Modeling Student Motivation and Students’ Ability Estimates From a Large-Scale Assessment of Mathematics

Abstract

When large-scale assessments (LSA) do not hold personal stakes for students, students may not put forth their best effort. Low-effort examinee behaviors (e.g., guessing, omitting items) result in an underestimate of examinee abilities, which is a concern when using results of LSA to inform educational policy and planning. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between examinee motivation as defined by expectancy-value theory, student effort, and examinee mathematics abilities. A principal components analysis was used to examine the data from Grade 9 students ( n = 43,562) who responded to a self-report questionnaire on their attitudes and practices related to mathematics. The results suggested a two-component model where the components were interpreted as task-values in mathematics and student effort. Next, a hierarchical linear model was implemented to examine the relationship between examinee component scores and their estimated ability on a LSA. The results of this study provide evidence that motivation, as defined by the expectancy-value theory and student effort, partially explains student ability estimates and may have implications in the information that get transferred to testing organizations, school boards, and teachers while assessing students’ Grade 9 mathematics learning.

Testing Students with Special Educational Needs in Large-Scale Assessments – Psychometric Properties of Test Scores and Associations with Test Taking Behavior

“…Aberrant response and missing patterns are only indicators of test-taking behavior. Other strands of research combine competence measures with explicitly assessed effort measures to approach unmotivated test-taking behavior ( Zerpa et al, 2011 ) or rely on response times as implicit measures for the same purpose (e.g., Wise and Kong, 2005 ). An integration of different approaches and research traditions might be valuable to gain deeper insights into the relationship between psychometric quality of test scores and test-taking behavior of students with SEN-L.…”

Measuring Motivation in Low‐Stakes Assessments

“…A number of researchers have suggested that student motivation be incorporated into measurement models (Frary, Tideman, & Watts, ; Karabatsos, ; Wise & DeMars, , ; for a review, see Zerpa, Hachey, van Barneveld, & Simon, ). For example, might it be possible to expand item response theory (IRT) to include effort?…”

Using Extrinsic Motivation to Influence Student Attitude and Behavior Toward State Assessments at an Urban High School

“…Such deterioration of academic motivation can expose this disconnect, introducing the question of how much student effort affects results of high-stakes assessments (Eklöf, 2006). This proposition has received some study by evaluating the nonconsequential nature of the assessment results for students and the possibility that this may mitigate student performance (Sundre & Kitsantas, 2004; Zerpa, Hachey, van Barneveld, & Simon, 2011). With the disparity of stakes between school personnel and students, considering the role of extrinsic motivation introduces an intriguing element.…”

“…A student’s perception that performance on a task may be useful in the future provides an important aspect of the expectancy-value model as it relates to student performance motivation on state assessments (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). When a student believes that performance on an academic assessment offers meaning to him or her, and he or she places value on the outcome, the student is more likely to engage in the task with greater levels of effort to perform at a higher level (Ryan et al, 2007; Zerpa et al, 2011). Eklöf’s (2006) found that in order for students to place value on an activity, such as performance on state assessments, they must believe that greater effort on the activity is worthwhile.…”