NCME 2011 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement
Award Description
The Bradley Hanson Award has been established to honor Bradley Hanson's contributions to the field of educational measurement and to further advance the goals embodied in his work. Applicants must describe a recently completed research project or propose a new research project that promises to make a substantive contribution to the field of educational measurement and / or the development, instruction, or mentoring of new professionals in the field. Please see this list of previous recipients and their projects for more information.
A typical time frame for the expected completion of the proposed project is one to two years. The recipient will be awarded $1,250 and a commemorative plaque from NCME, which will be presented to the recipient at the 2011 NCME Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
For additional information on Bradley Hanson and his body of work, please go to the website that is maintained in his memory (http://www.b-a-h.com/). You may also e-mail the committee chair with any questions or comments you may have!
Eligibility
To be eligible for the award a candidate must (1) be a member of NCME or be nominated by an NCME member and become a member by the time the award is presented at the 2011 NCME Annual Meeting; and (2) have completed, be working on, or be proposing a project that makes a significant contribution to the field of educational measurement and / or a significant contribution to the development of new professionals in the field. Individuals or groups of individuals at any stage in their careers are eligible.
Nomination (Application)
In order to be eligible for the award, the applicant needs to be nominated from a member in good standing of NCME; self-nominations are welcome. The nomination letter must describe both the candidate and the project to be supported, addressing specifically the selection criteria detailed above. Please use the application form and the form for letters of recommendation for your application package; there is no specific form for the nomination letter, the project description, or the curriculum vitae.
Nomination (application) packages for the award must include
- The letter of nomination,
- A completed application form,
- At least one letter of recommendation from person(s) other than the nominator, which address the qualifications of the candidate and the importance of the project,
- A project description of 1500 words or less, which must provide details on the specific research project to be supported by the award and information on how the $1,250 will be spent, and
- A current curriculum vitae.
The nominator and the nominee agree that this work will not be nominated for a similar award in AERA that will be given during the 2011 Annual Meeting. The application form, project description, and curriculum vitae must be submitted electronically via e-mail to the committee chair by 11.59 p.m. on November 14, 2010.
The letter of nomination and the letter(s) of recommendation must be sent to the committee chair as hard copies by regular mail. The complete contact information for the current committee chair is as follows:
André A. Rupp
Department of Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation (EDMS)
University of Maryland
1230-A Benjamin Building
College Park, MD 20742
Attention: NCME Bradley Hanson Award
E-mail: ruppandr@umd.edu
Phone: (301) 405 – 3623
Fax: (301) 314 – 9245
Donations
Donations to the Bradley A. Hanson Memorial Fund may be made payable to the Arizona Community Foundation and sent to the:
Arizona Community Foundation
Bradley A. Hanson Memorial Fund
2122 E. Highland Avenue, Suite 400
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Bradley Hanson Award - FAQ Section
Eligibility
I am at an early stage of my career. Can I still apply?
Yes. You can apply for this award at any time of your career and applications from young scholars are particularly encouraged. For example, you can apply as a graduate student pursuing original research toward a Master’s or Ph.D. degree, as a new faculty member who is starting to build a research portfolio, or as a more established scholar who has made advances in an area that reflects the work and values of Brad Hanson. Even though the award supports research work, this can include work that focuses on professional activities such as instructional or mentoring programs.
Can we apply as a group of researchers?
Yes. Independent of where you are currently in your career you can apply as a representative for a group of researchers with whom you are working on a project. The names of all the applicants have to be on the form and CVs of all applicants must be submitted. The project description should describe the nature of the contribution of each group.
Does my research have to be in a particular area or use a particular methodology?
No. The call for the award is deliberately open in this regard. Your research project should, however, be in an area that is consistent with the work that Brad Hanson has done. Brad was a very productive scholar who has worked in a wide variety of topics for educational measurement so we encourage you to learn about his work and see how your own work fits in this regard!
Does my research project have to be completed at the time of application?
No, but it can be. Your research project can be recently completed, newly proposed, or in progress. If it is completed, it needs to have been completed within the past 12 months. If you are applying for the award with a project that is not yet completed (i.e., newly proposed or in progress), you need to be able to complete it within two years from when you receive the award.
I have submitted an application but was not selected as the recipient. Can I resubmit my application the following year?
Yes. There is currently no limit to the number of times that you can submit an application. While repeated submissions are accepted, they are not given any preference over new submissions. In other words, each application is reviewed each year anew in the context of the other applications that have been submitted.
