Academic goals of high and low academic achievers in mandatory Secondary Education and optional advanced Secondary Education

A good number of the members of the scientific community currently describe academic motivation on the basis of the goals the individual pursues. These goals, for different authors, mean a series of patterns of action made up of beliefs, functions and affections/feelings that steer behavioural intentions, also termed "objectives".. These objectives or goals are partly determined by the individual's concept of his or her own personal value, ability or skill. The aim of this article is to analyse the types of academic goals secondary education students have and to ascertain the predictive ability of academic goals in high and low academic achievers. Possible determining factors and indicators are sought that might provide information about academic goals that have a telling effect on achievement. The sample is 2,778 students (57% girls, 43% boys) representative of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, drawn from 15 public and private schools in average socioeconomic and cultural contexts. The results test the basic hypothesis of this project, which is to ascertain the motivational variables of academic achievement stemming from academic goals. The results show that academic goals have a steady, significant effect on academic achievement, particularly the learning goals and achievement goals that are associated with and influence high academic achievement; in this context, academic goals display a high capacity to predict good student achievement. On the other hand, it is the self-directed goals of social value that are strongly predictive of low academic achievement in the secondary school students represented in the sample. Some implications of these data for the learning process are presented and discussed.