Validating the Latent Variable Structure of College-Going Motivation, Knowledge, and Behaviors

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: STEM, Motivation, and Pathways

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and validate survey measures assessing students’ college readiness, particularly in rural communities. Grounded in Perna’s conceptual model of student college choice and achievement motivation perspectives, the study focused on three dimensions: motivation, college knowledge, and preparatory behaviors. Data came from 730 high school juniors in Mississippi who participated in a virtual reality and phone app intervention to promote college access. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the structure of the proposed model, with items clustering into meaningful, theory-based subscales. The three dimensions were strongly interrelated, and motivation significantly predicted students’ educational expectations. Findings support the model’s utility as a theoretically grounded, psychometrically sound tool for use in future intervention, cross-sectional, or longitudinal research on college readiness.

Authors

• Tianlan Wei, Mississippi State University

• Judith L. Meece, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

• Carol Cutler White, Mississippi State University