Assessing academic motivation among elementary school children : the Elementary School Motivation Scale (ESMS)

The purpose of the present research was to develop and validate a measure of motivation toward elementary school subjects, the Elementary School Motivation Scale (ESMS). The ESMS is designed to assess the constructs of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and external regulation in relation to reading, writing, and mathematics. A cross-sectional study of 426 students in Grades 1, 2 and 3 was used to develop and validate the ESMS. Overall, results show that the ESMS is composed of 3 internally consistent factors for the three school subjects. The construct validity of the scale is also supported by a quasi-simplex pattern of correlations, and correlations with academic self-concept and school achievement. Results provided clear support for the invariance of the factor solution over gender and age. Results from the MIMIC model reveal neither gender and age significant effects nor interaction effects between age and sex on the motivational subscales. In sum, the ESMS represents a valid self-report measure of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and external regulation in relation to reading, writing, and mathematics among elementary school children.