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Welcome to News@NCME, your dedicated source for the latest developments, insights, and discussions in the world of educational measurement. As a vibrant community of professionals, educators, researchers, and students, we are committed to advancing the field through sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and celebrating achievements.

At News@NCME, we understand the importance of staying informed and connected. Our platform offers a dynamic range of articles, updates, and resources tailored to enrich your understanding and engagement with educational measurement. Whether you are delving into complex research, seeking best practices, or exploring innovative approaches, our content is curated to support your journey.

We invite you to explore our latest news, participate in upcoming events, and engage with our diverse community. Your insights and contributions are what make NCME a leading voice in educational measurement. Let's continue to learn, share, and grow together.

Editor of News@NCME: Cheng Hua, Ph. D., University of Montevallo

 

NCME President: Dr. Andrew Ho

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Bird with Tree

President's Message

                        Updated on Nov. 12, 2024

Dear NCME Community,

November was another strong month for this great organization, as NCME nominated members to the National Assessment Governing Board, joined organizations that support federal statistical and science agencies, and acted on reviews from hundreds of our reviewers to accept hundreds of your proposals to present the best measurement scholarship and practice at our annual meeting in Denver in April. A few updates follow:

 

1) Faculty colleagues who teach in measurement programs, you should soon receive an invitation from me, in collaboration with our Educators of Measurement Special Interest Group, to an NCME Presidential Summit for Educational Measurement Programs in January. I hope to discuss together whether and how NCME can elevate and cohere our measurement programs across academic institutions. I will also be hosting an open Town Hall for all measurement faculty to discuss any questions about the Summit next Friday, 12/13. Please reach out to me if you happen to miss this and are an NCME member who teaches educational measurement in a doctoral program.

 

2) After I met with representatives of federal scientific and statistical agencies last month in Washington, DC, NCME has joined two member organizations that support such agencies, the Friends of the Institute of Education Sciences (FIES) and the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (COPAFS). IES supports much of our research in developing and improving measurement in education, and COPAFS offers an opportunity to elevate educational measures and their validity within federal statistical agencies. I am proud that we can play a role in supporting these institutions as they have supported so much of the research of our members.

 

3) If you are not yet following NCME’s social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter/X, and newly Bluesky, you are missing out on job opportunities, award nominations, new scholarships, NCME News, and at our conference in April, some opportunities for free NCME swag! I appreciate all the great work Kylie Gorney, and our social media committee has done to engage the NCME community through these platforms. Follow NCME and stay up to date!

 

4) In my role as President, and in the spirit of my presidential theme of “continuity,” I volunteered to comment on 12 articles by Past Presidents in a forthcoming special issue of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice on the past, present, and future of educational measurement. The 12 Past Presidents who authored commentaries (listed by their terminal presidential year) are: Lorrie Shepard (1983), Robert Brennan (1997), John Fremer (2001), Terry Ackerman (2010), Wayne Camara (2011), Greg Cizek (2013), Laurie Wise (2015), Mark Wilson (2017), Randy Bennett (2018), Stephen Sireci (2020), Derek Briggs (2022), and Deborah Harris (2023). I hope you read their thoughtful and wide-ranging articles. Here is my synthesis/commentary, titled, "Measurement must be qualitative, then quantitative, then qualitative again” (DOI, Open Access).

 

I took the occasion of the long weekend here last week to appreciate the opportunity I have to serve this important organization alongside so many other dedicated scholars, professionals, and students. If there are other ideas that you have about how NCME can serve you or about how you can serve NCME, never hesitate to reach out.

Andrew Ho, President

National Council on Measurement in Education

NCME 2025 Awards Call for Nominations!

The NCME 2025 Awards will be presented at the NCME Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, on April 23-26, 2025.

Nomination Deadline: January 10, 2025

Dear NCME Colleagues,

The NCME Annual Awards and Recognition Program celebrates outstanding contributions within our organization. This is a chance to acknowledge the dedication, creativity, and impact of individuals who have significantly advanced our field. NCME offers six distinct awards, each with specific criteria for eligibility and nomination:

We encourage you to consider nominating your colleagues, mentors, students, or others you value for these awards and recognize their achievements at the upcoming Annual Meeting in Denver. For complete award details and nomination instructions, please follow each award’s webpage links.

