School-Based Motivation and Self-Regulation Assessments: An Examination of School Psychologist Beliefs and Practices

Abstract

One hundred eight practicing school psychologists participated in an online survey designed to examine the need for school-based self-regulation and motivation assessments, the frequency with which they engage in these assessment practices, and the nature of this apparent gap in school psychology practice. In general, results showed that even though school psychologists frequently encounter student referrals involving motivation and self-regulation deficits and recognize the importance and value of assessing these processes, they rarely conduct these types of evaluations. Although many factors may contribute to this phenomenon, it appears that school psychologists have insufficient knowledge and familiarity with motivation and self-regulation assessment methods as well as limited training in working with youth exhibiting these types of difficulties. Implications for practice and future research are highlighted and discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• self-regulation
• motivation
• survey
• assessment
• professional development

This article was accepted under the editorialship of Dr. Charles A. Maher.

I would like to express my sincerest thanks to all school psychologists who elected to participate in this study. I am also grateful to Professor Marian Fish for her helpful feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Notes

^aReported in number of years.

^aScores were based on a Likert scale ranging from 1 “Almost Never” to 5 “Almost Always.”

^b N = 107.

^aScores were based on a Likert scale ranging from 1 “Strongly Disagree” to 6 “Strongly Agree.”

^c N = 107.

^d N = 106.

^b N = 105.

^a N = 107.

^b N = 106.

^c N = 105.

^d N = 104.

^f N = 103.

^e N = 101.

^aScores were based on a Likert scale ranging from 1 “Almost Never” to 5 “Almost Always.”

^bScores were based on a Likert scale ranging from 1 “Strongly Disagree” to 6 “Strongly Agree.”

∗p < .05.

∗∗p < .01.