Distinguished Faculty Lecture: Stephen G. Sireci
Stephen G. Sireci, professor of Educational Policy, Research and Administration, will give the second Distinguished Faculty Lecture of this year’s series. The talk is free and open to the public.
His talk is titled “Are Educational Tests Inherently Evil?” Sireci says hardly anyone likes taking tests — especially not the students, teachers and schools that fall afoul of this major part of the educational accountability system. Sireci, a 20-year psychometrician and parent concerned for his own children’s education, will use his talk to attempt to bridge the gap between testing opponents and proponents by arguing that, under appropriate conditions, educational tests are enormously useful in improving student learning.
Sireci joined the faculty in 1995 and is also director of the Center for Educational Assessment in the School of Education and adjunct associate professor of Psychology. He teaches graduate courses in statistics, scaling methods, test development, educational assessment, validity theory and research methods, and supervises and serves as a mentor to doctoral students. Sireci’s research activities include evaluating a variety of test components, capabilities and assessment methods. He also seeks out, directs and coordinates research grant activities and contracts for the Center for Educational Assessment.
Sireci currently serves on several advisory boards including the Graduate Management Admissions Council Technical Advisory Committee, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Assessment Certification Advisory Panel, the Texas Technical Advisory Committee, and the New England Comprehensive Assessment Program Technical Advisory Committee. He is a fellow of Division 5 of the American Psychological Association, president of the Northeastern Educational Research Association, a senior scientist for the Gallup Organization and a member of the board of directors for the National Council on Measurement in Education.
In 2003, he received the School of Education’s Outstanding Teacher Award. Sireci reviews articles for more than a dozen professional journals and he is on the editorial boards of Applied Measurement in Education, Educational and Psychological Measurement, the European Journal of Psychological Assessment and the International Journal of Testing. He is also co-editor of the Journal of Applied Testing Technology.
Sireci earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Loyola College in 1985 and 1987, and a doctorate in psychology from Fordham University in 1993.
A reception follows each talk. Faculty members in the series receive the Chancellor’s Medal following their lecture. The Chancellor’s Medal is the highest honor bestowed on individuals for exemplary and extraordinary service to the campus. The lecture series is sponsored by the offices of the chancellor and the provost.