Temporal Dynamics of Classroom Goal Structures in Solo- and Co- Taught Mathematics Classes

While students’ perceptions of classroom goal structure play a key role in student motivation, little is known about how these perceptions change over time, and whether they are influenced by different teaching practices. This study investigated the temporal dynamics of mathematics classroom goal structures over the course of a school year and, importantly, whether these changes were predicted by teaching condition (co-teaching versus solo-teaching). The co-teaching condition included 70 sixth-grade students in three classes, where mathematics was co-taught by pairs of class teachers and special education teachers. The solo-teaching condition included 76 students in four classes, taught by class teachers. A series of latent change models demonstrated a concurrent decline in students’ perceptions of classroom performance-approach and -avoidance goal structures. Compared to the solo-taught students, co-taught students’ initial perceptions of mastery goal structures were lower, but their change over time was more positive. Overall, these findings shed light on the temporal dynamics of classroom goal structures and demonstrate the positive effect of co-teaching on students' perceptions of the mastery goal structure in mathematics.