Exploring the Alignment of Writing Self-Efficacy with Writing Achievement Using Rasch Measurement Theory and Qualitative Methods

摘要

Alignment of writing self-efficacy and writing achievement is defined as the congruence between student confidence regarding writing skills (writing self-efficacy) and the actual performance on these writing skills as reflected in teacher grades (achievement). One purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between these two variables. A second purpose is to demonstrate a mixed-methods approach to investigating relationships between affective variables using Rasch measurement and interviews. Participants were eighth grade students (N = 94) from an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse school in the southeastern United States. Our results suggest that students who struggle with the mechanics of writing yet appreciate the expressive capacity of writing, may have higher senses of writing self-efficacy that are not predictive of performance.