Thank you,

Andrew Ho

President, NCME

Lead Through Service:  

Become the Next Editor-in-Chief of JEM 

For the past 60 years, the Journal of Educational Measurement has been the premier scholarly publication in psychometrics. The journal advances the science of educational measurement by presenting new contributions to measurement theory and improving the application of measurement theory in a variety of educational settings.  

The Editors-in-Chief of JEM are leaders in the field and have earned the respect and admiration of their colleagues. In fact, of the 21 professionals who have volunteered their time and expertise to serve as the Editor-in-Chief of JEM, 12 have gone on to serve as NCME President and 7 have won NCME Career Achievement Awards. 

 

What does the Editor-in-Chief do? 

Plenty! The Editor-in-Chief reviews submitted manuscripts, solicits reviews from experts, and ultimately makes the final decision on which manuscripts will be published in JEM. Through these editorial decisions the Editor-in-Chief helps to guide the direction of the journal and the field as a whole. In addition, the EIC is entitled to publish one special issue on a topic of their choosing. 

Will anyone help me? 

So many people! The Editor-in-Chief may choose to select Associate Editors who will help to synthesize reviewer feedback and recommend editorial decisions. In addition, the EIC may appoint members to the JEM Editorial Board who can be relied upon to provide timely and thorough reviews. Finally, the EIC is entitled to a small stipend for administrative support. 

Should I Apply? 

Probably! There are no specific prerequisites for the Editor-in-Chief of JEM. That said, applicants should have an established record of expertise on a broad domain of topics. In addition, the best candidates will have experience as a member of an Editorial Board, Associate Editor, or Editor for another journal.  

Great! How do I apply? 

It’s Easy! Please send your Curriculum Vitae accompanied by a cover letter explaining your relevant experience and vision for JEM to Jerome Clauser and Hong Jiao, co-chairs of the NCME Publications Committee (ncmepubs@gmail.com). Letters of recommendation are welcome, but not required. 

Please submit materials by January 31, 2025, with appointment expected in early 2025. The appointed individual will shadow the current EIC throughout 2025, and would begin their three-year term as Editor-in-Chief from January 2026. 

Call for Authors to Publish in ITEMS!

Do you want to share your expertise with a broader audience in an interactive format? Are you interested in publishing in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice? If so, consider developing an ITEMS module!

What Are ITEMS Modules?
ITEMS modules are instructional resources designed to introduce key topics in educational measurement. With our user-friendly templates, you can get started without needing special instructional design skills or prior teaching experience.

Benefits of Developing an ITEMS Module:

  • Self-Paced Publication Cycle: Complete the process in less than a year.
  • Publication in a Reputable Journal: Gain visibility in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.
  • Enhance Communication skills: Improve your communication and instructional skills by creating a module on a topic of your interest.
  • Support Colleagues and Learners: ITEMS serves as a freely accessible learning resource for a diverse audience, including practitioners, graduate students, scholars, and the public. You can help them become familiar with important topics!

Topics:
ITEMS are currently open to any topics related to educational measurement. Preferred topics may include, but are not limited to, process data, learning analytics, machine learning techniques in educational measurement, and advanced psychometric methods for evaluating bias and fairness. This is a fantastic opportunity for graduate students and early career professionals eager to share emerging topics in educational measurement!

 

If you’re interested, please fill out the following form: Click Here

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!

 

Stella Kim

stella-kim@charlotte.edu

Incoming Editor, Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement Series

NCME launches Presidential Task Force on Educational Measurement and Civil Rights

          On May 30, the Presidential Task Force on the Role of Educational Measurement in the Protection and Advancement of Civil Rights held its inaugural meeting. The Task force, which was announced in March by Immediate Past President Michael Walker, will be chaired by Dr. Britte Haugan Cheng (Menlo Education Research, LLC).

