Development of the Reading Anxiety Scale for Elementary and Middle School Students: Validity and Reliability Study

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to develop “The Reading Anxiety Scale” for Elementary and
Middle School Students. Firstly, an initial 42 items were administrated to 410 fourth and fifth graders. The
results of exploratory factor analysis showed that this scale had 29 items and yielded a unitary factor. Cronbach
Alpha for the scale was found to be .95. Confirmatory factor analysis was administrated to 220 fourth and fifth
graders to test the factor structure of the scale. The findings provide some evidence for the validity and reliability
of the scale. Accordingly, it is put forward that the scale can use to determine the middle and elementary school
students’ reading anxiety for research on reading anxiety.