Dear NCME Community,
October was another productive month for this great organization. Here are five updates that reflect some of the many ways NCME is advancing its mission, to advance theory and applications of educational measurement to benefit society.
1) Excitement is building among our program committees about our annual meeting in Denver, April 23-26. The tireless program team of Katherine Castellano and Scott Monroe (Program Chairs), Qiwei Britt He and Matthew Madison (Training Session Chairs), and Catherina Villafuerte and Nicolas Mireles (GSIC Chairs) have begun to stitch together the schedule. And we have a hotel! We are looking forward to a cohesive community space at the Hilton Denver City Center. You will be able to book your room there once NCME and AERA registration opens in the weeks to come.
2) Hundreds of volunteer reviewers served our community over the past month, submitting over 2000 (!) reviews of annual meeting proposals. Our volunteer reviewer corps included some of our newest members (with thanks to our Graduate Student Issues Committee for their recruitment) to some of the most senior members, including Past Presidents, Career Award winners, board members, and yes, an Executive Director. I am so proud to count myself as a member of a community with such a strong sense of citizenship and service.
3) Last month, I spent time in Washington, DC liaising with our sibling organization, the American Educational Research Association (AERA), at their Leadership Committee Meeting. I wear another hat there as chair of their Government Relations Committee. We met with Acting IES Director Matthew Soldner and NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr, and I had the chance to chat with both of them about measurement-related issues. With AERA Executive Director Felice Levine, I discussed how NCME could engage with IES funding initiatives and NCES data user experiences. I look forward to our collocated annual meetings in Denver with my close colleague and AERA President, Janelle Scott. We are also discussing possibilities for joint hosting of events with close colleagues in Division D (with AERA VP Jessica Lester) and Division I (with AERA VP Linette Ross).
4) Our 6 Awards Committees have finalized their calls for awards, and nominations will be due in January. I encourage all NCME members to consider themselves and colleagues for these prestigious awards. As a recipient of some of these awards in the past, I can speak firsthand to the power of these awards to elevate junior and mid-career scholars, as well as rightfully honor senior scholars. These awards serve as a spotlight to highlight the accomplishments of our members among our own community and also a megaphone to raise awareness of our contributions to communities beyond NCME. Please take the time to nominate the best work you’ve seen well ahead of the January deadline. To those who have nominated themselves before, I also encourage you to nominate yourselves again.
5) As I indicated in my last update, although the financial position of NCME is strong, it is our board’s responsibility to work towards a balanced budget. Our Executive Committee meets this week to follow up on our last full board discussion. We will be making some difficult decisions about membership fees and annual meeting fees. We appreciate your engagement in our deliberations through our committees and SIGIMIEs as well as directly to us as elected board members, as we strive to advance our mission while fulfilling our fiduciary responsibilities.
Thank you, as always, for the many ways that you contribute selflessly to this organization to advance our shared mission.
Andrew Ho, President
National Council on Measurement in Education