I am not a U.S. citizen. Can I still apply?
Yes. Brad was a mentor for quite a few international students and worked with people around the world. Thus, we specifically encourage international scholars and students to apply as well.
Submission Process
Can I submit all application materials either as a hardcopy via regular mail or electronically via email?
No. All materials, except the letters of reference, must be submitted by the applicant via e-mail to the committee chair. The letters of reference must be submitted by the referees via regular mail to the committee chair. However, as an applicant you are free to send your application materials additionally as hardcopies via regular mail to the committee chair. Similarly, referees are free to send their letters of references additionally via e-mail also.
Can I submit my application late?
No. Any application materials that are received later than the deadline for the award, either via e-mail or via regular mail, will be discarded. Please ask reviewers to send their materials via mail at least a week ahead of the deadline and submit your application via e-mail at least a few days ahead of the deadline.
Can I submit an application letter that is longer than 1500 words?
No. Please stay within the limit to make the work easier for the reviewers of the applications. Any application that contains a letter with more than 1500 words will be viewed unfavourably.
Does the limit of 1500 words include appendices, references, graphics, and other materials?
Yes. Please do not submit separate documents or links to web sites that contain extensive additional information. The application letter serves to provide the reviewers with a concise description of your proposed research and is not meant as a comprehensive documentation of all aspects of that research similar to a grant application.
Are there any formatting requirements for the application letter?
No. You may use any font type, margin size, page layout, and style manual that you like. To make the application easier to read for the reviewers, you may want to consider using a standard layout such as 1-inch margins on each side, 12-point font, and a 1.5 or double-spacing. Your application will not be evaluated negatively if you do not follow these recommendations, however.
Evaluation Process
Will my application be evaluated by several persons?
Yes. Every application will be read by every member of the Bradley Hanson award committee. There are currently nine committee members, many of whom have a Ph.D. in an area related to educational measurement. See the roster here.
Will my application be evaluated according to multiple criteria?
Yes. The application will be evaluated via five-point rating scales according to analytic criteria that characterize the project itself (e.g., predicted significance of contribution, practical feasibility, methodological appropriateness, consistency and coherence of description) and the applicant (e.g., academic qualifications for proposed project, potential for successful managing of project, career development objectives). After a reduced pool of applicants has been determined, the final decision will be made consensually on the basic of the analytic ratings and holistic impressions.
Do you receive a large number of applications?
No. (not so far) We have had only a few numbers of applicants in recent years - six has been the largest number so far – but we certainly hope that this number will increase in the coming years.
Benefits of Award
Will I receive anything in particular if I am selected as a recipient?
Yes. You will receive $1250 and a commemorative plaque, which will be presented to you (or your group) at a ceremony during the annual meeting of NCME that follows the application deadline. There are no specific restrictions on how you use the money except that it should be spent for the project that you proposed. Note, however, that the award does not include transportation, lodging, membership, or reservation fees to the NCME conference, which are your responsibility should you be chosen as a recipient.
Responsibilities of Recipient
Do I have to do anything besides the research if I am selected as a recipient?
Yes. It is expected that you attend the annual meeting of NCME to accept the cheque and the plaque. Moreover, we hope that you will be able to present your research at a later NCME meeting in an invited session upon the completion of the work. We had the first of such sessions in 2009 and plan to have them in regular intervals of about three years or so. We do not require you to present your research at the next session since we cannot support your travel or accommodations, but we certainly hope that you would be able to do so!
Donations
Can I donate money to the award?
Yes. We are delighted that you want to financially support other researchers and contribute to the memory of Brad Hanson through this award! You can contribute as an individual or as an organization and donations of any amount are welcome! You will be acknowledged as a contributor on the website of the award unless you specifically indicate that you do not want to be named.
Supporting the fund is easy and can be done via the following institution:
Arizona Community Foundation
Bradley A. Hanson Memorial Fund
2122 E. Highland Avenue, Suite 400
Phoenix, AZ 85016
Can I contribute in other ways to the award?
Yes. The award committee would like to solicit your suggestions about other means for making this award more meaningful to researchers that wish to honor Brad Hanson and his work. If you have any suggestions or would like to make a contribution to the award that is of a non-financial nature, please contact the committee chair.
Award Committee
I am interested in participating in the award committee. Is that possible?
Yes. We are delighted that you consider serving on this committee! The committee currently consists of nine members and membership is on a rotating basis with three-year memberships. If you are interested in serving on the awards committee, please do not hesitate to contact the committee chair.