          Cheng is joined on the Task Force by Co-chairs Dr. Sarah Beach (Education Rights Institute, University of Virginia School of Law), Dr. Juan D’Brot (Center for Assessment), and Dr. Howard Everson (Graduate Center, City University of New York). The eleven other Task Force members represent university faculty, graduate students, departments of education, school districts, consulting firms, testing organizations, and other nonprofits. Together, they will:

  • Look at the history of educational measurement in civil rights litigation and document the good and the bad.
  •      Identify specific elements of civil rights protections that may possibly be supported by educational measurement.
  •        Look at educational measurement programs at the federal, state, and local levels that claim to capture educational progress and document what purposes they serve fairly.
  •      Address common misunderstandings that get in the way of good legislation, policy, and practice that could ensure equal rights.
  •      And finally, write a report that reflects the consensus of the field of educational measurement, and indicating areas where greater understanding and consensus-building may be needed.

        The Task Force plans to involve other NCME members as well as representatives from different communities who interact with educational measurement in various capacities. 

        President Andrew Ho attended the inaugural meeting to offer his congratulations on the start of this important work. He encouraged the Task Force to present its findings at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Task Force members appreciated his remarks. “President Ho’s comments set a lovely stage for our conversation,” said Cheng afterward. She added, “I am excited and honored to be working on this task force with so many great people.”

        “I am thrilled to be working with the Task Force, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Walker. “I am confident that the final product will be a valuable asset for test score users.”

Upcoming Events

LDs Squared - Professional Learning Dialogue through Performance Level Descriptors

Hosted by: NCME State and Local Assessment Leader (SALAL) SIGIMIE

When: December 12, 2024 | 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM ET

Where: Online via Zoom (Join Here)

Meeting ID: 857 5957 7616 | Passcode: 092901

Event Overview

Understanding the connection between high standards, evidence of learning, and high-quality assessments is critical for driving meaningful improvements in student learning. Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) act as the bridge between learning and performance standards but often fall short of providing educators with concrete examples of mastery levels.

In this two-hour train-the-trainer session, attendees will learn how to effectively train teachers to use PLDs and released items to enhance instruction, creating a more balanced assessment system within their schools.

This session is ideal for professionals involved in:

  • Data-driven instructional strategies
  • Professional development for in-service and preservice educators
  • Assessment design, implementation, and evaluation
  • State assessments and policy-making

Presenters

Dr. Bryan R. Drost

  • Executive Director of Educational Services, Rocky River City Schools, Ohio. An experienced leader in assessment, instructional design, and data analysis, Dr. Drost has served on NCME committees and as a technical reviewer for large-scale assessments.

Tricia Ebner

  • Gifted Coach & Coordinator, MTSS Coordinator, Norton City Schools, Ohio. With over 30 years in education, Ms. Ebner specializes in gifted education and standards-based curriculum development.

Char Shryock

  • Education Leadership Consultant. A veteran educator with extensive experience in curriculum, technology integration, and assessment design, Ms. Shryock has co-authored a book on Generative AI in K-16 education.

Event Tag:

Professional Development | Balanced Assessment Systems | PLDs

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain practical strategies for implementing PLDs to support effective teaching and learning. Register today!

NCME Committee Updates

Announcement from the Classroom Assessment Committee

 

The NCME Classroom Assessment Committee invites NCME members to get involved with classroom assessment work in the following ways:

  • Consider hosting the 2026 NCME Special Conference on Classroom Assessment. Read the call for proposals to host here.
  • Please recommend webinar speakers to share their knowledge, understanding, and implementation of best practices in classroom assessment. Use this form to nominate yourself or a peer.
  • Consider signing your name to express your support for the creation of a new SIGIMIE, tentatively named “Assessment and Measurement to Support Classroom Learning”. Sign up here.
  • Consider contributing to the NCME Classroom Assessment Committee’s purposes and goals. Sign up here.

Announcement from the Mission Fund Committee

Committee Chair: Dr. Jonathan Rubright & Dr. Stella Kim

The NCME Mission Fund was established to provide a means for donors to express their tangible support for NCME’s mission to advance the science and scholarship of educational measurement and to provide individuals and organizations with financial support for projects and research that address this mission directly.

