Positive and Negative Ability Beliefs among Navajo High School Students: How do they Relate to Students’ School Achievement Goals?

Purpose of the Present Research The purpose of the present research is, using Structured Equation Modeling (SEM), to structurally validate the constructs of Navajo high school students' positive and negative ability beliefs within a model of achievement motivation. We also examine the role of these ability beliefs from the perspectives of stereotype threat and social identity theory. According to Steele and Aronson (1995) one of the affects of stereotype threat is that students stigmatized as poor academic achievers will have lower ability beliefs than students who are not labeled so. Deyhle (1995) posits that factors such as stigmatization may explain Navajo and Ute Native Americans negative attitudes toward school. A central tenant of social identity theory is that individuals strive to achieve and/or maintain a positive social identity. For low-status minority groups, one response that social identity theory predicts is that the low-status groups can contest the dominant groups right to its superior position. In fact, Deyhle (1995) hypothesizes that the stronger the social identity the more likely students are to succeed in school. Theoretical Framework Ability Beliefs School ability beliefs have been shown to be related to academic goals and achievement and posited to influence choice of activities, effort expended, and persistence (e. Students' school ability beliefs are cognitively appraised based on information from sources such as social comparison and parents, School ability beliefs have been defined as individuals' judgements about their capability to accomplish a task or achieve a specific goal. However, not all researchers have viewed school ability beliefs as related solely to specific domain outcomes (e. In this latter view, the emphasis of the research is on the relations of school ability beliefs and learning orientations (e.g. mastery and performance orientations) rather than specific domain outcomes. The concern in this context is for students' beliefs about their school ability in the broader school context of learning. We adopt this position in our study. Much of the work concerning school ability beliefs has assumed that a single continuous variable can inform us of the affects of ability beliefs for learning. However, Middleton, et al (1998) found that different levels of school ability beliefs were associated with different aspects of students' school achievement goals. This approach however does not identify negative school ability beliefs. Some minority groups, such as Navajo students, may also entertain negative ability beliefs. Such negative ability beliefs could be a consequence of labeling (Deyhle, …