This study assessed how goal setting and progress feedback affect self-efficacy and writing achievement for 20 male and 20 female fourth graders. Children received writing strategy instruction and were given a process goal of learning the strategy, a product goal of writing paragraphs, or a general goal of working productively (control condition). Half of the process-goal children periodically received feedback on their progress in learning to use the strategy. The transfer (maintenance and generalization) of achievement outcomes was also studied. Process goal plus feedback subjects: (1) outperformed the control group on posttest self-efficacy and skills, self-efficacy for improvement, and perceived progress in strategy learning; (2) scored higher than did product goal children on posttest skill and perceived progress; (3) wrote more words per unit and judged posttest strategy use and strategy value higher than did product and general goal students; and (4) performed better on the maintenance test than did general goal children. Students who received the process goal without progress feedback scored higher on writing skill and wrote more words per unit than did general goal students. The product and general goal conditions did not differ on any measure. Self-efficacy correlated positively with strategy use and skill on posttest and maintenance tests. One table presents means and standard deviations. (Author/SLD)