
Students’ achievement goals exhibit maladaptive trends throughout their school careers (particularly a decline in learning goals). We examined how changes in student-perceived teaching practices are associated with this development using longitudinal data from 1847 students in 69 classes (4 measurement points over 2 school years). Latent difference score models indicated that changes in class perceptions of whether teaching practices adhered to the CEAS practices (content, evaluation, autonomy, and social support) were positively related to changes in students’ learning goals and performance approach goals. Conversely, if teaching was increasingly perceived to be characterized by competition and social comparisons, performance approach, performance avoidance, and work avoidance goals increased over time. These associations were mediated by changes in student-perceived classroom goal structures. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of incorporating the CEAS practices into teaching to counteract unfavorable motivational development.