About
My daily agenda is to challenge conventional wisdom and methodological chicanery as they manifest themselves in educational research, policy and practice. As a psychometrician, I work with states and other entities to provide technical advice on the design and use of large-scale student assessments.​I teach graduate level courses on quantitative research methodology with a focus on psychometrics. These include Quantitative Methods in Educational Research, Measurement in Survey Research, Item Response Theory and Latent Variable and Structural Equation Modeling. My investigations into the relationship between developmental (i.e., vertical) score scales and inferences about student growth and teacher/school value-added were recognized with an award by the National Council for Measurement in Education and Provost’s Achievement Award at the University of Colorado. I am also widely recognized for my evaluations of the effects of test preparation on college admissions exam performance.​I am past president of the National Council on Measurement in Education (2021-22), past editor of the journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, and author of the book Historical and Conceptual Foundations of Measurement in the Human Sciences: Credos and Controversies (Routledge).
Education
1997-2002
PhD Education
University of California, Berkeley
Specialization in quantitative methods and evaluation in the Graduate School of Education. My dissertation was entitled "SAT Coaching, Bias and Causal Inference." My advisor was Mark Wilson, and I also benefited greatly from the opportunities I had to work and learn with Paul Holland, David Freedman and David Stern.
1989 - 1993
BA Economics
Carleton College
I'm a big advocate for the value of a liberal arts education, and much of this is because of the formative experiences I had at Carleton.