Examining the Validity of the Writing Challenge Task: An Assessment Tool for Measuring Writing Motivation in Kindergarteners

Abstract

Motivation impacts student academic performance. A performance task to directly assess writing motivation in young children is needed. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the validity of the Writing Challenge Task (WCT), a task-oriented assessment created to measure writing motivation with 106 kindergarten students in the rural mid-South. The authors sought to establish internal reliability; concurrent validity with the Motivation for Reading and Writing Profile (MWRP); evaluate correlations between measures and socioeconomic status (SES); and evaluate the predictive validity of the WCT to a state-mandated end-of-year assessment. Cronbach’s alpha, a correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to examine these relationships. The WCT had excellent internal reliability with Cronbach’s alpha of .91 (n = 64). The WCT (p = .01) and SES (p = .03) were both positively correlated with end-of-year writing scores, though the MRWP was not. No significant correlations between the WCT, the MRWP, and SES were found. Further, the inclusion of WCT as a predictor created the most robust model so that predictor variance (SES and WCT) accounted for 11% of the variance in end-of-year writing scores, p = .01, R² = .11, such that students were expected to score 0.13 units higher on the end-of-year writing assessment for every 1 point increase in their WCT score. This study established evidence that students’ WCT scores had higher predictive validity on kindergarteners’ end-of-year outcomes than a more commonly used writing motivation instrument. Future research on the measure is warranted.

Ethical approval

All ethics approvals were obtained by the IRB review board at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Moses Prabu oversaw this approval and gave approval number 19-2039.