Title: The New Paradigm of Adaptive Testing

Bio: Wim J. van der Linden is Professor Emeritus of Measurement and Data Analysis, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. He is a former Distinguished Scientist and Director of Research and Innovation, Pacific Metrics Corporation, Monterey, CA, and Chief Research Scientist, CTB/McGraw-Hill, Monterey, CA. Dr. van der Linden received his PhD in psychometrics from the University of Amsterdam. His research interests include item response theory, adaptive testing, optimal test assembly, observed-score equating, parameter linking, statistical detection of cheating and response time modeling. He is the author of Linear Models for Optimal Test Design (Springer, 2005) and the editor of the three-volume Handbook of Item Response Theory: Models, Statistical Tools, and Applications (Chapman & Hall/CRC, 2016, 2018). He is also a co-editor of Computerized Adaptive Testing: Theory and Applications (Kluwer, 2000; with C. A. W. Glas), and its sequel Elements of Adaptive Testing (Springer, 2010; with C. A. W. Glas). Dr. van der Linden has served on the editorial boards of nearly every major test-theory journal and is co-editor for the Chapman & Hal//CRC Series on Statistics for Social and Behavioral Sciences. He is also a former President of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) and the Psychometric Society, Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Umea University in Sweden in 2008, and is a recipient of the AERA E. F. Lindquist Award as well as the ATP, NCME and Psychometric Career Achievement Awards for his work on educational measurement.

Title: Cognitive Diagnostic Computerized Adaptive Testing: Recent Developments and Future Directions

Bio: Dr. Ying (“Alison”) Cheng is Professor of Psychology and Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at University of Notre Dame. She received her M.S.in Statistics and Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on methodological issues in psychological and educational measurement, in particular theoretical development and applications of the item response theory, such as computerized adaptive testing. She has published over 50 articles on topics including computerized adaptive testing (CAT), differential item functioning (DIF), classification accuracy and consistency with licensure/certification exams, and formative assessment using cognitive diagnostic modeling and so on. She currently serves as the Editor of British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology. In 2009 she received the Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement, and in 2012 the Jason Millman Promising Measurement Scholar Award from the National Council of Measurement in Education. In 2014 she received the faculty CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. She is an elected fellow of the Society of Multivariate and Experimental Psychology and Association for Psychological Science.

Title: The Double Helix of Adaptive Measurement

Bio: Prof. Bernard Veldkamp is Head of the Research Methodology, Measurement and Data analysis group (OMD) and Chair of the Technology, Data Analytics and Decision Support department of the Behavioral, Management and Social Sciences faculty of University of Twente. He is an expert in psychometrics, data science, and computerized adaptive testing. His research focuses on methods for data collection and data use for assessment purposes. His mission is to integrate psychometrics and data science in order to optimize measurement in the social sciences. Bernard did his PhD on the topic of automated test assembly and computerized adaptive testing.
When more and more data about human behavior became available via the web, via sensors and via social media, he started to look for new methods to benefit from this data in measuring human behavior. He shifted his attention to data mining and the combination of psychometrics and data science. Currently, he is working on developing methods for handling multi-modal data (data coming from various sources) for measuring individual and group behavior. In 2008, Prof. Veldkamp was one of the founders of the Research Center for Examination and Certification (RCEC). Bernard Veldkamp was awarded the title of Fellow of the Association for Evaluation and Assessment Europe in 2008. He is one of the authors of the book Theoretical and Practical Advances in Computer-based Educational Measurement and he is editor of the Springer book series Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment and associate editor of the journal Frontiers in Education.

Presidential Address:
Where Were All the Psychometricians?

Bio: Anthony Zara, Ph.D., is Vice President, Assessment Solutions for Pearson VUE. He is the former Senior Director of Testing and Research Services at NCSBN. Tony earned his Ph.D. in Psychometric Methods from the University of Minnesota. His research and working interests focus on the application of psychometrics to solve real-world testing and assessment problems. During his tenure with NCSBN, Dr. Zara developed the research foundation for transitioning one of the largest licensure testing programs from paper-and-pencil to computerized adaptive testing (CAT). He was then responsible for operational planning and program design for launching the NCLEX on CAT. The NCLEX program has successfully delivered computerized adaptive examinations around the world, to more than 5 million nurse licensure candidates since 1994. Tony has been volunteered with many organizations over the years, including service with CLEAR, ICE, and ATP. He has worked in the field of computerized testing research for more than 30 years. He has published research related to CAT, licensure testing, item response theory, and other measurement topics.