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Charles Lewis Receives 1996 Award for Scientific Contributions to Credentialing

New York, NY, December 1996 - Professional Examination Service (PES) is pleased to announce the selection of Charles Lewis, Ph.D., as the recipient of the 1996 Award for Scientific Contributions to Credentialing. Established in 1995, the award recognizes scientific or technical research that has contributed to improved measurement practices related to credentialing and to the enhancement of the public-protection function of credentialing examinations.

During a distinguished career spanning more than 20 years, Lewis, currently Principal Research Scientist at Educational Testing Service, has made significant contributions to a broad range of technical issues related to measurement and credentialing practice. The Award for Scientific Contributions to Credentialing recognizes in particular Lewis' role in conceiving, developing, and implementing Computerized Mastery Testing (CMT). The first new addition to computerized testing in the credentialing field since the introduction of computerized adaptive testing, CMT is designed to manage the problems encountered in making pass/fail decisions in the credentialing process. CMT presents a series of testlets to candidates and will either pass or fail an individual early in the testing process or will continue to present testlets if more information is needed about the candidate's level of knowledge and skill. As well as providing a cost-effective means of testing candidates, CMT allows credentialing organizations to take into account the relative seriousness of different types of errors in making credentialing decisions and to minimize the likelihood of such errors.

Lewis' many other innovative contributions include an adaptation of the Subkoviak agreement index, originally designed for use with tests comprising dichotomously scored (right/wrong) questions, typically multiple-choice tests. Lewis' adaptation may be applied to constructed-response tests that comprise polytomously scored (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.) questions, such as essays, in-basket assessments, and patient management problem tests. In addition, Lewis developed a split-half, pass-fail reliability index for use with constructed-response tests. Both indices have been applied to credentialing programs employing mixed-format assessments that include, for example, essay as well as multiple-choice components, and have facilitated the use of constructed response tests in the credentialing process.

Nominations for the 1996 Award for Scientific Contributions to Credentialing were judged by a panel of three external reviewers: Henry A. Fernandez, J.D., President and CEO of the Association of University Programs in Health Administration; David Paulson, Ph.D., Director of Psychometrics and Research at the State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation; and James Zukowski, Ph.D., Director of Professional Licensing and Certification at the Texas Department of Health.

Recognition for scientific and technical contributions to credentialing is one of several PES annual awards. For more information about the PES awards program and other public service activities, please contact: Karen Cullen, Public Service Activities Manager, Professional Examination Service, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115-0089, (212) 367-4276, fax (212) 367-4266, e-mail: mission@proexam.org.

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