In terms of grade level, we found that high achievers in the seventh grade exemplified a more adaptive motivation and regulatory profile across virtually all measures used in this study: adaptive and maladaptive regulatory behaviors, interest in math, and self-standards (see Table 3). Conversely, for the sixth-grade cohort, the only variable to distinguish achievement groups was self-standards. Thus, the frequency with which sixth-grade students reported using self-regulation strategies as well as their personal beliefs of interest and valuing of math were not related to their actual math performance. Although one cannot draw any causal inferences regarding the effects of structural and expectation differences across grade levels on students' use of self-regulation strategies and motivational beliefs, it does appear that as students enter seventh grade, many of them, and in particular moderate and low achievers, will exhibit a less adaptive profile of motivation and self-regulation even though these processes begin to show a more significant relation to their math outcomes.