Examining the Validity of the Classroom Reading Motivation Measure With Elementary Students Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Item Discrimination

Abstract

Reading motivation is an important contributor to reading achievement. Students with higher levels of motivation tend to outperform those with lower levels. Reading motivation is a dynamic, situational, context-dependent trait that can vary in children over time and across tasks. Teachers have a valuable opportunity to support students’ reading motivation through the instructional methods they employ, the tasks they assign, and the texts that they use in their classroom. In order to take advantage of this potential, teachers need access to actionable information regarding their students’ motivational status. The more aware a teacher can be of students’ individual levels of reading motivation, the sooner they can intervene appropriately to avoid the potentially devastating effects of low reading motivation on the students’ achievement. Currently, teachers lack a way to measure reading motivation in a quick, valid, and reliable way. The Classroom Reading Motivation Measure (CRMM) was created to fill this gap for teachers. The CRMM was based on four motivation constructs (self-efficacy, value of reading, relatedness, and autonomy) containing 45 items. This study included participants (n = 158) in 3rd and 4th grades from three schools in the mid-South. The validity and reliability of the CRMM and the results were mixed. The expected four-factor structure was confirmed. Internal consistency was acceptable. Construct validity was supported by the CRMM’s significant correlations to the three existing reading motivation measures and one reading comprehension measures: Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS), the Motivation to Read Profile-Revised (MRP-R), the Motivation to Read Questionnaire (MRQ) and the Gates MacGinitie Reading Test (GMRT). The potential practical usefulness of the CRMM for teachers is discussed as well as limitations and future research.