Reading motivation is a critical contributor to reading achievement and has the potential to influence its development. Educators, researchers, and evaluators need to select the best reading motivation scales for their research and classroom. The goals of this review were to identify a set of reading motivation student self-report scales used in research, examine the development and psychometric properties of each reading motivation scale, and compare scales on availability, reliability, age range, and motivation constructs measured. This article summarizes 16 current reading motivation scales. Findings suggest the need for more research regarding the multidimensionality of reading motivation and measures that could span early childhood to adolescence.

While proficiency in reading is critical to understanding core class texts, researchers also believe that reading skills and strategies do not fully account for the variability in students’ engagement in reading. In fact, students engage or disengage in reading for a variety of reasons. For example, they may enjoy the process of reading or believe that reading is a valuable way to learn information. Students who disengage from reading, however, may not lack the ability to read but resist reading due to a lack of motivation.