A daily diary study of reading motivation inside and outside of school: A dynamic approach to motivation to read

Qualitative literacy motivation research increasingly documents students' divergent motivations to read in and outside of the school setting. However, commonly used assessments of literacy motivation do not measure the contribution of in-school and outside-school settings to students' motivation to read. Consequently, quantitative research has not explored potential systematic motivational differences between these settings. The current study offers a new methodology for examining the potentially dynamic nature of reading motivation using a daily diary approach to capture 119 fifth graders' daily in-school and outside-of-school reading motivations. Data were analyzed using the Multilevel Model for Change framework. Results indicate that students exhibited large daily intra-individual fluctuations in their levels of reading motivation within and between contexts. The present study supports the design of dynamic assessments of reading motivation and promotes research programs that try to understand the constellation of situational factors that lead to high motivation.

► Measures of reading motivation do not capture contextual or daily fluctuations.
► First daily diary study to explore reading motivation inside and outside school
► Daily and general measures correlate with different outside school activities.
► Large intra-individual fluctuations within and between contexts daily