Measures and References: Motivation

Return to Motivation factor page.

Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997): Examines reading Motivation in students in third to eighth grade through a student-rated assessment measuring 11 reading Motivation constructs

Writing Attitude Survey (Kear et al., 2000): Assesses attitude towards writing by asking students to rate how happy or upset they would feel about different writing situations and scenarios

References

Alvermann, D. E. (2001). Reading adolescents' reading identities: Looking back to see ahead. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(8), 676-690.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: Freeman.

Butz, A. R., & Usher, E. L. (2015). Salient sources of early adolescents' self-efficacy in two domains. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 42, 49-61.

Carter Andrews, D. J. (2012). Black achievers' experiences with racial spotlighting and ignoring in a predominantly White high school. Teachers College Record, 114(10), 1-46.

Cubillo, A., Halari, R., Smith, A., Taylor, E., & Rubia, K. (2012). A review of fronto-striatal and fronto-cortical brain abnormalities in children and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and new evidence for dysfunction in adults with ADHD during motivation and attention. Cortex, 48(2), 194-215.

Dowson, M., & McInerney, D. M. (2003). What do students say about their motivational goals?: Towards a more complex and dynamic perspective on student motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(1), 91-113.

Gordon, K. A. (1995). Self-concept and motivational patterns of resilient African American high school students. Journal of Black Psychology, 21(3), 239-255.

Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2008). Role of cognitively stimulating home environment in children's academic intrinsic motivation: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 69(5), 1448-1460.

Graham, S., Gillespie, A., & McKeown, D. (2012). Writing: Importance, development, and instruction. Reading and Writing, 26(1), 1-15.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2009). Almost 30 years of writing research: Making sense of it all with The Wrath of Khan. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24(2), 58-68.

Grant Jr, D. E., & Hill, J. B. (2020). Activating culturally empathic motivation in diverse students. Journal of Education and Learning, 9(5), 45-58.

Guthrie, J. T., & Davis, M. H. (2003). Motivating struggling readers in middle school through an engagement model of classroom practice. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19(1), 59-85.

Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., Metsala, J. L., & Cox, K. E. (1999). Motivational and cognitive predictors of text comprehension and reading amount. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(3), 231-256.

Guthrie, J.T., & Wigfield, A. (2000). Engagement and motivation in reading. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of Reading Research (Vol. 3, pp. 403-422). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Iyengar, S., & Ball, D. (2007). To read or not to read: A question of national consequence. Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts.

Jones, S. (2020). Measuring reading motivation: A cautionary tale. The Reading Teacher, 74(1), 79-89.

Kear, D. J., Coffman, G. A., McKenna, M. C., & Ambrosio, A. L. (2000). Measuring attitude toward writing: A new tool for teachers. The Reading Teacher, 54(1), 10-23.

Kelley, M. J., & Decker, E. O. (2009). The current state of motivation to read among middle school students. Reading Psychology, 30(5), 466-485.

Kolić-Vehovec, S., Zubković, B. R., & Pahljina-Reinić, R. (2014). Development of metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and attitudes toward reading in early adolescence: The effect on reading comprehension. Psychological Topics, 23(1), 77-98.

Lewis, C., & Del Valle, A. (2009). Literacy and identity. Handbook of adolescent literacy research, 307-322.

Matthews, J. S., Banerjee, M., & Lauermann, F. (2014). Academic identity formation and motivation among ethnic minority adolescents: The role of the "self" between internal and external perceptions of identity. Child Development, 85(6), 2355-2373.

McMahon, S. D., Parnes, A. L., Keys, C. B., & Viola, J. J. (2008). School belonging among low‐income urban youth with disabilities: Testing a theoretical model. Psychology in the Schools, 45(5), 387-401.

Merga, M. K. (2015). Access to books in the home and adolescent engagement in recreational book reading: Considerations for secondary school educators. English in Education, 49(3), 197-214.

Moje, E. B., & Luke, A. (2009). Literacy and identity: Examining the metaphors in history and contemporary research. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4), 415-437.

Pajares, F. (2003). Self-efficacy beliefs, motivation, and achievement in writing: A review of the literature. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 19(2), 139-158.

Pajares, F., Johnson, M. J., & Usher, E. L. (2007). Sources of writing self-efficacy beliefs of elementary, middle, and high school students. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(1), 104-120.

Parhiala, P., Torppa, M., Vasalampi, K., Eklund, K., Poikkeus, A. M., & Aro, T. (2018). Profiles of school motivation and emotional well-being among adolescents: Associations with math and reading performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 61, 196-204.

Piña-Watson, B., Lopez, B., Ojeda, L., & Rodriguez, K. M. (2015). Cultural and cognitive predictors of academic motivation among Mexican American adolescents: Caution against discounting the impact of cultural processes. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 43(2), 109-121.

Pintrich, P. R., & De Groot, E. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 33-40.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.

Schiefele, U., Schaffner, E., Moller, J., & Wigfield, A. (2012). Dimensions of reading motivation and their relation to reading behavior and competence. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(4), 427-463.

Smith, Z. R., Langberg, J. M., Cusick, C. N., Green, C. D., & Becker, S. P. (2020). Academic motivation deficits in adolescents with ADHD and associations with academic functioning. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(2), 237-249

Tabassam, W., & Grainger, J. (2002). Self-concept, attributional style and self-efficacy beliefs of students with learning disabilities with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25(2), 141-151.

Taboada, A., Townsend, D., & Boynton, M. J. (2013). Mediating effects of reading engagement on the reading comprehension of early adolescent English language learners. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 29(4), 309-332.

The Education Trust. (August, 2020). Social, emotional, and academic development through an equity lens. Washington, DC.

Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Tynes, B. M., Toomey, Russell, B., Williams, D. R., & Mitchell, K. J. (2015). Latino adolescents' perceived discrimination in online and offline settings: An examination of cultural risk and protective factors. Developmental Psychology, 51(1), 87-100.

Weiser, B. (2014). Academic diversity: Ways to motivate and engage students with learning disabilities. Council for Learning Disabilities, 1-16.

Wigfield, A. & Guthrie, J.T. (1997). Relations of children's motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 420-432.

Wolters, C. A., Denton, C. A., York, M. J., & Francis, D. J. (2014). Adolescents' motivation for reading: Group differences and relation to standardized achievement. Reading and Writing, 27(3), 503-533.

Yates, N., & Patall, E. A. (2021). Exploring the relationship between Black high school students' external regulation and intrinsic motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 45(2), 146-158.

Zumbrunn, S., Marrs, S., & Mewborn, C. (2016). Toward a better understanding of student perceptions of writing feedback: A mixed methods study. Reading and Writing, 29(2), 349-370.