April Zenisky Receives 2001 Doctoral Fellowship Award in Applied Measurement

April Zenisky Receives 2001 Doctoral Fellowship Award
in Applied Measurement

New York, NY, August 2001 - Professional Examination Service (PES) is pleased to announce the selection of April Zenisky as the recipient of the 2001 Doctoral Fellowship Award in Applied Measurement. Established as part of the PES public service mission, the yearlong fellowship provides an opportunity for research on measurement and public-policy issues related to the development, validation, and use of licensure and certification examinations.

The fellowship will support Zenisky as she completes her doctoral studies in the Psychometric Methods program at the University of Massachusetts. Zenisky will work with her doctoral adviser, Ronald K. Hambleton, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, to conduct a research study entitled "Improving the Psychometric Properties of Credentialing Examinations: A Study of Computer-Based Test Designs." The study will explore the strengths and weaknesses of computer-based test designs and the complex interactions among these designs and other variables that impact on the psychometric properties of credentialing examination scores and pass/fail decisions. Zenisky will provide a review of the advantages and disadvantages of possible computer-based designs, incorporating psychometric, legal, and practical criteria in the evaluation. Zenisky will then conduct computer simulation analyses to investigate factors impacting decision consistency and decision accuracy in the context of various computer-based test designs.

Zenisky received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English from Amherst College in 1997 and a master’s degree in psychometric methods from the University of Massachusetts in 1999. She is currently Research Assistant, Laboratory of Psychometric and Evaluative Research at the University of Massachusetts, and has presented and published research papers on item dependencies and their negative impact on test results, and on innovative item formats. A literature review paper will be published in a forthcoming issue of Applied Measurement in Education.

Submissions for the award were judged by a panel of three nationally recognized measurement experts: William G. Harris, Ph.D., Executive Director, Association of Test Publishers; Michael T. Kane, Ph.D., Director of Research, National Conference of Bar Examiners in Madison, WI; and Lawrence M. Rudner, Ph.D., Director, Educational Resources Information Center, University of Maryland.

PES is a nonprofit organization with 60 years’ experience developing, implementing, and evaluating licensure and certification programs. PES’s mission is to promote the understanding and use of sound credentialing practices by providing comprehensive services and making contributions to credentialing stakeholders in the areas of assessment practice, educational activities, scientific research, and policy development.

Fellowship support for doctoral study is one of several annual PES awards. For more information about the PES awards program and other public service activities, please contact Sandra Greenberg, Ph.D., Vice President of Research & Development and Public Service, Professional Examination Service, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115-0089, (212) 367-4271, fax: (212) 367-4266; e-mail: mission@proexam.org.