Technical Advisory Group

As Vice President, Innovative Learning Sciences at Ascend Learning, Dr. Ada Woo oversees the R&D of learning and assessment content. Her team ensures that all components of the organization’s measurement and learning science expertise are efficiently integrated across multiple Ascend brands.

Dr. Woo has nearly two decades of experience in the assessment industry. Prior to joining Ascend, she was chief of staff of the ACTNext R&D and innovation unit at ACT, Inc., and director of measurement and testing at the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). In 2015, Ada and her team at NCSBN successfully transitioned and adapted the NCLEX-RN licensure examination as the entry-to-practice test for registered nurses in ten Canadian jurisdictions.

Ada is active in the education and technology community. In 2018, she was appointed to the Iowa Innovation Council, an advisory group charged with developing strategies to encourage and support innovation in Iowa. Nationally, she has served as chairs of the National Council of Measurement in Education outreach committee and the Association of Test Publishers certification and licensure division. Ada is currently a member of multiple testing organization technical advisory groups.

Ada holds a Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research interests include personalized learning, adaptive testing, technology-enhanced assessment, and measurement of 21st-century skills.

Cynthia Searcy, Ph.D. is the Senior Director of Research and Development for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). She oversees the development, psychometrics, and validation research for the MCAT exam. The validity research program includes studies of the fairness, impact, use, and predictive validity of the MCAT exam in selecting medical students who will succeed in medical school and beyond. The validity research program is supported by a research collaboration with representatives from 21 medical schools in the U.S. and Canada and 2 pre-health advisors from undergraduate institutions that helps participating institutions improve decisions about student selection. Prior to joining the AAMC Dr. Searcy served as the Managing Director of Assessment at the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy, overseeing the licensure examination programs for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.

Dr. Searcy has a Ph.D. in applied psychology from the University of Georgia and has over 25 years’ experience conducting research on educational, admissions, and credentialing assessments.

Dr. Rodriguez is Dean of the College of Education & Human Development and Professor of Quantitative Methods in Education at the University of Minnesota (since 1999), and received his PhD in Educational Measurement & Quantitative Methods from Michigan State University.

He holds the endowed Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development with a focus on educational equity, and is a member of the University’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers. He is an active member of the National Council on Measurement in Education and currently serves on a number of technical advisory committees including with the US Department of Defense for Military Personnel Testing, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the New York Department of Education.

Dr. Rodriguez is the recipient of the 2005 Albert J. Harris Research Award of the International Reading Association. His research and publications address item writing and test design, classroom assessment, measurement accessibility, early literacy and reading, and measurement of social and emotional learning. His book, The College Instructor’s Guide to Writing Test Items, was recently published by Routledge (2017).

Jennifer Randall is the Dunn Family Endowed Professor of Psychometrics and Test Development in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. She is also the Founder of the Center for Measurement Justice, which is a research center dedicated to facilitating the adoption of justice-oriented educational assessment and measurement processes. Dr. Randall received her bachelor’s (1996) and master’s (1999) degrees from Duke University and her doctoral degree from Emory University (2007). She began her professional career as a public high school teacher working with racially and ethnically minoritized students. Her work seeks to disrupt white supremacist, racist logics in assessment through assessment practices that center justice and are explicitly and unapologetically antiracist.

Dr. Randall’s work has been published in assessment and education journals such as Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Educational Assessment, and Language Testing. She sits on numerous state and national working groups, committees, and technical advisories as a fierce advocate for antiracist, liberating processes that center the needs of Black, Brown, and Indigenous students.

Lloyd Bond (Ph. D., 1976, Psychology/Psychometrics, The Johns Hopkins University) championed National Board Certification for over 30 years, starting as co-director of the original Technical Analysis Group. His contributions to the National Board’s accomplishments have been many, including those advancements toward equity and inclusion that would not have been made without him. His focus from the very beginning on investigating the fairness and equity of the certification process continues to set the National Board’s direction.

Professor Bond taught test theory and psychometrics at the University of Pittsburgh from 1976 to 1988, and at the University of North Carolina (Greensboro) from 1988 to 2002. From 2002-2008, Bond was a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Bond published widely and held editorial positions on leading measurement journals. He served on two AERA/APA/NCME committees to revise the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, and was a member of the Design and Analysis Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

A fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Professor Bond was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Citation from AERA for Contributions to Educational Measurement. Dr. Bond was honored in 2009 by having a new K-8 charter school in the Chicago neighborhood where he grew up named in his honor.

Suzanne Lane is a Professor of Research Methodology in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Her scholarly interests are in educational measurement and testing, with a focus on design, technical, validity and policy issues in large-scale testing, including performance-based assessments. She has published in the Journal of Educational Measurement, Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Assessment, and Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. She is a co-editor of the Handbook of Test Development, 2nd edition. She was the President of NCME (2003-2004), Vice President of Division D-AERA (2000-2002), member of the Joint Committee for revising the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (1993-1999). Suzanne served on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Educational Measurement, Applied Measurement in Education, Educational Assessment, Educational Researcher, and Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. She sat on technical advisory boards for ETS, The College Board, PARCC, NCSC Alternate Assessment Consortium, AICPA, ABIM, PSI, NBPTS, and state assessment and accountability systems. Suzanne has served as a member of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for NBTS since 2014.