August 1, 2001
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