 

For the current cycle, the Mission Fund is again offering grants for initiatives focusing on fairness, equity, and social justice in assessment in line with President Andrew Ho’s theme of continuity. We invite researchers and practitioners to contemplate ways that fairness, equity, and social justice can be included in the design, administration, analysis, interpretation, use, and consequences of educational assessment and measurement in either large-scale or classroom settings. Those interested are invited to submit project proposals that may directly address, but are not limited to, the themes below, which have been developed in collaboration with the Committee on Diversity Issues in Testing (CODIT):

· Social Justice at the Center of Assessment Design

· Fairness and Equity in Validation, Reporting, and Consequences

· Innovation in Service of Fairness, Equity, and Social Justice

 

For complete details, including submission requirements and evaluation criteria, follow this link. 

 

Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2025

Educational Resources

Review the Meeting Recording: NLP for Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes

On May 8, 2024, Rose E. Wang from Stanford University presented on "Natural Language Processing for Improving Student Learning Outcomes," organized by the NCME Artificial Intelligence in Measurement & Education (AIME) SIGIMIE.

Dr. Wang highlighted her empirical language-based approach using NLP to enhance educational language at scale. She discussed Bridge, a method using cognitive task analysis to translate expert thought processes into decision-making models for remediation. Bridge-guided large language models (LLMs) outperformed novice tutors and LLMs alone in blind tests.

Dr. Wang also introduced Tutor CoPilot, a real-time decision aid using Bridge, which showed promising results in an ongoing randomized trial. Students working with Tutor CoPilot-equipped tutors reported significantly more positive tutoring experiences.

A recording of the event is available for those who missed it or wish to review the content. Access the meeting recording here.

Mastering the Job Market: A Guide for Educational Measurement Graduates on Resumes, Networking and Interviews

Effective job hunting for graduate students in Educational Measurement involves strategic preparation, from leveraging internships at organizations like Cognia, NCSBN, and ACT, to honing interview skills and managing a robust online presence. This guide offers comprehensive insights into creating impactful resumes, utilizing recommendation letters, and maximizing LinkedIn profiles and personal websites for academic and professional success. Embrace the journey with resources and tips to navigate the unique academic job market, underpinned by a systematic approach that mirrors the precision of your field. For further details on each aspect of your job search, click here.

NCME Announces Updated Listings of Graduate Programs in Educational Measurement

The National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) has updated its comprehensive listing of educational measurement graduate programs, a crucial tool for guiding students and connecting employers with potential candidates. Originally established in 1990, the latest 2019 revision continues to catalog programs across the United States and Canada, aiding in the growth and recruitment in this critical educational sector.

Download the Program Book.

Call for Papers - CEJEME Journal
 

CEJEME Special Issue on AI and Machine Learning in Measurement

The Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation (CEJEME) is issuing a CALL FOR PAPERS for the upcoming special issue on AI and machine learning in measurement.

CEJEME is a newly established, bilingual journal of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), co-sponsored by Beijing Normal University, China (ISSN: 2837-0899). CEJEME publishes articles on cutting-edge topics in educational measurement, evaluation, and policy. The journal aims to cater to a broad, applied audience and provides a platform for intellectual exchange on a wide range of methodological, ethical, and policy issues within an international and technology-driven context.

Each article is published online in two languages (Chinese and English) at no expense to the authors and is freely available to the public. All published articles have DOIs and are therefore immediately visible in the research publication ecosystem. Manuscripts can be submitted in either Chinese or English and are peer-reviewed in the language of submission. We guarantee a peer-review decision within four months from the date of submission.

You may browse all past issues on the CEJEME journal website, for example, the inaugural issue and issues published last year.

Special Issue on AI and Machine Learning in Educational Measurement

CEJEME is inviting submissions of articles that discuss topics related to AI and/or machine learning in educational measurement. We welcome a variety of article types, including typical research papers, commentaries, software exchange notes, or other innovative formats.

Please complete the Form of Interest by July 31, 2024 to provide brief information on your intended submission. We will reach out to invite full paper submissions by August 5, 2024. Full paper submissions are due October 14, 2024. The special issue will be published online by the end of December 2024.

We look forward to receiving your form of interest for this special issue of CEJEME. For further information on this special issue or your questions, please feel free to contact the co-editors, Dr. Yi Zheng at yi.isabel.zheng@asu.edu or Dr. Okan Bulut at bulut@ualberta.ca.

Past entries of the of the news letter can be viewed here. 

To be continued...

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