu-
dents’ growth goal setting—and thus, a mediating role of growth
goal setting between instructional support and academic engage-
ment. Taken together, then, this study sheds further light on the
role of growth goal setting in the context of major theoretical
frameworks informing human agency. It also provides specific
direction about the instructional support factors that educators can
address when seeking to optimize students’ growth goal setting
and engagement at school.
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Received August 14, 2020
Revision received March 12, 2021
Accepted March 15, 2021 n