NCME Newsletter

I have been an NCME member since 2000, when I started graduate school at Iowa. NCME been an intellectual home to me through the years, and I am so overwhelmingly excited and honored to get to serve NCME as its President for 2020 – 2021. Of course, when I said I would run for NCME President back in 2018, I had no idea what I was getting into!

The past few months have been extremely unsettling. COVID-19 has infected millions of people and claimed more than 150,000 lives in the US. In addition, an outcry for social justice and equality has swept our nation. People are frustrated, exhausted, and hurting. I shared a Presidential Statement on Our Commitment to Equality and Justice in early June. You can read it here.

In the midst of all the changes and uncertainty in our society, we are also seeing COVID-19’s impact in the measurement field. In the past three months, we have witnessed so many changes. Our industry is moving fast and furious in many directions.

Read Dr. Tong's first presidential address here.

From the Editor
Megan Welsh, University of California, Davis

Welcome to the Summer 2020 issue, which focuses on our president, Ye Tong's commitment to Bridging Research and Practice. In it, we hear from multiple researchers about different takes on this theme, including: research needs in online assessments from Jennifer Beamers; ways to improve decisionmaking in the context of test-optional admissions from Jinghua Liu, tipping points in educational research from Marianne Perie, and the need for research with practical impact from Daniel Koretz. Ofcourse, we also hear from Ye Tong directly in the presidential address and as the Spotlight podcast interviewee.

Our graduate student contributor, Valeria Zunino discusses juggling graduate school as a mother and as an immigrant. Ren Liu presents his work developing animated videos that teach the foundations of educational measurement, Diane Gaa presents opportunities for measurement professionals in the field of corporate learning, and Mingjia Ma presents EM:IP and JEM decision time rates over two years.

We also include a new section that summarizes the work of different SIGIMIES and are grateful for contributions from the Certification and Licensure SIGIMIE and the Educators of Measurement SIGIMIE, both have been quite productive in a short timespan.

Finally, don't miss updates on the annual meeting, call for EM:IP editor, incoming NCME newsletter editor, summer virtual training sessions and much more in the updates and opportunities section.


	Graduate Student Corner: Introducing Valeria Zunino Valeria Zunino, University of California, Davis
	In this column, I would like to share my experience as a Chilean Ph.D. student, wife, and mother of two children. I hope these words can motivate you to pursue your professional goals, but without forgetting your personal and family needs. Read more here.

In this Issue

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Spotlight on the People Who Make Our Organization Great Ye Tong, Pearson
This issue's spotlight focuses on Ye Tong, NCME President and Vice President at Pearson. Click on the link below to hear Ye discuss how her career has evolved, learn about the skills graduate students should develop for a successful career, and to learn about her hobbies.

Bridging Research and Practice
Leaders in the field discuss research issues that are important to operational testing experts like our President, Ye Tong.

A Call for Additional Research to Support Online Assessments
Jennifer Beimers, Pearson

Jennifer Biemers summarizes the rapid integration of technology into assessment and calls for research that would helps us make the most of
the affordances provided by technology. Her article can be found here.

Building Bridges: Improving Test Optional Practice with Research
Jinghua Liu, Enrollment Management Association

In this article, Jinghua Liu provides some recommendations that universities might use in making admissions decisions in test-optional admissions settings.

Tipping Points Requiring Us to Bridge Research and Practice
Marianne Perie, Measurement in Practice LLC.

Marianne Perie discusses some historical tipping points in education and how measurement contributed to those eras. She argues that we are now at a new tipping point and discusses how measurement can address today's issues. Read more here.

Research for Practical Impact
Daniel Koretz, Harvard University

In this piece, Daniel Koretz argues that it is not enough for measurement
research to bridge to practice; it must also have practical
impact. What matters in the end is not whether our work is innovative or
elegant per se, but whether it provides a meaningful improvement—that
is, better information or other positive effects, either within the
educational system or elsewhere in society. Technical innovation should
be especially valued when it is in service of these goals. We need to
redirect research to better focus on important measurement issues that
have major practical implications.

SIGIMIE Section

We have added a new section of the newsletter to introduce the membership to the work of different SIGIMIES. In this issue, the Certification and Licensure and Educators of Measurement SIGIMIES share their
work.

Certification & Licensure SIGIMIE: Fear and Loathing in Certification and Licensure

Michael Peabody, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Andrew Jones, American Board of Surgery, Jonathan Rubright, National Board of Medical Examiners, and Pooja Shivraj, American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

As committee members for the new NCME SIGIMIE on Certification and Licensure, we thought we'd share our experiences on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our respective organizations and has set up an existential crisis regarding the necessary requirements to enter professional practice. Read more about these challenges here.

An Update from the Educators of Measurement SIGIMIE
Brian Leventhal, James Madison University, and Allison Ames Boykin, University of Arkansas

The Educators of Measurement SIGIMIE launched with a focus on : (1) Recruitment, (2) Teaching and Learning, and (3) Advising and Mentorship of future educational measurement professionals.

As a first major initiative, the SIGIMIE has sponsored a free summer Webinar series, with each centered on one of the three focus areas above, Webinar recordings and other exclusive content/events will be reserved for SIGIMIE members. It's free to sign up for NCME members, so don't miss out on staying updated! For more information read here.

Articles

Teaching Resource: Anatomy of Measurement
Ren Liu, University of California, Merced

Ren Liu reports on a series of four animated You Tube videos that he has created on
the foundations of educational measurement. The videos can be accessed on the
ITEMS portal and also in his summary of his efforts, which can be found here.

Do You Like a Challenge?
Diane Gaa, WELEARN

Diane Gaa describes the field of corporate learning and outlines potential
contributions that educational measurement experts might make to that field. As with
other educational initiatives, measuring impact is essential. She concludes by calling
for a SIGIMIE that focuses on issues of concern to corporate learning. Read more
here.

Two-year Trend Analysis on NCME Journal Decision Time
Mingjia Ma, University of Iowa

In this article, Mingjia Ma describes the decision times for EM:IP and JEM. Time to accept, revise and resubmit, reject, reject innappropriate, reject and resubmit, and reject without resubmit are presented by month over a two-year period.

In Other News
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Updates

Lots has been happening behind the scenes at NCME. Please see the links below for details:

Upcoming Opportunities

We are excited to share news about the upcoming conference, SIGIMIES you can become involved with, NCME-sponsored virtual training sessions, the CREA conference, and an opportunity to become the next editor of EM:IP. Click on the links below to learn more:

About the NCME Newsletter

The NCME Newsletter, a quarterly publication, contains announcements and news about current events pertinent to research and practice in educational measurement. The events include those both internal and external to NCME that will interest NCME membership. The Newsletter also provides NCME membership with information about the activities of the NCME Board and NCME committees.

The folders below contain previous NCME Newsletters, dating back to 2003. Click on the year you would like to search, and then click on a PDF to view an archived NCME Newsletter.

In This Issue:

Library

Folders

NCME Newsletters

2019

2018

2020

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

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2003

Spotlight Interviews and Other Media

Folder Contents

Video Interviews

Jamal Abedi Spotlight Interview

Patricia Crespo: How to talk to educators

Patti Herrera: How to talk to policymakers

Jade Caines Lee Spotlight Interview

Andy Middlestead Spotlight Interview

André Rupp Spotlight Interview Tell me about your hobbies

Where do you work? What are your research interests?

Tell me about your teaching experience How did you get involved in ITEMS?

What career advice do you have? What would you do if you weren't in measurement?

Steve Sireci Spotlight Interview