We will announce invited speakers as they confirm their participation in the scientific activities we are planning.
Keynote by:
Dr. Alina von Davier, Chief of Assessment at Duolingo
Title of the keynote: Embracing the Future of Remote Proctoring: Ensuring Test Integrity and Accessibility in the Digital Age
Keynote Introduction: With the rapid growth of online learning and the shift towards digital-first assessments and remote testing, remote proctoring has emerged as a critical tool for ensuring test integrity and fairness. In this presentation I will explore the latest advancements in remote proctoring, discuss challenges, and identify best practices to enhance the remote examination experience for both test takers and stakeholders. Topics covered will include the role of human-in-the-loop of artificial intelligence and computational models in both developing the proctoring system and in the quality control for remote proctoring, privacy and security concerns, the impact of remote proctoring on test takers’ performance and engagement, and strategies for increasing accessibility and inclusivity, and in general, for providing a better test taking experience in remote assessment. Through illustrative examples from the Duolingo English Test the presentation will offer a deeper understanding of the current landscape of remote proctoring and its potential to transform the future of assessments.
Jennifer Randall, University of Michigan
Title of the keynote: Seeking Validity Evidence Related to Assessment Justice
Keynote Introduction: Junot Diaz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner author once said: "You know how vampires have no reflections in the mirror? If you want to make a human being a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. Despite efforts by a few educational measurement scholars to promote the use of, an demonstrate the need for, culturally responsive approaches to assessment and validation (Hood, 1998; Lee, 1998; Montenegro & Jankowski, 2017; Moss, 1992; Qualls, 1998; Shepard, 2021; Solano-Flores), the field of assessment has offered little. Rather, we have opted to deny Black, Brown, and Indigenous test takers around the world access to any real mirrors so that they might see their true selves reflected back at them; choosing to offer up reading passages with so-called cultural names and foods as consolation. Those of us in the field of assessment/measurement then double-down on our white supremacist practices by describing these populations using deficit language such as achievement gap and lack of parental engagement ostensibly contributing to the racist narrative that Black, Brown, and Indigenous persons are inferior, uneducable, and (it follows) monsters. In this talk, I will discuss the ways in which the field of assessment/measurement must reorient its approaches to gathering validity evidence to center/prioritize evidence of justice above all.
Invited panel:
Title of the panel: Shared Insights and Unique Perspectives: What Can Psychological Testing and Assessment Learn from Innovations in Survey Research and Vice Versa
Panel Introduction: In the last fifty years, somewhat independent lines of thought and practice have evolved in survey methodology and psychometric methods for testing and assessment research, as evidenced by separate scholarly journals, conferences, books, and communities of practice. With a focus on innovations, promises, and challenges in design and validation, this panel discussion will explore what can be gained by a dialogue among specialists in survey research and psychometrics of testing and assessment. Three distinguished panelists whose research programs transgress these boundaries have been invited to each describe a development in survey methodology that they believe has led to, or may lead to, innovation in the design and validation of psychological testing and assessment. Describing these innovations aims to draw audience members into a dialogue with the panelists to articulate potential survey research and testing and psychological assessment insights into the design and validation of psychological tests and survey estimates, which could improve their inferential quality and a regular and more formal exchange between professional communities.