Testing Expert Daniel Koretz to Join Faculty at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Daniel Koretz, an expert on educational testing and achievement, will join the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a professor of education on September 1, 2001.

Koretz focuses his research primarily on educational assessment and testing, particularly when it is used as a tool of education policy. He is currently directing studies that will explore new methods for evaluating gains in scores on high-stakes tests and evaluate the use of value-added models in educational accountability systems. These efforts follow a series of studies of high-stakes testing programs in which Koretz found that teachers often respond in ways that produce serious inflation of scores.

Recently, Koretz directed studies exploring the assessment of students with disabilities, analyzing the variability of performance in mathematics in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and exploring the effects on diversity of alternative college admissions policies. His research has included studies of standards-based education reforms in Vermont, Maryland, and Kentucky that explored both the quality of the assessments and their effects on classroom practice and a series of studies on the assessment of students with disabilities.

Koretz is a senior researcher with the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, a collaborative effort of several universities and research organizations funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Koretz is currently a member of the Board on Testing and Assessment of the National Research Council. His work experience includes three years teaching emotionally disturbed students in public elementary and junior high schools.

His most recent publications include Testing and Diversity in Postsecondary Education: The Case of California (with M. Russell, D. Shin, C. Horn, and K. Shasby, 2001), and "Assessment of Students with Disabilities In Kentucky: Inclusion, Student Performance, and Validity" (with L. Hamilton) in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (2000)

Koretz received his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Cornell University. He has been a senior social scientist at RAND, a nonprofit organization focusing on improving policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. He is also a former professor of educational research, measurement, and evaluation at Boston College.

For More Information

Contact Christine Sanni at 617-496-5873