Confirming a Performance-Based Instructional Model

This study sought to test alternative performance-based instructional models of growth in students' academic achievement in the elementary school. Based upon constructs derived from a synthesis of prior experimental and descriptive studies, the models tested viewed growth in academic achievement as a function of exposure to academic subject matter, task quality, and student engagement Indices for these constructs were derived from repeated measures of classroom instruction and standardized achievement tests in Grades 2 and 3. Results indicated that the best fit was achieved by a structural model that included student engagement as a construct mediating the effects of instruction on academic achievement as compared to that obtained under alternative direct influence and nonmediated models. The implications of the current findings are discussed.